I won't use names in this post, just first letters... but today's events has shown me that my work in not in vain, and that it's worth the effort. I hope it encourages you too.
I am in Detroit, Michigan. For those readers who don't know, I lived in Detroit from September of 2006 to August 2007. It was a year of service with an organization called Youth Works Detroit. They run programs for children, youth, schools, and have a small community in the woodbridge area called Detroit Community Outreach.
It was a challenging, formative, and beautiful year for me. I served, voluntarily, with the after school program called Bezalel, the high school youth group, school programs and retreats, and a bit of office administration. I also worked about 30 hours a week in order to pay rent. It was an intense year.
Obviously, throughout this year working with the young people from the local projects, we form relationships. I met a family who had been in touch with Youth Works for some good amount of time. The first people I met from their family were J and C, both of them were wild, and often disrupted our after school program. Then their sister H started coming around. She volunteered with us for about 6 weeks and H and I became close.
We, the staff of the afterschool program, use to argue with J a lot about whether or not we could bring her little sister D home with us in the vans when we picked J and the other kids up from school. D was 5 years old at the time, a small, skinny wide eyed child in a harsh environment. This was 5 years ago.
J, C, H and D are now part of the YouthWorks family. We haven't "fixed" them... C is not in school these days, he got kicked out. H just had a baby. J is a good kid, still spending a lot of time with Youth Works. And D is now in the afterschool program which J went through when I was living in Detroit.
Today I visited their house. I have regularly come back to Detroit since I left, it's a place I feel I should continue to show my face and give some love. I usually see J and D, and sometimes C. I hadn't seen H in about 3.5 years.
J is leaving for the summer, so a friend who knows their family wanted to go say good bye. When J opened the door she looked at me and suddenly yelled "NOELLE"! She gave me a HUGE hug and asked what I was doing there. J yelled up the stairs who we were, and soon H came down the stairs, holding her beautiful 2 month old child.
We went out and sat on the stoop. I held the baby and talked to both H and J with my friend. I grilled H about being a good mom, and tried to encourage her to get some mothering advice. As I held her baby, I also got to hold her. Wrapping my arm around her shoulder she put her head on mine and just let me hug her. She seems tired, she's seen the rough side of life. It was so beautiful just to be able to tell her how much I love her.
J is doing well. I'm proud of her. She is still so very much herself; loud, and funny, she will finish school soon, which is in an of its self a miracle.
As we are visiting on the step, someone comes riding up on a bike. Tall and skinny, J says "Hey that's P (a family nickname for D)!" So I go running after her, a normal tradition by now.
As I am running after her, she says, laughingly with a giant smile on her face; "don't want to see you cause I'm mad at you!" I, still chasing her, ask why. Finally I catch her and she tells me it's because I missed Partner Day.
For several years after I lived in Detroit, I helped paid for D to attend the afterschool Bezalel. This is a beautiful partner program, where the young people get a chance to spend time with the people sponsoring them, so they form a strong relationship with them.
I told her that I was in Africa, and reminded her that I had sent her a picture and letter. I could tell she was totally faking the "being mad" ... then later she admitted she forgot my name, before running off laughing. The 5 of us spent about 45 minutes just visiting and talking about different things. Later I got a bit of time with D, who was sad to hear I wouldn't be in Detroit all summer. I think I'll stop over there again before I go to give her a gift.
I have known D, H, J and C for 5 years. I have visited regularly during that time, trying in some very small way to stay in these peoples lives. Did it stop H from having a baby with no Daddy, no. But maybe knowing me and Youth Works Detroit will help her be a better mother. Is C still in school? No, but I know that Youth Works will ever give up on him. Will J finish high school, unlike the others in her family? Yes, and I can say for sure that it is due to our influence. Will D grow up to be one amazing adult? I really hope so. I am pulling for her.
It's been 5 years. We still laugh, and tease. I still miss D's sarcasm because she's so good. We hug a lot, and remember old times. H can be weak with me, what is that? I don't know... something beautiful. We talk about people who've come and gone... through YouthWorks, and through the Projects.
This is a hard place. And yet, suddenly, unexpectedly, a flower breaks through the concrete, and love is the only thing that makes sense.
Thank you for your encouragement, support, love and prayers throughout the years as I have volunteered in 10 countries around the world. This story is for you as much as it is for me.
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