First Day in Jeremiah's Inn

Wednesday, March 7 is the first day of ASB! After a momentary chaos in the lovely Maywood kitchen as 30(!) of us scrambled for bagels and sandwiches, having a hasty but happy breakfast, we headed out to our destinations. It was a warm and sunny day--perfect for working outside, which most of us did. Stories will be coming up soon, but here's one for a start:

Wednesday, I served at Jeremiah’s Inn. Jeremiah's Inn has been serving the Worcester community for thirty years by providing transitional services for homeless men who are recovering from substance abuse issues. The shelter has thirty beds for residents to stay in. Most rooms have two men staying in it at a time. During their stay at Jeremiah’s they are given support from on site case managers to come up with an individualized plan to remain sober, get a job, and get a place to live. In addition to the services that Jeremiah’s provides the men, they also run a food pantry for the Main South area of Worcester. Six days a week people from the community can come and get food for the week from the pantry. It is estimated that annually the food pantry serves 16,600 residents of Worcester.

            To help at Jeremiah’s we painted one of the rooms that was in need of some TLC. The room was a dark brown color that was not welcoming to the men. We panted the room a light green to brighten it up. We were responsible for the first coat. The team of students that are going to serve tomorrow will be doing the second coat and the trim. In addition to painting, we also helped unload a truck of food from the Greater Worcester Food Bank. We unloaded lots of food in assembly line fashion with the men who are staying at Jeremiah’s. It was wonderful to meet who we were helping. I am also looking forward to Friday to gain a further understanding of how the food bank system works in Worcester. It was a wonderful way to start out ASB!

-Elizabeth-

Here's Taylor painting the dark brown wall.

And VOILA! You got green! Liz and Taylor agreed it's a better color.

Clark IASB - What It's All About

Spring time has finally arrived in Worcester, Mass. (with a sprinkle of snow, nonetheless!) And in the aftermath of a tornado of midterms and papers, spring break is finally on the doorstep!


For many that means a wonderful week of traveling away from school. But for some of us, it's time to get involved in the community around the school! Clark's Interfaith Alternative Spring Break is a program run by students of Clark University where we do Service Learning, which is coupling community services with informal learning. 


What that means is that during the day, we do all sorts of community services around the Main South neighborhood and beyond. At night we get together to learn and discuss our faiths, inspirations behind our motivation to help others, and social and political issues surrounding the community. All this is done while we are staying on campus--yes, a "stay-cation!"


We have a diverse group of around 30 students on this program. Like the title of the program, we belong to many faiths--Catholic, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhism, Bahai, even those who do not associate with  a certain religion. We have international students hailing from Asia, Africa, South America, and other places. And though we're mainly Clarkies, some of us come from other colleges in Worcester (namely WPI and Assumption College). Indeed, we are all unified by our drive to help the community. 


This program embodies Clark University's strong tradition of community volunteering, of challenging convention and changing our world. For more information on Clark University, go to www.clarku.edu. This program is initiated by the Clark University Hillel and has been the hard work of Hillel Director David, Clark alum Paige, the students in the organizing committee, and the wonderfully supportive Clark community. This program has been generously funded by the Clark University Student Council and Clark's Office of Community Engagement and Volunteering.