Work and play in the ATL

I am settled into my home and my volunteer placement site in Atlanta, and I am loving it! My job and living situation are full of acronyms so here are a few definitions:

Officially, I am a YAV (Young Adult Volunteer) with the Presbyterian Church USA. YAVs live and volunteer for one year in one of 15 sites domestically and abroad. Katie and I are representin' in Hotlanta this year.

My site placement is with a nonprofit called DOOR (Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection). This organization plans short term mission trips for youth. These youth groups come to Atlanta for up to a week to volunteer in different human service agencies around the city and to participate in reflection, worship, and programming focused on various urban issues. I am the assistant coordinator, which means that I help with organizing DOOR fundraisers, coordinating DOOR mission groups, and overseeing Dwell (see below) community activities. Because the majority of the mission groups come in the summer, in the meantime, I am volunteering in the 30 plus nonprofit agencies that DOOR groups visit. (That is not a type-o, t-h-i-r-t-y organizations). This is my favorite part of the job because I’m getting a great overview of the nonprofit landscape here and am gaining insight into how different agencies approach the same issues. I could not have created a better placement!

I live in a very purple house that happens to be an intentional Christian community called Dwell, also part of the DOOR program. There are two Dwell houses in Atlanta. My 6 roommates, all older than me by 2-13 yrs, have different jobs around Atlanta; they have much to teach me! There is a nursing student, a 2 year old kindergarten teacher, 2 ordained ministers, a graphic designer, and a middle school youth group leader. We share meals, chores, living space, and participate in a year long curriculum. To sit at the kitchen table is to be swept up in discussions about social justice issues, diseases resulting from genetic mutations, dating woes, reformed theology, website layout, and potty training 2 year olds.

A typical day in the life of this YAV? Every day is different! The schedule keeps me on my toes and tests my self discipline because I am in charge of deciding when and where I will volunteer. Below is a snapshot of what might happen in a week, based on the 6 I have experienced so far.

Monday:

Volunteer at Café 458, a soup kitchen that serves its homeless clients in the style of a regular restaurant.

Paint doors for the DOOR fundraiser (Yes, 22 actual doors were used as display boards. They were heavy.)

Cook dinner for 7.

Community night discussion about hospitality to the stranger.

Tuesday Volunteer at the Open Door, an intentional community that serves brunch to homeless friends.

Play tennis with one of my housemates.

Attend volunteer orientation at Atlanta Union Mission, a shelter for over 700 men, women, and children.

Wednesday Volunteer at Central Outreach and Advocacy Center, an agency that provides IDs, birth certificates, and other services to homeless guests*

Go to a peace rally/lecture by Ann Wright marking the 8^th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan.

Thursday Arts and crafts with the mentally ill at the Friendship Center.

Pick up tools for a Dwell house repair work day.

Read and summarize Mission Trips that Matter, a book recommended for DOOR mission teams.

Go to the Atlanta Philosophical Film Festival (as weird as you might expect).

Friday Deliver meals to recipients of Project Open Hand food.

Get lost. Get stuck in traffic.

Stroll around the nearby park with our house dog, Kai.

Go to a neighborhood party with members of the other Dwell house.

Saturday Attempt to tame the weeds in the front yard.

Have dinner with homeless neighbors that live under the I-20 bridge.

Go salsa dancing.

Sunday Bike/MARTA to church with one of my housemates.

Visit with my cousins/aunts/uncles that live in Atlanta.

I am trying to be a sponge and I can feel myself being stretched by new ideas and experiences! Each day is a new adventure.

* Note the different language used to refer to the homeless at each different agency.