The Logistics of Showing Up

2023-2024 Precious Blood Volunteer, Anna Nowalk

Anna Nowalk, Precious Blood Volunteer

When I heard that the general stipend for Precious Blood Volunteers was $250 per month, plus an additional food stipend, I was confident in my ability to spend within that budget. Sure, my coffee beans might get a little pricey, but my food and housing were already covered, so really, what else was there?

In my volunteer covenant, I wrote that I would not spend over the provided amount, figuring it was a fairly low bar. What I didn’t sufficiently consider was the cost of travel: a single round trip to see my family at Thanksgiving was over my monthly budget. My parents have kindly agreed to sponsor my holiday flights to Pittsburgh, but without being able to rely on their resources or my own sav- ings, seeing my family during the holidays would be in a far more precarious position.

Transportation may not be considered a “need” like food, water, shelter, or air, but I’ve gained an increased understanding of its importance during my time as a Volunteer. This is the first time that I’ve lived far enough from home that a plane ride is my only real travel option. I actually purchased multiple tickets within the same month in an attempt to avoid the higher prices I (correctly) feared I’d come across if I waited. However, I recognize that not everyone has the means to drop hundreds of dollars at once on multiple flights, especially if they’re living paycheck-to-pay-check. I’m privileged enough that attempting to live on a Volunteer stipend can be an experiment, rather than a necessity; on solely a Volunteer budget, it’s possible that price increases may have continuously put a trip out of my reach, even if I eventually saved enough to have purchased the original flights together.

Anna Nowalk, far left, at PBMR with Sr. Carolyn Hoying, Diana Rubio and Sr. Pauline Siesegh

The cost of long-distance travel and the way it can impact the time we spend with our loved ones isn’t the only realization I’ve had. I didn’t bring a car with me when I moved, and after having attended a university in New York City for four years, I frankly don’t trust my driving skills enough to get on the road. As such, I have to rely on one of my housemates for a ride to and from Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation (PBMR), my Volunteer placement, putting me at the mercy of their schedules. When I get home late, it’s often because I’m being driven home by someone who is transporting participants. Sometimes this takes five minutes; sometimes it takes 30. Taking people home is a time-consuming task.

When this means getting home at 7:30 pm, the loss of personal time can be frustrating. And yet, a person’s ability to simply get to PBMR is the foundation upon which many of our activities rest. Participants can’t participate in certain activities without being at the locations in which they’re happening.

The importance of location extends beyond mere logistics. PBMR strives to create a safe space for participants, a place where community members can feel at peace and at home. Even in the pandemic, the organization continued to provide in-person services.

The center on S. Elizabeth Street and The Front Porch nearby are spaces where community can grow. Togetherness in physical space underlies one of our core values: radical hospitality. When I think of radical hospitality, I imagine people welcoming others into a space. When I think of accompaniment, I visualize a person walking alongside someone else. These tenets of PBMR conjure images of care made tangible by the presence of a loving person. The phrase “ministry of presence” is an apt way to describe what PBMR aims to provide: relationship comes before programming. We’re here for people. We show up.

Transportation determines our interactions with space, and consequently, with our work and with others. The availability of safe, convenient and affordable transportation shapes whether we can hug the people we love, as well as our access a safe space, whether we desire to find healing there ourselves or want to accompany others. Transportation governs our ability to literally show up.

There’s a strong argument to be made that sometimes, the destination is more important than the journey, especially when the destination is a place like PBMR and the journey is an hour-long bus ride. Nevertheless, arrival at the destination cannot happen without an accessible and functional mode of transportation. While it may not be a “need” in the proper sense, it is certainly a necessity.

Anna is serving as a Precious Blood Volunteer at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation in Chicago, Illinois. Go to preciousbloodvolunteers.org to learn more about Precious Blood Volunteers.

2023-2024 Precious Blood Volunteers: Claire Downs

2023-2024 Precious Blood Volunteer, Claire Downs

Meet Claire Downs! She’s one of the 2023-2024 Precious Blood Volunteers.

