Daily Archives: May 11, 2017

Spring is the busiest time of year for Derrin Slack. In April, he managed 21 service projects.

The executive director of ProAct, an Indianapolis nonprofit, works with kids ages 10 to 18 to connect them with community projects so the youth gain skills and confidence while the community benefits from their work.

Seven years ago, when Slack was 22, he founded the organization, and hes been steadily building it since. It now employs a director of social engagement and several site leaders and interns.

Youth workers like Slack are deeply committed to a mission, but focusing strongly on the needs of others can often leave youth workers themselves unsustained.

As a youth worker, we get so caught up in other peoples problems that we forget our own [needs], he said.

Last year, however, Slack took time to attend four three-day retreats that support youth workers professional development and help them renew and recharge.

The retreats are led by The Journey, an Indiana nonprofit that supports the renewal and professionalization of youth workers, which also created Thank a Youth Worker Day in 2009. The day is celebrated internationally on May 11 this year.

Through the gatherings, Slack shared his experiences with a broad range of people in the field, including attorneys who advocate for youth.

It was time to be around like-minded individuals who understand how youth work is, he said. It was time to step back to remind myself why I do what I do.

Youth workers can sometimes feel alone, Slack said. Other people doing different work may not understand.

The biggest takeaway [from the retreats], Slack said, is that Its OK to take the time out for myself.

When Slack needs to wind down, he writes in a journal, reads for pleasure or catches up with friends.

But he said he has also changed the culture of his organization.

ProAct encourages its staff to attend conferences and to take time for self-renewal to focus on a personal goal, spend time with family or simply rest, he said.

The organization now includes a strengths-finder assessment when staff come on board and a process for certification through the Child and Youth Care Certification Institute.

ProAct engages youth in community service projects that allow them to develop skills and confidence. Kids 10 to 18 organize projects, plan events, handle logistics, meet new people and learn about neighborhoods beyond their own.

The idea for ProAct was born when Slack was a college student. Along with 19 other football players at Wabash College, he took part in a mission trip to Botswana.

It ignited a fire in me, he said.

He said he realized then that every person has something of value that can help others.

But he didnt see any organizations that were connecting disadvantaged youth to others in order to build the kids character and self-esteem through community service.

He developed ProAct as an out-of-school-time program giving youth the opportunity to build and support the community.

In ProActs after-school and Saturday programs, kids learn how to plan events, handle logistics and gather information. They learn about communities outside of their own and gain understanding of the issues in different neighborhoods.

Young people are not the recipient of community service, but creators and performers of it, according to ProAct.

They become more informed, reflective and intentional, according to the organization.

They build confidence and self-esteem, Slack said.

And the youth workers who support them should also find support through ProAct to develop professionally and personally, Slack believes.

Read more here:

Thank a Youth Worker Day: Self-renewal Important for Those Who Champion Kids, Nonprofit Founder Says - Youth Today

Notes from the Field includes reports from young people volunteering in ministries of Catholic sisters. A partnership withCatholic Volunteer Network, the project began in the summer of 2015. This is our fifth round of bloggers: Katie Delaney is a Good Shepherd Volunteer withthe Fundacin Madre Josefa (Mother Joseph Foundation)inSantiago, Chile, and Lauren Magee is a Good Shepherd Volunteerat Hands of Hope, an income-generating project that provides dignified employment for villagers living with HIV/AIDS in Nong Khai, Thailand.

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Good Shepherd Volunteers live under the four tenets of social justice, spirituality, simplicity and community. Many aspects of the program challenge and encourage growth within the tenets, but it is the responsibility of individuals to pursue opportunities provided and reflect upon these values in their daily lives.

A variety of social justice issues are intertwined in all of our service sites. Simplicity is promoted in our modest stipend; and weekly reflections, quotes and prayers foster spiritual awareness. Traditionally, the tenet of community is defined by living alongside fellow Good Shepherd Volunteers, sharing in your experience and committing yourselves to one another.

This held true my first year with the Good Shepherd Volunteers, but since beginning my second year in Thailand, my community has been outside the norm.

I try to live without too many expectations because life is unpredictable, but I've learned that sometimes expectations are subconscious, and you don't realize you have them until they are unfulfilled.

