Outsiders view urban neighborhoods as unstable. Our experience was one in which residents knew who could be trusted and where they could find support. Although poverty often causes isolation, we found people who would feed their neighbors children, let someone who lost their home move in with them and generally be Good Samaritans. Next-door neighbors, relatives in the area, churches and community organizations helped break down isolation and gave people places to become acquainted.
“There was a man going along a road who fell prey to robbers who left him half dead. A priest went by seeing him, passed on; so also, a lawyer did likewise.
But then a Samaritan came upon him and was moved to pity.
He cleaned and dressed his wounds and brought him to an inn, paying for his expenses…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
The Good Samaritan
OUR VOLUNTEERS
The new commandments Jesus gave were a fulfillment of those from the Old Testament. To love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself, summarized our beliefs. But loving God can only happen as you love your neighbor. Volunteers who came to help were great examples of the love of neighbor.
I was totally in awe of the effect volunteers had. People had told me volunteers were not dependable, they wanted to do what they wanted, they would be afraid of the neighborhoods (really the people in the neighborhoods) and they would not work well with professional social work staff. How wrong they were! From the first year through my final year, volunteers were a wonderful addition to everything we did. They were consistent and more often than not they wanted to do whatever we needed them to do. Even professionals did not push their experience on us. Most of the volunteers were strangers to an urban setting. However, only one older gentleman who wanted to volunteer did not return because his family was afraid of the neighborhood. Staff and volunteers worked so well together sometimes it was hard to tell who did what.
We had many volunteers. Young people from junior high through college came to do service projects, fulfill school requirements and complete their work to become Eagle Scouts or to receive Girl Scout badges. Retired people answered phones, helped deliver furniture to families and served on our boards. Mothers came to help new moms have fun at baby showers. Business people, professionals, educators and community members served on boards, committees and helped guide programming.
Some volunteers spent a day completing a project, while others spent their lifetimes with us. In 1990, Sylvia and Jeanne came to Midtown as our first volunteer receptionists. Jeanne continued until her untimely death and Sylvia can still be seen on Tuesday mornings. Our advisory board had volunteers who were not time-limited. Tony, Bob, Vince and others started in the 90’s and never stopped their involvement. Many other people joined them on our board and stayed involved for years.
Whenever a volunteer joined and stayed involved, I told them they were so important they could not leave. Since we didn’t pay them, they were even more important! The following article appeared in The NEIGHBOR to let volunteers know how much they were needed and appreciated.
The NEIGHBOR “YOU CAN’T LEAVE UNTIL THE WORK IS DONE!” May 2012
Two Sisters volunteered this year for their novitiate. Sr. Kelly and Sr. Precilla spent Mondays working with staff in the community. Sr. Precilla’s last day was April 30th. As everyone was saying goodbye, Sr. Precilla was told, “You can’t leave until the work is done.”
Craig and Sue Schoenfelder spent the last year doing service as members of the Ignatian Volunteer Corp (IVC). The IVC allows retired people to use their life and work experience in the community. Craig and Sue have wonderfully connected to Midtown. They finish their year in June and they too were told at staff meeting, “you can’t leave until the work is done.”
Midtown has eight full-time staff. When staff works together, they provide great services and programs. However, we cannot do the work alone. Volunteers have joined in many endeavors over the last 30 years. In 2011, more than 200 people of all ages volunteered in youth programs, job readiness, in City Greens, the community garden and doing much needed work projects.
Some volunteers have become committed to the mission. Jeanne volunteered for 17 years until she passed away. Sylvia has spent more than 20 years greeting neighbors on Tuesdays. Mary and the ladies of Reading Club tutor children every week. Mary and Dot started an effort to help teens prepare for college. Jack has provided pro bono legal advice since 2001. Bob, Mary Alice and Tony organize trivia night and Bob makes the golf tournament a success.
Tony exemplifies volunteering at Midtown. He is on his second round as Midtown’s board chair. He spends Thursdays at the cash register of City Greens Market and comes on Saturdays to help in City Greens garden. Tony has developed the advisory board into a group of hands-on volunteers who are connected to those we serve. Tony and Bob have been involved with Midtown for more than 20 years.
As Midtown celebrates 30 years of service in 2012, we thank all those who have given their time to meeting and helping those we serve. Some may have left, but they are always remembered with much gratitude.
Freedom…is authenticity, truthfulness, fidelity to the pursuit of truth and to truth when found…in its intimately Christian sense, however, freedom has a higher meaning than all this. Freedom in the deepest experience of it is love.
To be free is to be-for-others, an impulse to the service of others.
John Courtney Murray
STUDENTS
I supervised nearly two hundred social work students from St. Louis and Washington Universities, from University of Missouri—St. Louis and Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Illinois. I taught students who were becoming ministers, including church deacons, sisters and lay people. We had younger students from high school nearly every year. Younger students came for weeks to fulfill school requirements. College students spent one or two semesters with us.
The students brought energy, new thoughts and willingness to their work. They were treated as any other staff or volunteers. They learned the same things we were all learning—about poverty and the treatment of African Americans in our society. They worked in City Greens Market and with the women’s groups. They helped people with family assistance and did home visits. They worked with children in after school and teen clubs.
We had students from all over the Midwest who were attending college in St. Louis. The students had varied backgrounds. Early on, a Jewish woman wanted to do her practicum. I asked her if the religious affiliation would matter. I told her it didn’t matter to me. She was kind and generous, did well, and continued to hear about and support the agency throughout her career.
Another student was President of the Gay Student Alliance at St. Louis University. He was interested in our setting. I talked to him about our work and he told me about his experiences. When we talked about him coming to MIDTOWN, I reminded him a primary value in social work was “putting the client first”. I told him he was not doing his practicum with us to promote his work at SLU. I said if anyone asked him about a button he might be wearing, or what he did at SLU, he would be free to answer. He did well in the practicum and there were no issues between him and our neighbors.
Many students came from other countries. One student was a native Formosan. Her people were treated as second class citizens by the Chinese who had come from the mainland and declared the island Taiwan. She came to learn how to serve her fellow Formosans and help her people fight oppression. Another student came from Japan. He was a joy to have as a student. He was very friendly, open and gentle. His English wasn’t the best but I told him people would listen to him and he had to listen carefully to our neighbors. In all, everything went well for him.
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