Jennifer Cato
Why I Chose Mission Year
Why am I putting my career on hold? Why am I not making any money this year? Why am I foregoing life’s comforts to live in an inner city on a very meager allowance?
The answer, my friend, is because of Mission Year! Mission Year is an inner city ministry training program for young adults, 18-29 years old, that involves volunteering, ministry training, a local Church connection, and a focus on building relationships with neighbors.
I’ve been interested in Mission Year since I heard about it three years ago. Instead of coming in as middle class folks who have money to try to solve their problems, teams of four or five will be living with the same amount of resources as those around them a way to live with them on the same level and deeply understand where they are coming from. We will be readng social justice-related books and learn from each other through group devotions and discussions. This will be perfect for me. Living with other people who are convicted to serve God and seek justice for those who are marginalized and underserved can challenge me to grow and learn. And I LOVE to volunteer, so I still have another year until I enter the “real world” (or maybe I’m entering the real world now!).
I’ve just graduated from Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan with a B.S. in Public and Nonprofit Administration and am interested in Community Development and social equality. I wanted to start my career after graduation, but have felt a strong pull towards this program, and believe that I have grown just over deciding to submit to God’s plans to go through this program.
About Mission Year
Mission Year is a year long urban ministry program focused on Christian service and discipleship. We take teams of young people, place them in an area of need, and help them to serve people and create community. We are committed to the command of Jesus to “love God and love people,” by placing the needs of our neighbors first and developing committed disciples of Christ with a heart for the poor. Learn more about our first year program…
Jennifer Cato's Blog
Sweet Spirit / Apr 25, 09:12 AM
A song by 21:03 really stood out to me today as I was cleaning the apartment and thanking God for all that He has given me.
Sweet Spirit
There’s a sweet Spirit in this place.
There’s a sweet Spirit in this place.
Watching over us and keeping us,
resting in our souls;
When I think about,
about all the things You’ve done,
for You kept me from danger seen and unseen
How could I ever thank you?
When I think about,
‘bout all the changes I put You through;
I look up and see You’re still there,
keeping me from falling
and lifting when I’m down.
There’s a sweet Spirit in this place.
There’s a sweet Spirit in this place.
Watching over us and keeping us,
resting on our souls;
there’s a sweet Spirit, sweet Spirit,
there’s a sweet Spirit in here.
When I think about,
how You saved my life one day
friends have turned their ever changing hearts away,
I was on my way out,
You, Lord had other plans for me.
And I don’t really know what You need,
but here am I, Lord, here am I, Lord.
There’s a sweet Spirit in this place.
There’s a sweet Spirit in this place.
Watching over us and keeping us,
resting on our souls…
There’s a sweet Spirit,
there’s a sweet Spirit.
Strength amidst adversity / Apr 21, 10:16 AM
I prayed for a good day today and my request was far surpassed. Drew, Mishona and I have been walking around the neighborhood with a Disaster Needs Assessment. If people still need help from the storm we fill this detailed packet out with them and then give it to the church and some other organizations with potential resources. Nothing is guaranteed, we have to make sure to tell them, but there is a high chance that there will be some type of assistance available. And it has been amazing to see that in the month we have been doing this we have already seen people assisted. And there is not a shortage of need, in fact, everywhere we turn there is someone trying to get into their house with the little pocket change they have. The problem is getting the many resources that the country and New Orleans has to the people who need it.
So as we walk through the neighborhood to administer this assessment, we are there to get their information but the most important part of that process is to encourage and pray with them. They are not a client; they are not a poor person in need. I am not someone who gives them pity and can save them; I am a listener and encourager. And the people around here can talk! So when we get in conversations, you better have an hour or two free. That’s my job – to talk to people. And the stories I hear! They rattle my mind, they stun me, that people can survive such adversity and struggle day to day.
I met Robert today, a young man maybe in his early 30s. He lives uptown but came through the hood while we were talking with his friend to see how he was doing. We had been talking to Lynell and his older brother Kenneth about the after-effects of Katrina, so he quickly joined in. What I see here every day he was able to put into words. He so poignantly captured all of the issues that New Orleanians have to deal with, with most of them true of all low-income areas. He talked about the result of one thing affecting another.