I accepted my position atHands of Hopewith the knowledge that I would be joining a married couple, John and Susan Freund, who had been serving in Nong Khai for a year. The arrangement was for them to overlap with me and another Good Shepherd Volunteer for six months, and the two of us would complete our year as a pair.

However, we were unable to secure a fourth volunteer, and suddenly my future community in the program became uncertain. I had already met the Freunds at my first orientation, and the unique dynamics this new community would require did not intimidate me. I was confident we could thrive as a trio, and we did!

Lotte says farewell to the Garden Community and receives a gift from a special patient. (Lauren Magee)

But as I looked ahead to their departure, I felt insecure. Since I moved to Thailand in August, I only knew how to live there with them by my side.

I was open to the idea of continuing alone, but eight months seemed extensive. As my conversations with staff continued, fate intervened and brought a Danish volunteer named Lotte into consideration. She had a job commitment starting in the spring, so her time at the care center was limited to three months. Her background in nursing was an asset, and her presence undoubtedly helped ease the transition of John and Susan's departure. She arrived Feb. 1, only a day after John and Susan left.

A week has passed since Lotte left the community. I have never lived alone and, as a womanobsessed with intentional communities, I never planned to. Community has given me confidence and understanding in who I am in relation to others. But now is the time to learn who I am with just myself.

When the opportunity arose, I couldn't seem to turn down the challenge. I have just finished my first week alone, and I'm not naive enough to think these next five months will be as smooth, but I'm hopeful.

I'm sure I'll miss many things: speaking English at home, sharing the responsibilities of cooking and cleaning, gathering every night around the dinner table, sharing with a fellow volunteer the struggle of understanding Thai cultural norms, and simply learning about someone else's day and sharing my own. I continuously miss John, Susan and Lotte, not only because of what they did, but because of who they are.

But sometimes we need deficits to open ourselves up for growth.

A traditional offering at a Buddhist temple in Vientiane, Laos. Many bring food or flowers to the spirits at the temple in return for their blessing. (Lauren Magee)

The truth is, it's impossible for me to truly be alone. I live among a large group of patients, families and staff who are always caring for me. They've witnessed countless volunteers adjust to different living situations, but it makes them uneasy to think I won't have a partner with a similar cultural background to confide in as I finish my service here.

I understand that culture has a huge influence on behavior and self-identity, but more and more, I find similarities between my personality and that of the patients, Hands of Hope producers and Thai staff. These similarities overshadow many of our differences.

Humor is my favorite tool in building connections, and physical comedy appears to be universal. I can laugh alongside the patients when someone goofs around during daily exercises or when someone tries a facial mask for the first time, appearing with black goo all over their face.

We can all dance together in harmony, enjoying both Thai and Western songs while combining traditional Thai hand movements with the style of American hip-hop. I exchange recipes with those who enjoy cooking and bring my food experiments over for everyone to try.

Two members of the Garden Community collect fish before the pond dries up. Lifestyles may differ, but the goals are always the same. (Lauren Magee)

The community also maintains a responsibility for the well-being of one another and a protection from hardship that can be prevented. We may not share the same religion, but we pray together every day with gratitude for the gifts we have and the health and happiness of one another.

More than anything else, there is a common thread of love wrapped around everyone who enters that is impossible to cut loose.

Additionally, I see pieces of myself in all of the patients and producers, and I see my friends and family reflected in their faces. I often compare their personalities and unique traits to others in my life, and it makes me feel closer to them, as though my loved ones are here with me. I see the same sassiness and passion for life in our teenagers as I did in the teens I worked with in New York City, and the Hands of Hope producers nurture me just as my mother would do. I see my own stubbornness and immaturity in a few of the patients, as well as my creativity and compassion for others. My own fears are reflected back at me, but my strength is, as well.

Expecting four, moving to three, starting anew as two, then living alone has been a whirlwind of transitions, but at this point in my experience, I don't need another foreigner by my side to relate to. Versions of myself and of those I hold dear surround me. I find peace in this familiarity.

[Lauren Magee is a Good Shepherd Volunteer at Hands of Hope, an income-generating project that provides dignified employment for villagers living with HIV/AIDS in Nong Khai, Thailand.]

Read this article:

Life is unpredictable, and so is community - Global Sisters Report (blog)