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Meet Jadine -- Answering her calling through Covenant House Faith Community
Jadine was introduced to Covenant House Faith Community after her sister-in-law, a former AmeriCorps volunteer, encouraged her to review the AmeriCorps website for opportunities following her college graduation. After much consideration, Jadine decided that she wanted to spend a year volunteering with homeless and runaway youth through Covenant House Faith Community's AmeriCorps program. Jadine answered a personal calling, "to be a mentor and resource for young adults moving towards healthy and satisfying lives." Before I left California to live in the Covenant House International Faith Community house in New York, I remember driving to the airport with my mom. She told me that I would gain more from my experience than that which I could offer the youth I'd be serving. I understood this on some level at the time, and since then it has become clearer with each passing day at Covenant House. One particular moment that illustrated this concept occurred shortly after getting to the agency. I'd been sick with a cold for weeks, I hadn't been sleeping, I was working alone, and the constant heat and pouring rain was getting to me. In my mind, my focus was to do my job, get what needed to be done accomplished, and get through the day. Beyond this, in the back of my mind, I was thinking of a specific training session that we had been through during Formation (Faith Community Orientation) where we were told that we would need to leave our personal struggles at the door in order to most effectively serve others. I felt like I was failing at this, but I pressed on with strict focus, keeping busy to avoid being left alone with my exhausted and distracted mind. I found myself alone, standing at the desk, pausing, and thinking of what I could do next when a girl named "Tawana" walked in. Tawana had been a resident at Covenant House New York for a few weeks and while she could have a fiery temper, she and I had always had a very positive rapport. She stood before me and said, "Hello." I looked up and gave her the best, "Good Morning," I could muster. She walked toward me and said, "Ms., are you OK?" At that moment, I felt like my heart had faltered, skipped a beat or maybe torn a bit. Here was this young teenage homeless girl in a crisis shelter, asking the staff if she was, "OK." During that moment, I struggled with the thought that I needed to erase whatever emotion I was evidently wearing on my face. At the same time, I realized that Tawana and I were simply two people, one taking care of the other through a small gesture - "Are you OK?" I breathed in, slowed down, smiled, and told Tawana that I was OK, just tired. In that moment, I realized the deeper point of what my mom had told me about what I'd gain from my experiences serving the youth of Covenant House. Related Information: |
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