Recap and Reflections

Hi blog,

It's Ben

Today is Friday, and I haven't yet blogged, nor have most people. It's been a fun, busy week, which is why I haven't been blogging, I swear.

Quick recap:
Sunday- Arrived and met JP (Juan Pablo, NOT just "Juan") the guy who runs it down here at the First Church of the Brethren in the Garfield Park neighborhood. As JP informed us, it's in the top ten most violent and impoverished neighborhoods in Chicago. Sleeping in the balcony of the sanctuary. There are three other groups also staying in the church-- one from Raleigh, NC, one from Greensboro, NC, and one from Wisconsin.

Monday- My group (Lauren, Kat, Len, and Miranda) along with group 1 went to Cornerstone, a community of people who live together and work only to feed the hungry. We helped prepare and serve lunch, did some prep for dinner, and cleaned. Good work.

Tuesday- My group went to the "Spanish Church" as JP, and now everyone, calls it. It is a church named Iglesia Misson del Valle in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, adjacent to Garfield Park, unfortunately they are moving. Before going to the church JP took us on a gentrification tour.  Humboldt Park, the neighborhood that JP grew up in, is a mostly Puerto Rican neighborhood that is quickly gentrifying. Affordable subsidized housing is being torn down and replaced by upscale condos. People that have lived in Humboldt Park their entire lives are being displaced. We worked at the church splitting hostas and moving stuff around in preparation for the church move. They are moving for multiple reasons-- They want to capitalize on the rising property values and move to a location that will be mortgage-free, they want to follow the spanish-speaking residents as they move further west, and they want a location that is more accessible for their elderly members.

Wednesday- My group worked at a community garden in the North Lawndale neighborhood. According to Margaret, the local volunteer that we worked with, the garden started around ten years ago and has a 99-year lease with the city. It lies next to two vacant lots that we helped keep up which the community garden technically illegally develops. The work was nice and hot. In the evening we went to millennium park, Lou Malnati's Pizza, and then watched "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" in the park behind the History Museum.

Thursday- All of the MPUC youth worked at the Spanish Church, packing tons of stuff into a big van and hauling it over to the thrift store that the church operates a few blocks away, and putting it into the basement. After a few hours of work the other groups joined us and the women from the Spanish Church cooked us fried chicken and rice and beans and it was delicious.

Friday- I went with the group to wicker park, a trendy hipster neighborhood. We went to a great bookstore, a thrift shop, Cheesy's: an all-grilled-cheese place, a bookcafe, and an ice cream spot so good that it may even be the best I've ever been to. Another group went to the Art Institute. We did our closing ceremony in central park, near where we're staying. We went to the Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen for dinner which was also delicious.

Two things have really struck me this week: The way that the city is changing, and the people that are working to change it.

It's hard not to have mixed feelings about gentrification. I look around and think "Wow, this neighborhood looks really nice," but I know that the people who have lived there their entire lives don't get to experience that niceness because rising rent and property tax pushes them out. How can gentrification be good for a neighborhood if it loses its community in the process? So much to think about. I still haven't figured it out.

The people we have met and worked with are incredibly passionate, strong, and hopeful. The seemingly impossible challenge of bringing peace, justice, and harmony to the impoverished and violent parts of Chicago has become the lives of these people. JP has inspired me to no end. His story is one of so much pain and confusion and despair, but isn't really mine to tell. I can say that he has mounted overwhelming odds because of his strength and god's help. He has become a person that devotes his life, not just his job but his life, to the service of people and the community. He has gotten through so much personally, and still retains an amazing ability to be selfless. On Tuesday, while we were at the Spanish Church, we needed work gloves. He offered to walk down to Wallgreen's to grab some, and out of nowhere, he told me to come with him. I got the chance to tell him about the Twin Cities, and and myself, and I got to hear more about him. We didn't find any gloves at Wallgreen's, but on the way back he told me to duck into this Puerto Rican restaurant. "I want you to try this" he told me, and explained to me the selection of fried foods in a glass case at their takeout counter. I ended up with a fried ball of meat and plaintains, a malto soda, and some bread pudding. My walk with JP was probably the highlight of the whole trip for me. There were so many others: Latere, Pastor Rosa, the women at the Spanish Church, Margaret, and more that I hope others blog about, because their stories are so incredible.

It has been such a blast. I've managed to read two books already, between the ride down and all the time on the Blue Line.

Love you mom, see you tomorrow.

What a trip.

Until next time,
Ben Bushnell