Other Community Activities

By Joe Pettit, editor, and others

Community activities have been a part of Nativity parish life from the beginning.  Founded in July 1973, the parish conducted its first food drive on Thanksgiving that year and a clothing drive ten days later.  According to the parish bulletin on December 1st, Pat Gauthier, the Food Drive Chairman of ECHO (Ecumenical Community Helping Others) described the results of that first food drive as follows:

We were over-whelmed at the sheer size of your Thanksgiving food offering to benefit ECHO, but when we began to sort it, we were still more impressed by the QUALITY of your contributions!  As you know people who have limited funds for food live on very low protein diets.  Your high protein foods will go a very long way to supplement their diets in the best way.

We cannot thank you enough.  It was one of the best collections we have ever received. ECHO hopes each of you had a most pleasant Thanksgiving as a result of your own generosity.

Since this time the Church’s involvement with ECHO has grown tremendously both in donations as well as volunteers.  At present, ECHO has in excess of 400 volunteers from the community and the member churches, of which Nativity is one. ECHO has no paid staff. Nativity’s activity has been a monthly food drive on the first Sunday of each month as well as some of the related organizations within the church such as WON, Knights, and Nativity itself have been very generous to the clients of ECHO. The clients are from the Burke-Springfield area and at times have been some of our own parishioners who have fallen upon hard times and are in need of assistance to get them back on their feet.

ECHO accepts donations of various clothing items as well as housewares in clean and operating order at its building located at 7205 Old Keene Mill Road in Springfield. Its hours are 9:30AM to 12:30PM Monday thru Friday, 7:00PM – 9:00PM Tuesday thru Thursday and the first Saturday of the month from 9:30AM -12:30PM.

In the summer of 1975, after the fall of Saigon in April, the Nativity Parish Council committees for Parish Community Growth and Social Development formed a Family Assistance Committee to support the resettlement of a six-member Vietnamese family.  Mary O’Brien Knight, who kept copies of some early parish bulletins, including the one above, was the Co-chair of this Committee.  With support from many parishioners and hard work by both parents and the four children, the family thrived and continues to be part of our parish family.

Fast-forwarding to the present, community activities continue to be an important part of parish life.  As described in other parts of this history, many of the activities are integral to organizations such as the Knights of Columbus, Women of Nativity, and Operation Starfish.

The following are descriptions of community activities that are not part of parish organizations.  All, however, including those that are part of parish organizations, are described, along with contact information, in Nativity’s Service Directory: Lend a Hand … and Your Heart, available on a shelf of a table near the Gift Shop at the main entrance of the church.  The following descriptions of those not part of parish organizations and are divided into two groups, those that include reflections by some of the participants and those that provide basic information.

Christ House

Affiliated with Catholic Charities, Christ House provides food, clothing and assistance to those in need in the Alexandria area. Nativity is committed to providing and preparing dinner on the 3rd Friday of the month.  This includes picking the menu, shopping and paying for the food, meal preparation, delivering and serving the meal.  Clean up may also be required. Nativity also collects food for Christ House pantries four times a year.

Christ House Reflection

I am continually blessed by the gratitude expressed by the men and women that I’ve served dinner to at Christ House.  In our busy lives it is easy to make the excuse of “not enough time”.  However, I have learned that reprioritizing and making time for those less fortunate than I grounds me in ways that are difficult to express in words.  Providing a healthy meal to nearly 70 people – to include men, women and children – provides compassion and hopefully comfort that sometimes only a hot homemade dinner can provide.

Laura Lee

English as a Second Language

Like many people when they retire, I started looking for ways in which I could still be of service to my community as a volunteer.  In such an inquiry, one starts with his own resources: what could I do that might be useful to others.  In my case, with my ability to speak Spanish and my experience as an educator for forty years, helping recent immigrants improve their English was the logical choice.  I began as a volunteer with the Hogar Hispano program sponsored by Catholic Charities of the Arlington Diocese (the program is now called Hogar Immigrant Services).  In 2007, Hogar decided to eliminate its program at Nativity and the Parish secretary, Josefa Lopez, suggested that I develop our own program locally staffed and financed.  The results have been most gratifying.

