A Week in the life at Young Neighbors

Sunday Afternoon
We just arrived from Our Lady of Perpetual Motion Parish and we are excited. We checked in with the Young Neighbors program director, got all of our materials and ready for our first day! They said that today we will spend time getting to know the other groups that arrive and preparing ourselves for the rest of the week.

Monday Evening
What a crazy day. We got up early, ate breakfast, prayed and then they sent us to our worksites with the challenge of the day. Today's challenge was to be aware of all of the sights, sounds, and feelings of the day. They also shared with us an inspiring reading from our U.S. Bishops. The worksite was great, we are at a men's' homeless shelter, and the evening session really gave me a chance to reflect on all of the new things that I have experienced. I like my sharing team. They split us up into small groups that have people from all the different parishes. Everyone in my small group is pretty cool. The free time before dinner gave me a chance to begin to meet some of the other kids who have come here to make a difference as well.

Tuesday Evening
This morning was our turn to help lead Morning Prayer. I read the scripture reading. This evening's session helped me to begin to look at some of the reasons behind the needs that I am seeing at my work site. I really need to learn more about the different reasons people become homeless in the first place, I think I will ask our contact at my work site.

Wednesday Evening
Tonight is a recreation night. We are all going as one big group to the park to hang out and have a cookout. This will be a great time to hang out with some of the new friends I made from the other parishes. Later on, we are going to celebrate mass. They said tomorrow we are going to have a culture night. We are going to experience the gifts of another culture through food and education.

Friday Evening
Tonight's session was awesome. I got a chance to share how this week has changed my perspective in my sharing team. Some people got up and shared in the large group. I was really inspired at the different things that people have learned this week.

Saturday
We cleaned up the place and packed, then had our final session. The coolest thing about this last session was that we got the opportunity to come up with a plan for what we are going to do when we get home. It is going to be awesome. We took pictures and I got plenty of new emails. Now we are getting ready to go home. I wish we could stay, but I am really excited to share what we have learned with my friends at school. Young Neighbors was great!