Happy Holidays from the Imani House!!

Dear Readers,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at the Imani House. We hope this greeting finds you all happy, healthy, and ready to celebrate the holidays. Here are some updates and highlights form each of us.

Brent: This is a check-in from the most nerdy and awkward roommate from the Imani house. This has been a great and challenging year so far! At my placement, I’m in charge of finding people job opportunities, a difficult task in this economy. Consequently, I’ve had a hard time finding hope in this work, but my roommates, work staff, and clients have been incredibly supportive and driven me to maintain at least some on a daily basis. In case anyone is worried about my nerd level going down because of the social nature of my job, you don’t have to worry – other LVCers and myself are starting a dungeons and dragons campaign!

Mary-Eileen: I work at Sojourner Truth Academy Elementary School as a kindergarten assistant, after-school teacher, and . . . lunch lady! Yes, I am the lunchroom monitor at our school, and I’ve started a new lunchtime program called “Bring the White House to Our House!” We are leaning manners and writing letters to President Barack Obama inviting him to come have lunch with us in our new “Banquet Hall.” Outside of work, I’ve been busy crafting, cooking, and curling! My New Year’s resolution is to work less and workout more. I’m looking forward to going home (California) for Christmas—beaches, shorts, and sunshine!

Andi: Howdy to you all. 2009 is on it's way out, but it's been a full and good year for me. After journeying from Berkeley, CA to Mini-apple-lous, I find myself working for Lutheran World Relief and living in the Imani house. Next year I hope to worry less about getting things done - but my other resolutions include: learn the banjo, blog more, facebook less, read more books than there are days, understand the financial crisis of 2008, write more letters, apply to seminary, join a gym, climb a mountain, and (why not) take up birding. So here's to 2010!

Miranda: This year as been pretty great, if I do say so myself. After graduation I moved home to work at a migrant clinic and enjoy some home cooking. After spending most of my summer ensuring that I'd seen every episode of Friends, I moved to Minneapolis to start work at The Advocates for Human Rights through LVC. So far things are going really well, and I have enjoyed the challenge of learning about something completely new to me. In my spare time I have been playing in a local orchestra and rewatching episodes of LOST so I can be prepared for season six. Since my usual goals of working out never seem to pan out, my new year's resolution for 2010 is to sleep eight hours per night (or more!).

Maggie: While work has been slightly less productive than I had hoped for at my placement this year, I am finding creative ways to keep myself busy and fulfilled! I find myself facebook stalking often, helping to launch a progressive spiritual community in the twin cities and making/eating a lot of homemade popcorn. I also enjoy making Andi sing the “happy kitty” song daily. In 2010 I hope to hold myself accountable for sweating to the 80’s with Richard Simmons atleast once a week, taking more pictures of my life this year, and re-teaching myself how to do long division. Hooray for 2010!

Thanks for continuing to follow us through this blog this year. We hope that each of you is blessed this holiday season!

Love,

The Imani House

tis the season

The week before Thanksgiving was probably the low point of my time in LCV thus far. I was burned out of work, cohabitation, and just being in a place that was the polar opposite of my life last year. After a really rough day at work, in the heat of the moment, I woke up at 4:30am and decided to go home a day early for Thanksgiving. What a good choice that was. Over break I was able to watch infinite amounts of trashy TV, eat some gourmet food, spend time with my family and catch up with old friends...without any guilt! Although I wasn't ready to come back to MN, I was feeling much better about my situation and ready to tackle whatever came my way.

Although there are a lot of things I really hate about my job, this week has kind of put everything in perspective. The after school program is off an running...so seeing the kids twice a week has been a joy. I've been signing up residents all week for Toys for Tots...so it has been awesome seeing all the kids who will now have toys (even if they aren't necessarily for Christmas in most cases). We also did move ins this week and we had a family come straight from shelter...so it was really exciting to hand them the keys and give them a place to call home...just in time to beat the snow that came this week! A volunteer also donated a bunch of household things to this family so they could start their new life a little more comfortably. I feel like this week I finally felt needed. I was actually doing work that made a difference...and as selfish as that sounds...it felt really good.

So now we just need an epic dumping of snow on the ground...and the holidays will be in full swing! We are taking our Imani Christmas card pictures this week...so get excited...the blog will be updated later this week with all of our adorable pictures and updates

I'm thankful for healthcare

I'm thankful that with health insurance reform, I won't lose my insurance if I get sick, I won't be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition, women will no longer have to pay higher premiums for equal coverage, and that I can keep my insurance even if I change or lose my job... I'm hopeful that this reform will go through, because the current health insurance situation isn't cutting it for me!