Claire graduated from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Claire has a degree in biology and a double minor in public health and psychology. She will be serving at KC CARE Health Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Her main duties at KC CARE will be serving as a community health worker. As a community health worker she will help address the needs of KC CARE’s patients that impact their overall health. Claire will be the first of our volunteers to work as a community health worker. In the past our volunteers have served as medical assistants. This will give our volunteers an opportunity to walk more closely, and learn from, the people KC CARE serves.

Why do you want to volunteer?

“I want to volunteer to put the faith that I have been working to grow into action and serve others. I want every person that I meet to know that they are loved and that they are worthy. My goal is to live my life from a place of empathy and compassion, a life that comes from giving of myself to the Lord and living out the mission of Precious Blood!”

Why do you want to volunteer with Precious Blood Volunteers?

“I love the way that Precious Blood works with programs that are already in place to serve those in need, bringing the mission of relationship and reconciliation into the heart of these organizations. It allows me to use my gifts in a new form of service for the Lord!”

What are you looking forward to about your volunteer experience?

“I am excited to build community with others who are trying to live out Christ’s love. I am also excited to encounter the Lord through everyone that I meet and to have conversations with the people I’m serving!”

Learn more about Precious Blood Volunteers at preciousbloodvolunteers.org.

2023-2024 Precious Blood Volunteers: Anna Nowalk

2023-2024 Precious Blood Volunteer, Anna Nowalk

Meet Anna Nowalk! She’s one of the 2023-2024 Precious Blood Volunteers.

Anna graduated from Fordham University in Manhattan, New York. She is the first graduate of Fordham to serve as a Precious Blood Volunteer. Anna earned two degrees one in music, and the other in theology and religious studies. Anna is from Arlington, Virginia. She will be serving at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation (PBMR) in Chicago, Illinois.

Why do you want to volunteer?

“I want to volunteer because I want to put my skills at the service of a mission I believe in and spend my time in a way that both fulfills me and helps the world. Additionally, last year I was particularly concerned about orienting myself outward before I study theology in grad school. I think accompanying people who are marginalized will ground my theological education and work in what matters.”

Why do you want to volunteer with Precious Blood Volunteers?

“I was drawn in by the restorative justice happening at PBMR! I think there’s such promise in a practice like this, one that focuses on healing and relationship.”

What are you looking forward to about your volunteer experience?

“I’m looking forward to simple living in community and growing spiritually.”

Learn more about Precious Blood Volunteers at preciousbloodvolunteers.org.

 

2023-2024 Precious Blood Volunteers: Clare Brown

2023-2024 Precious Blood Volunteer, Clare Brown

Meet Clare Brown! She’s one of the 2023-2024 Precious Blood Volunteers.

Clare is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame. She earned a degree in sociology, along with supplementary majors in peace studies, and education, schooling and society. Clare is from Arlington Heights, Illinois. She will be serving at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation (PBMR) in Chicago, Illinois.

Why do you want to volunteer?

“Studying Sociology, Peace Studies, and ESS at Notre Dame greatly increased my awareness of the many ways in which interconnected structures of violence and systemic inequality perpetuate injustice within society. At the same time, my faith calls me to create God’s vision for the world despite the many complex challenges we face. I want to volunteer because it provides an opportunity to put both my education and my faith into action in pursuit of the common good.”

Why do you want to volunteer with Precious Blood Volunteers?

“I was drawn to Precious Blood Volunteers specifically because of its emphasis on seeking reconciliation and deep commitment to accompanying marginalized people. I wanted to be a part of an organization whose work contributes to making a world rooted in peace, justice, and compassion ever more possible and imminent every day. Additionally, I am looking to gain knowledge and skills related to restorative justice, and the placement at PBMR provides an opportunity to learn from people who are doing amazing work in that area.”

What are you looking forward to about your volunteer experience?

“I am looking forward to learning from the work of PBMR and the many ways in which they practice restorative justice in concrete ways. I know that I have much to learn, and I am excited to learn with and from others in the community! I can’t wait to see how God will surprise me throughout my volunteer year with relationships and challenges that push me to grow in empathy, curiosity, and commitment to the flourishing of all people.”