Our ESL Program is now (2014) nearing the end of its seventh year of operation.  We began with the idea of offering a single course with ten students, but before we had even opened our doors at the initial registration we had four teachers and three course levels available.  We now offer four classes, including three on Saturday mornings and one on Thursday nights.  Our regular weekly class attendance averages between 25 and 30.  Our classes are taught by Nativity parishioners who volunteer their time to bring English-language instruction to our students, most of whom attend the Nativity Spanish-language Mass on Saturday evenings.

We are truly grateful for the strong support we receive from the entire Nativity community, in particular Father Martin, the parish administrative staff, and the Knights of Columbus.  With this support, we are working to help some of our newest Americans to achieve their goal of a better life for themselves and their families, and in the process enable them to contribute more to making our community and our country better places as well.

Bob Clark

Fair Trade Products

As a lifelong Catholic, I have always known about the poor and missionaries going around the world to help them.  While the poor are promised great rewards in the next life, I have always believed they would like a decent life in this one.  Short of moving overseas or sending checks that “might” be used wisely, what could I do?  And then in Just Faith we learned about Fair Trade.  I could stay right here and support a program that helps people to gain economic control over their lives with dignity.  By the work of their hands, producing food crops, i.e. coffee, chocolate; and clothing, jewelry, pottery, crafts, etc., people in developing countries are able to earn a living wage reliably and earn social premiums to aid in building schools, clinics, and roads.  They form communities which support each other, are able to educate and feed their children.  Women in the developing world are especially empowered by having money in their own hands.  Catholic Relief Services sponsors Fair Trade activities around the globe and are my source for coffee and chocolate which originally was sold once a month outside of church, but now is for sale in the Fair Trade Corner in Nativity’s Gift Shop.  Nativity parishioners have been supportive of these sales. For more information, www.crsfairtrade.org

Karen Even

JustFaith and Engaging Spirituality Reflection:

JustFaith and Engaging Spirituality are two life-altering programs from JustFaith Ministries in Louisville, KY, headed by Jack Jezreel.  Nativity was among many parishes to conduct both programs, holding several sessions from 2005 to 2012.

JustFaith presents a focus on a compassionate commitment to church, community and world, highlighting the themes of Catholic social teaching, primarily the option for the poor.  Sessions use prayer, dialogue, spiritual reading and videos, along with speakers who bring expertise on topics like simplifying your life and interracial understanding.  JustFaith begins and ends with retreats and punctuates the program with an Immersion Experience at local non-profits.

Engaging Spirituality welcomes participants on a spiritual journey to explore the connection between prayerful presence and social action.  It asks, “What moves you deeply, guides your thoughts and actions?”  It opens up space to revive our souls and deepen our awareness, guided by the Holy Spirit.  Elements are weekly meetings, retreats, spiritual reading, prayerful listening to each other and to “Bearings” Letters from renowned spiritual pathfinders.

JustMatters offers short modules on current topics such as immigration, ecology, and non-violence.

JustFaith Changes People.  Those people change the world.—

Ellen Hayes

KAIROS Prison Ministry

Reflection:

After two years of asking, I finally said yes to the request of my friend Paul to serve on a KAIROS retreat weekend. KAIROS is an international, ecumenical version of the Catholic/ Episcopal CURSILLO renewal program. The program is active in 32 states in the U.S. and 9 foreign countries. 36,000 volunteers support the program around the world. 25,000 inmates and their family members participate in the program annually.

There are KAIROS programs in 12 Virginia men’s prisons and 3 women’s prisons. There are currently 6 men from Nativity currently active with KAIROS and one woman.

When I entered the prison for the first time back in 1996, I was somewhat intimidated by the security and all the metal doors. However, after the first talk and the first table discussion I knew I had found a new ministry and a lot of new friends. What I found most astounding was the discovery that the men I was sitting and talking with could very easily have been my own sons. The big difference between them and my sons were the life stories that brought them to prison.

Virtually all of the men we have incarcerated come from grossly dysfunctional families. It would seem to be the price of admission to prison. The stories will curl your hair.