On Wednesday, we spent some time at the Hennepin County Medical Center (a few blocks from my property) to protest the cuts of General Assistance Medical Care by being part of a never ending emergency room line around the hospital. Poor people don't stop getting sick when you cut off their preventative care, they are just forced to show up at the emergency room where they cannot be turned away by law...thus a really long emergency room line and higher costs than a normal doctor.

Here's the thing...I know we are on a tight budget....but cutting preventative care is only going to create more chaos for Minnesota. Forcing people to go off their psych medication is going to lead to more homelessness, which often leads to more police action and unnecessary jail time. It is going to increase visits to the emergency room dramatically. It is going to make people decide whether to buy food or their medication, which often leads to an increase in petty crime. The bottom line is...our tax dollars are going to pay for people on GAMC whether we cut it or not...so why not treat people with respect and dignity? No one should die because of lack of health care...and I think if these budget cuts go through...it will happen...and it will affect many of our residents a great deal.

Sorry for the rant...but it had to be said.

I'm linking the testimonies St. Stephen's Human Rights (the people who organized the protest) have gathered over the last couple of months....it's pretty powerful stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJbQvK5MlvY

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

sooo I looked at the blog today and realized that my last couple of posts have been super depressing...and that ain't right. For the most part, things in Minneapolis are awesome (except this rainy Saturday morning weather)...so in the spirit of November, the month of Thanksgiving...here is a list of things I am thankful for:

1. coffee and doughnuts (esp when they are free!) on a lazy Saturday morning
2. being able to wear my uggs on the weekend
3. smart wool socks...they keep my toes warm when the heat gets shut off :)
4. having the heat fixed in our house!!! being warm never felt so good
5. snuggies...don't knock em until you live in the equivalent of Siberia like I do :)
6. Hennepin County Library Catalog...and their ability to get all the books my heart desires...and deliver them to the library a block away from me
7. having an amazing support network of family, friends, roommates and co-workers who keep me sane and always know how to cheer me up on a bad day
8. living in a city where I am constantly able to network with other people in the social service sector
9. my car. oh my goodness how would I get around this city without it!?!?
10. change...and the things I am learning from it

Love,
Maggie

Blogging Faster than Miranda

I don't have a lot of time to put thought into this post, because I am blog-racing Miranda Morgan. I hope I win.

Here are some pictures from retreat. I don't have any pictures of all of us in our Halloween contests together, but here are some winners.

I see that I lost the blog race against Miranda. Oh well.

Quotes from today

"Wouldn't it be kind of fun if we all got sick together?" -Maggie

"I'd kind of like to get H1N1 right now" -Andi

These were taken slightly out of context, but, to be honest, I really wouldn't mind if I got H1N1 right now either... I mean, it wouldn't be convenient, and I'm sure it sucks once you have it, but we could all watch Freaks and Geeks all day if we were sick.

Wow, that was a long sentence. I can't really think of much to say, but I will include this:

Yes, this is the Imani House as the Rejected Spice Girls: Retired Spice, Blue Collar Spice, Minnesota Nice Spice, Sweaty Spice, and Angsty Spice!

I'm definitely thinking about wearing my sweater again. I almost want to have an ugly sweater party just to honor it's awesomeness.

being worthy

“You do the right thing even if it makes you feel bad. The purpose of life is not to be happy but to be worthy of happiness.” -Tracy Kidder

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about this quote and what it means in the context of this year. Over the last week or so I've been feeling really disheartened about my place in the world. I'm feeling a little bit burned out. I'm having a lot of negative things kind of shoved down my throat...and they aren't feeling good. I think it would be fair to say...I'm feeling pretty bad.

I'm feeling bad about the thousands of people sleeping in the streets tonight.
I'm feeling bad that many of my single residents will soon be evicted because emergency assistance has been cut off indefinitely, many who may not have the ability to fully care for themselves.
I'm feeling bad that in March health care for the people of Minnesota will be so compromised by cuts that people (maybe some of my residents) are going to die.

I'm feeling bad because I simply have the ability to feel bad and then continue on with my life.