So someone wants to come back to rebuild. First they need to gut the house. While they do that, where do they stay? Rent is ungodly, along with gas and electricity. Some people I have talked to stay in their cars during this process or jump house-to-house. If you’re the first one back in your family, there is no one to rely on. And most families that are back are all living with each other, packing up to 10 people in a two-bedroom, sharing the little resources they have. A couple people may have found a job, so while they bring in what they can, the rest stay home to take care of the babies. So after you gut the house, you have to rebuild it, which takes a LOT of time and money. I have had the opportunity to hear a lot of people’s stories and I would say at least half of those people have been ripped off by contractors that gouge prices or just take the money and leave. So the first people to come back to New Orleans, while they are building, where do they eat? There are no stores open. The couple corner stores charge way too much than is livable. And say someone wants to open a store here; there are no people to buy the products! Now there are more things around, but the closest grocery store is two miles, which takes all day to get there and back by bus or costs a lot for gas. And a lot of people don’t have the luxury of a vehicle. So while paying an absurd amount to simply live, you have to save money for your house. And Road Home didn’t bring in much – they only settled 13,000 cases. And now the money is gone. Well, FEMA did provide trailers. Those are being taken from people now. It’s been too long, it’s time to get out of the trailers and move someplace else. Okay, where? Rent costs over a grand for a piece of junk and all of the projects are being torn down. So not only do the people who are getting kicked out of the trailers have to find new housing, the hundreds of people in the Callio have to as well. So because there is no place to stay, the renters keep prices high- they know someone will pay for it. FEMA is so kind, because as they are taking people’s trailers away, they are paying for 1-3 months rent for the next place their residents will live in. That’s a lot of money for FEMA to cover, about a grand a month for each family. In a couple months, though, the families still won’t be able to make that kind of money. The process of them becoming homeless is just delayed. Lacey met a lady the other day that just by a set of unfortunate circumstances, is now homeless. She has a college degree and two high school boys and had a great job before the storm took it out of business.
So if you have kids, half the schools are closed still so they will either be bused across the city or they will have to take the public transportation. My team has ended up walking many miles because the bus just hasn’t shown up- it’s not reliable. And if your kid is across town, forget about parent-teacher meetings if you are working all day.
And about the neighborhoods. There are not enough places for kids to play and just be kids. They are being taught by the dealers how to really make it. You don’t have a real job cause that doesn’t pay, just supply the people and do more than surviving. And you never know what can happen when everyone is in survival mode and just wants to live. Tension, violence and the use of drugs rises to all-time highs. Robert observed that police patrol all the time in the downtown neighborhoods that have money but never come around this neighborhood. All this neighborhood needs, he says, is a presence of authority. There is such a negative connotation about the ‘hood that there is an absence of investment, which further declines its potential for success.
In meeting so many people that have endlessly struggled to make it, I am constantly struck by how blessed I am and feel guilty for taking advantage of that most of my life. I look up to the strong individuals I meet all the time who have courageously dealt with hardship and still praise God because of His provision.
A new experience every day! / Mar 19, 03:52 PM
I am so blessed. Every day I get another amazing story.
For Urban Impact Ministries, Drew, Mishona and I sit down with people to evaluate their needs and try to connect them with resources that will help them get back to some type of normalcy after the storm.
Part of the disaster needs assessment is hearing about the experience that the person(s) we are listening to has gone through. If in the future I ever think I am having a hard time, I’ll just have to think back to these moments.
Note to Self... / Mar 12, 03:54 PM
Our City Director, Brother Bell, told us to write a note to ourselves answering the question “What do you want to accomplish in your lifetime?”
Here is a part of that letter:
I would like to be remembered for two things.
First, a beautiful vision I want to become a reality is people from different races, economics, and social standings interacting naturally. My life is going to be used to see people of all different backgrounds reach an understanding that we are all the same, and love each other as we love our own. Where people refuse to assume stereotypes and are open to anyone whether they act or look different than themselves.
Secondly, I yearn to empower people in poverty to better themselves. I seek to discover people’s physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing and provide for them the knowledge and guidance on specific ways to improve those areas. I want to help those who cannot help themselves and who no one else will defend.
My drive to succeed in these goals is extremely important for a couple reasons. I am devastated by the ever-increasing divide amongst people. Not helping your fellow human or caring about the circumstances people have to face while becoming more and more individualized is disgusting. Through fear or laziness, people stop or never begin surrounding themselves with people, which creates ignorance, stereotypes and hatred. I want people to open up their hearts to others, and that usually takes someone doing something different to create that catalyst towards reconciliation.
Harder the second time around / Feb 3, 03:13 PM
Teaching school is a lot harder than going through it! I have been learning how challenging it is over the past couple months. It has been overwhelmingly frustrating and undeniably one of the best things that has happened to me.
Lacey and I have been volunteering as teacher assistants since November. While this is a natural position for her, I have been standing on the sidelines watching the intricate interaction between teachers and students and trying to duplicate it as much as possible.
I have been given more responsibility. Every 4th and 5th grader has to take the iLEAP or LEAP test in less than a month. To prepare them better, they have X Factor, an hour of tutoring each day. Lacey and I have three students each and go over math- subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions.