Learn more about Precious Blood Volunteers at preciousbloodvolunteers.org.

Volunteers Serve in Many Ways

Aaron Wise (2021), at work at KC CARE Health Center


By Tim Deveney, Precious Blood Volunteers Director

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of hearing Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, speak at the Ignatian Solidarity Network’s Teach-in for Social Justice. Fr. Boyle said we need to not “settle for just shaking your fist, roll up your sleeves to create the place where we cherish each other with every breath.” Over the last 10 years, I have seen Precious Blood Volunteers do exactly this. 

Precious Blood Volunteers is a ministry of the United States Province of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. Our volunteers serve at one of our placements in Kansas City or Chicago.

They are formed in Precious Blood spirituality by living in intentional community, walking with people who are suffering, and seeking reconciliation. 

The program was created in 2008 by the Kansas City Province. Marie Trout, then director of Companions, and Fr. Al Ebach, C.PP.S., came up with a plan to give an opportunity for lay people to live in service to others for a year as a part of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood.

Thomas (front), Michael, Mike, and Allison (2020) at Orientation at Precious Blood Renewal Center in Liberty

Since that time we have had volunteers serving people at Catholic schools, health clinics, social service centers, a hospital, an LGBTQ service center, parishes, a legal aid clinic, and at the Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation. Our volunteers have gone on to careers in medicine, education, nonprofit management, ministry and engineering. 

The volunteers who serve with us are often right out of college, but we have had people in other stages of their lives, including people in their 30s, 60s and 70s.

Our volunteers have served in a variety of roles, including teaching, mentoring, tutoring, campus ministry and coaching at Cristo Rey Kansas City High School. In Chicago at PBMR, our volunteers have worked in arts and music programs, tutoring, the woodshop, the garden, and in peace circle training. 

At Bishop Sullivan Center in Kansas City, our volunteers have helped in the food pantry, run the free restaurant, and assisted people needing help paying their utility bills. We have had volunteers serve as medical assistants at KC Care Health Center, which serves anyone regardless of their ability to pay for care.

Brooke Buth (2018) with a student at Cristo Rey KC

I am excited about what we have coming for the next volunteer cycle. Currently we have four young people committed to serving with us and we are working on finding a few more to round out the 2023–24 cohort. 

The volunteer cycle starts in late July with our orientation retreat at the Precious Blood Renewal Center (PBRC) in Liberty, Mo. During orientation, our new volunteers learn more about the Precious Blood spirituality and charism, have time to reflect on what they are being called to in their service, and better understand the expectations we have for them in their work and community life. 

Each month they will participate in spirituality/justice nights, when volunteers share the blessings and challenges of the work they are doing. We hope to have people from throughout the Precious Blood Community lead these meetings. 

Our volunteers also participate in two retreats and have other opportunities for spiritual growth. The mid-year retreat is scheduled for

Lina Guerrero (2018) with Sister Donna at PBMR

February in Chicago. At that retreat, our Kansas City based volunteers see where our Chicago-based volunteers serve and live. The mid-year retreat’s focus is seeing where God has worked in their lives over the first half of their term of service and to help them develop a focus for the last few months. 

The second last retreat is the end of year at PBRC. At this retreat, volunteers reflect on how God has worked in their lives over their term of service and to see how they want to carry forward what they have experienced. We will help our volunteers find a spiritual director if they seek it out. 

We would love to have your help in supporting our volunteers and the program in general. The most important item on the list is praying for them. Many of our volunteers have told me they felt the prayerful support of the Precious Blood community. 

Vincent Tedford (2021) working with a student at PBMR

Another way to support the volunteers is to send them cards or emails letting them know you are praying for them. If you’re in Chicago or Kansas City, you can invite them to your home for dinner, take them out for a meal or coffee, or invite them to share their experiences at a Companions gathering or Community night. If you have a background in spiritual direction or companionship you can serve as a spiritual director for one of our volunteers. 

You can follow along with what is happening with Precious Blood Volunteers by following us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

 

Tim Deveney is the director of Precious Blood Volunteers. Go to preciousbloodvolunteers.org to learn more about Precious Blood Volunteers.