I have the ability to sit in my nice warm house, in my nice warm bed, with a cup of hot cocoa and walk away from work at the end of the day. I think I am probably on the verge of swine flu...but if I get sick, I know I can go to the doctor. If I became really really sick, my family would help take care of me, and help pay my medical bills. This is the reality of my life. but do I really deserve it? What makes me so worthy of these privileges? What makes me so different than the kids I saw in a homeless shelter yesterday? How did I get so lucky, while so many did not? I just can't seem to figure it out.

I'm trying to do the right thing even if it feels bad. I'm trying to sift through these thoughts even if they make me uncomfortable. I'm pushing through work even though I am feeling pretty burned out. I'm trying to be an advocate for those who don't have a voice in this battle against poverty and oppression....and I'm just hoping that it makes me worthy of the things that I have been given and the joy I receive everyday from those I surround myself with.

Anti-Racism Reflection (I couldn't think of a creative title)

Well, retreat is tomorrow so now seems like as good of a time as any to finish the retreat homework. I guess when I heard we had "homework" I knew I would wait until the last possible second to actually do it. Actually, the last possible second would be tomorrow, so I'm feeling pretty good about the fact that I am definitely going to be done waaaay before I had to be.


I must admit that even after reading all of the summer LVC readings, attending two days of workshops in DC, watching all three episodes of Race: The Power of an Illusion, and doing the required readings for retreat, I am still struggling to find a way to be actively anti-racist. I probably will continue to struggle with this (I guess you're supposed to... I'm not going to elaborate on that today since I'm trying to say on topic). It's so easy to say that you will cultivate friendships with your community and consistantly discuss how racism affects society when you are in a classroom. In reality, it's hard to know what action to take to work to dismantle racism in society.

To further complicate matters, when thinking about racism, it's natural to also begin to ponder it's connection to other injustices that exist in society.

I have thus concluded that the only way to actively dismantle racism in society is to take some form of action. One way that I have noticed that racism perpetuates itself in society is through anti-immigrant bias. Thus, for my reflection, I decided one way I could work for change would be to educate myself more on immigrant rights and immigration trends.

Conveniently enough, The Advocates has a website dedicated to this very pursuit... check it out!
(www.energyofanation.org).


I must admit (embarrassingly enough) that in the past I have not been the world's best person at contacting elected officials or others in positions of power to express opinions. However, in response to all we have learned, I felt like it was time for me to take some concrete action.

So... I would like to encourage anyone who reads this to contact their church leaders about supporting immigration reform. All you have to do is go to The Advocates for Human Rights and find the event called "Tell your faith leaders to defend the human rights of immigrants"... I think the event was actually on October 20th but you can still open the link. Trust me, as a non-experienced letter-writer, they made it totally painless and easy to contact church leaders.

Ok, that's all for now! Check back soon to hear all about retreat and hopefully see some Halloween pictures!

looking back and moving forward

This weekend was homecoming at Elon...and it's weird to say I wasn't really disappointed that I wasn't there. I look back at the time I spent there, the people I met, the classes I took, the things I learned...and they all seem so insignificant in comparison to what has happened since moving to Minneapolis in August. Don't get me wrong, Elon changed me, and I am thankful for the people who influenced me during my time there. I had some amazing mentors and made some incredible friends...but part of it just seems surreal. Lets just put it this way...Elon didn't really foster an inclusive and diverse community of people. When the nickname for your school is "the bubble"...you know there is something a little bit off. I wouldn't say that Elon was a racist school, but I spent alot of time yelling at people about making racist jokes. I thought I had this race thing all figured out. If I wasn't supporting outward acts of racism...I was helping to end it...gosh I was naive.

My parents paid for me to go to a private university, travel all over the world, volunteer instead of working to actually get paid, and I took it all as a given. I was raised to believe that these were the things I deserved if I put an ounce of effort into getting them....And then I joined LVC, moved to "the wrong side of town" and worked for an organization that provides low income housing...and I realized that racism pervades so much further than just the outward obvious acts of racism that happen every day. Being white and taking advantage of all the privileges that go along with that make me inherently racist. Because I was born middle/upper class white I have been given the automatic green light to so many things in this world...and while it has been wonderful for me...I'm starting to wonder...at what expense was I able to get these privileges? I see how unfair my life is in comparison to the people of color in my neighborhood, and the people I work with at the properties. Many of their lives have never come easy. There are roadblocks, and wrong turns, and lots of red lights simply because of who their family is, and the color of their skin. These revelations are frustrating and painful because the injustice is so pervasive and I see it everyday...and I am part of the problem. So these thoughts leave me in an interesting place...what do I do to become truly anti-racist? Do I sell all my earthly belongings and give them to people of color? Do I feel sorry for myself and realize that there is really nothing I can do to solve this enormous and pervasive problem?

