MLK Work Week

If the number of hours of sleep it takes to recover from an experience is any determination of how much impact it has had on you, then count this one in the top ten: I've just woken up after 15 hours of sleep.
Rebuilding Together National trucked all 30+ August class CapacityCorps members down to Lafayette, Louisiana to meet the new 20+ members of the January class members and spend the week 'rebuilding' 5 homes and participating in additional trainings.

It was exhausting: daily manual labor from 8am-4:30, followed by CC activities until nearly 9. Then off to walmart for wine (contraban on premises, so it had to be done stealthily) to finish off the evening in Cabin 7 with conversation until 2.
It was inspiring: seeing work done SO quickly on the homes every day. Surrounded by 60 people who actually love and care about what they are doing in life, who want more and want better, and think about things that are important.

The home that I worked on received: new garage roof, a wheelchair ramp, gutted and completed redone bathroom, new kitchen cabinets, flooring throughout, patched siding, and exterior painting.


Gettin things done for America




Kira, my partner in crime


The cast iron tub was literally floating over this gaping hole in the bathroom floor


The campsite we stayed at


Patching siding is extremely difficult and tiring work




The last-day crew and homeowners

More can be found here: MLK Work Week album

Quarterly Reflection

It is heartening when a tentative idea is met with overflowing enthusiasm. It is even more heartening when the project sounds fun, and meaningful, and has the potential to make real change. I’ve been feeling this way about my personal project… and although taking a few pictures of some old houses isn’t going to make Aurora a thriving, restored community, I’ve already begun singling out the homeowner’s I’ve met that have compelling histories, that would be the most interesting or willing to share, and who can tell the story of this community in exciting ways. There’s so much truth in saying passion is infectious. Since receiving support from Brandi, the photo teacher at the High School I’ll be working directly with, I’ve had 2 offers to come and speak “formally” about the awesomeness of AmeriCorps, and a handful of friends have pledged interest in helping out with the project.

I’ve also been feeling this way since my weekend in Twin Cities. Over beers at a trendy brewery near Erin’s neighborhood, I had the opportunity to connect with 3 outrageously passionate people pushing for change in the neglected neighborhoods of Minneapolis. They have big ideas, really big ones, the kind that are kind of scary, and definitely awe inspiring. But their passion is like electricity and you can’t help but get charged up when you sit down for a few minutes to just talk about the potential for the future. This is how real change happens: you’ve just got to charge up enough people.

These are the best things about AmeriCorps. I like the food stamps, I like the education stipend, and I like the way people pretend to be impressed when you tell them you “serve” with a non profit. But mostly I love the way I can stand behind what I do with my time, the freedom the program gives its members to do something daring, and the credibility the program gives a just-graduated-and-I-really-don’t-know-much kid to go out and do something new and put dreams into reality.

Visualizing the Need

I posted this several weeks ago on the Rebuilding Together Aurora blog, but keep thinking about it and wanted to share it here too.

Rebuilding Together Aurora provides home repair to low income home owners residing in Aurora. Surrounded by some of the wealthiest Chicagoland suburbs, Aurora is an island of poverty, crime, and poor education. There are definitely very fine points to Aurora, and it has a fantastic history, but for many many years was abandoned by all who could escape and has been slowly decaying since. Like Detroit and Buffalo, Aurora had its heyday at the beginning of the 20th century and has incredible architectural relics of that era. Over half of the homes were build before 1940, and something like 20% were build before 1920!

The New York Times just came out with this handy interactive map displaying key data from the 2009 census. And while it's fun to zoom around places like NYC and see the patchwork collage of demographic statistics, it also provides a very real reminder of the importance and need in our own community. Here are just a few:


The median household income for central Aurora is $25,000 or less, and the majority of the Aurora township falls beneath $50,000.


While a concentration of wealth lies at the perimeter of Aurora...


... a shockingly disproportionate number of households earn less than $30,000 a year within Aurora itself.


The median monthly rent in Aurora hovers between $500-$999...


... and yet 60-80% of the households in our key neighborhoods pay 30% or more of their monthly income to cover the cost of their mortgage...


... While home values continue to fall drastically at the city center.