As I look back on my past and live in my present, I realize that in order to have a future that is more socially just, the conversations I have entered into about race need to happen, not just in LVC but between all my friends, family, co-workers...and really...anyone who is willing to enter into this conversation with me. The only way to tackle this huge beast we are up against is to enter into honest dialogue about it. So there's my offer and best possible solution for the time being. Lets converse and get anti-racial.

Love,
Maggie

Searching for fulfillment

"I am one of the searchers. There are, I believe, millions of us. We are not unhappy, but neither are we really content. We continue to explore life, hoping to uncover its ultimate secret. We continue to explore ourselves, hoping to understand. We like to walk along the beach, we are drawn by the ocean, taken by its power, its unceasing motion, its mystery and unspeakable beauty. We like forests and mountains,, deserts and hidden rivers, and the lonely cities as well. Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as is our laughter. To share our sadness with one we love is perhaps as great a joy as we can know - unless it be to share our laughter.

We searchers are ambitious only for life itself, for everything beautiful it can provide. Most of all we love and want to be loved. We want to live in a relationship that will not impede our wandering, nor prevent our search, nor lock us in prison walls; that will take us for what little we have to give. We do not want to prove ourselves to another or compete for love.

For wanderers, dreamers, and lovers, for lonely men and women who dare to ask of life everything good and beautiful." -James Kavanaugh

I think when I was looking at AmeriCorps programs to join this year, LVC stuck out to me because they cared not only about the work we were doing, but about our personal and spiritual development. Being in LVC this year has forced me to look at myself (sometimes in not such a pretty light) and how I view the world around me. I think living with total strangers is always an interesting way to not only getting to know others, but to re-acquaint yourself with…yourself. I have become totally conscious of the things that push my buttons. I have also tuned into the things I do that are probably really annoying (and not normal) to other people who haven’t known me for very long. In order to get ready for our retreat and in preparation to create our covenant we all took anenneagram test (if you haven’t done this…you should!) and it ended up describing me perfectly.

“Sevens are extroverted, optimistic, versatile, and spontaneous. Playful, high-spirited, and practical, they can also misapply their many talents, becoming over- extended, scattered, and undisciplined. They constantly seek new and exciting experiences, but can become distracted and exhausted by staying on the go. They typically have problems with impatience and impulsiveness. At their Best: they focus their talents on worthwhile goals, becoming appreciative, joyous, and satisfied. “

This could not be any more accurate. I decide things on a whim and run with them. I would say that I end up following through on about 1 in 10 of every idea I come up with. I am always searching for the next adventure. Always trying to figure out what is going to change my life and challenge me into the me I want to be. I love LVC because it is forcing me to settle down for a year, look at who I am and what I value...and sit with those thoughts instead of running off to some new adventure when things get tough. I am truly appreciative of how humbling and satisfying the experiences I have had through my travels and LVC have been. They have shaped me into such a different person, and for that I am thankful, but I still long for more. “On a very deep level, Sevens do not feel that they can find what they really want in life.” I think my constant desire for adventures leave me questioning what I actually want next. I think this is a tension I have felt since high school and have never been able to express. One experience has been built on the back of the last, and the adventures just get more and more intense...but my thirst for life is never quenched. This is a tension I have been feeling at work everyday. Although, I love my residents, I’m not sure I feel totally fulfilled in what I am doing. I don’t feel I am doing enough…and I feel that there are so many other things I could be doing. My soul is longing for adventure yet also begging for something that makes me want to settle down. I want something worth sticking around for….and that just hasn’t happened yet. I was hoping that LVC would help me find what I really wanted in life, but in reality it has only opened about 10 more outlets for what to do next. While I am thankful for this…the confusion in my life is ridiculous.

With that being said…my heart has been leaning towards travelling for a while after my commitment to LVC is over. (staying in the US for more than a year without travelling just seems wrong to me) I have debated doing Young Adults in Global Mission (which is really similar to LVC …just abroad), going to India to do yoga, going back to Kenya, or travelling to Palestine. Right now I’m leaning towards Palestine simply because I think it gives me the chance to apply myself in a different way than when I was in East Africa. It’s a new culture full of new issues to grapple with. I recently watched a movie with a few of the other LVCers in the twin cities, which furthered my interest in the region….and it just feels like the next step. But who knows…I change my plans every couple weeks…so you never know. haha. Here is the link to the movie trailer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAhcuLGU6h0 I encourage everyone to check this movie out.

All and all things at the Imani house are good. We fell short on our green goal this past week...but we are working to get back on track. We are excited to have several house guests this weekend and for our retreat next weekend! Expect another blog about anti-racism and our covenant soon!

Love,

Maggie

Christmas season is upon us....Kinda

So after long weeks at work I think all of us are appreciative of the weekends...even if they are a little bit chilly these days! I think I can speak for all of us when I say that there are definitely good days and bad days at work. There are always challenges when working at non-profits and I have really been struggling lately to stay swimming above water. There are days I have worked overtime until 11pm trying to get residents the social services they need and deserve, but then there are days where I am literally out of work by 10am and I feel that I am being totally under utilized. By Friday, I am always thankful to get out of the office and forget about everything for 2 days. With that being said...it has been a very exciting weekend at the Imani house! There had been rumors that there could be snow this weekend...but I think we were all in a bit of denial about it but low and behold on Saturday morning we woke up to a fresh layer of snow everywhere. Unfortunately...my car doors were also frozen shut. In the spirit of simplicity and sustainability Mary Eileen and I rode our bikes to the post office this morning. It was a little bit cold...but it was sort of a refreshing way to start the day. People at the post office were pretty impressed with our tenacity!
This weekend was also the first annual Lowry Harvest Festival. For those of you that don't know...we live on Lowry Avenue, and it used to be a pretty rough street to live on. In the past couple of years they have done a ton of renovation to make it way safer AND more appealing to the eye. We now have better lit streets, bike paths, and these strange little statues on each street corner (I wish I could explain them better...) It was a good way for us to get out of the house...luckily this celebration was not ended with gunshots (apparently the last time North Minneapolis had a festival like this...someone got shot. yikes). It was a very nice and calm little street get together. We met a few neighbors and got alot of freebies, which are always great!


Because we are on such a tight budget we are having to get creative with our entertainment. This weekend we made ourselves a mailbox...exciting right!?! Almost everything (everything but the pretty paper) was recycled from stuff we already, and now we won't lose our mail!

We also make a green goal every week. Since we haven't been blogging since the beginning we are already:

1. the mellow yellow rule (don't flush your pee unless it is super yellow to save water)
2. use gray water (what we wash our dishes with) to water our house plants
3. using a compost for our food scraps
4. using eco-friendly dish soap (so it doesn't hurt our plants)
   
5. using eco-friendly laundry detergent (no phosphorus)
   

We have been getting a lot of pesky junk mail lately so this week we are going to try and get off some of those lists so we aren't wasting so much paper and ink!

We are always open to new "green goals"...so if you have any ideas...please feel free to comment!

Because we don't have access to a gym (there are no gyms in north minneapolis...and we probably couldn't afford it anyways) Mary Eileen managed to get us an old school work out bike and treadmill for the basement. Now we just have to create a spot down there where it can all actually fit so us girls can start working out again!!! so....time to get back to work!!

Love,
Maggie

we're still waiting for official MTV endorsements....

Hey! This is the official Imani House blog that unfortunately is not officially sponsored by MTV. To be honest...the whole experience of being a member of Lutheran Volunteer Corps and living in North Minneapolis is entirely too real for the real world. We have real jobs. We take the bus. We occasionally have jam sessions to old school 90s music....and sometimes we pretend to be ninjas.

Also, our house has textured walls. some of them are also eggplant purple.


So... the exciting news of today is that we made a funfetti cake. Unfortunately, now that it is cooked, our stomachs hurt too badly to eat it. This is due to the fact that we didn't own a pan large enough to hold all of the batter, so we had to eat a large portion of it. We have gotten really creative on how to feed ourselves on $3.30 per day...more stories to come on that in the future :)

This blog promises to be as addicting as MTV's Real World, but (hopefully) far less obnoxious. Check back soon to hear about the LOWRY HARVEST FESTIVAL, attempt at cleaning the basement, and more...!

Love,

Maggie and Miranda