As of 2013, I have served on about 15 three-day programs for men who have not experienced the KAIROS weekend and about a like number of two-day programs designed to serve those who have already experienced the three-day weekend. In addition, since 1996, I have participated in most of the monthly 2 hour reunions conducted on the first Saturday of each month. The experience has made a major difference in my life.

I have learned that there but for the grace of God go I. I think most of us have done things in our lives that could have put us in jail had we been caught.

I have learned compassion. When you hear the stories, you quickly realize that given a different home environment, educational opportunity, economic opportunity, most of the people we have locked up would be productive citizens.

I spent 20 years leading family retreats. These were enriching experiences, but they were nowhere near as rewarding as my KAIROS experience. Family retreats enrich the life of families. KAIROS retreats give a new beginning to men and women who in many cases have never known love and acceptance. Each weekend is like encountering 42 Prodigal Sons.

For more information check out kairos-bkcc.org.  If this ministry looks like a place you’d like to serve, give me a call – 703-283-5809, or send an email: baynejl@gmail.com.

Jim Bayne

The Lamb Center

http://www.thelambcenter.org/

The LambCenter is a Christian based day-time, drop-in center for the poor and homeless in the central Fairfax area. It provides laundry, showers, hot meals, counseling, telephone and mail services, and emergency financial assistance. It’s open from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm Monday-Friday, and 8:00 am to 12:30 pm on Saturday. There are a variety of ways to help or to volunteer from preparing/serving hot meals, donating personal care items, making a financial contribution to working a 3-4 hour shift.

Lamb Center Reflection:

I have been a Nativity parishioner for many years and have volunteered at the Lamb Center since 2000 and been a board member and chairman for the past 6 years.  The Lamb Center is truly a Christian-valued place of refuge and transformation for the poor and homeless in central Fairfax. I have seen lives changed and hope restored at the Center’s Bible Study, in prayer with guests, with volunteers bringing supplies at just the time they were needed; food brought in when the “cupboard was bare.” The Spirit of God can be tangibly felt when you walk in the door – it is because all are welcome! None are turned away!  There is a strong sense of unity among volunteers and guests who come from many faith traditions. I have seen the results of AA releasing the addicted to a life of soberness and homeless men and women secure housing when there was little hope and a miracle was required – and it came about. We try to love as Jesus loves and serves as He served.”

The Lamb Center is a great example of how the Nativity faith community helps those “next door”. In the early 2000’s, then Deacon Bill Korpi would visit the center and give encouragement to the guests and volunteers by giving a short homily. A monthly donation from the parish is a tangible example of compassionate aid to help those struggling with homelessness. Several Nativity groups, including the Bible Study group and the Lady of Knock Society, provide the “hot meal” monthly for 100 guests. These groups testify to responding to Jesus’s command “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat …”

Individual parishioners, many from the JustFaith program, volunteer for a 2-4 hour shift. Over the years parishioners have also donated thousands of personal care items and laundry supplies to the center.

Frank McLesky

Shepherd Center of Burke/Fairfax

The Shepherd’s Center of Fairfax-Burke (SCFB) is a non-profit interfaith organization sponsored by area congregations, community groups, and individuals to serve adults 50 years and older in the Fairfax and Burke areas of Northern Virginia. Its primary purpose is to provide services to assist older adults to continue to live independently in their own homes and to offer programs which supply opportunities for enrichment, learning and socialization.  Volunteer opportunities allow individuals to feel needed by reaching out to other older adults.  Nativity parishioners have been active in establishing three SCFB programs: Friendly Callers provides ongoing, friendly telephone calls between volunteers and older people who wish to receive calls once a week at a regularly scheduled time.  Friendly Visitors provides ongoing, friendly visits between volunteers and older people who wish to receive visits for friendly informal conversation.  Both programs let the people at home know that someone is thinking about them, provide companionship, and assist older adults in maintaining connections with their community.  Caregiver Support meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month (as well as the 3rd Wednesday) to provide information and encouragement to those caring for someone with dementia. This could be the spouse, other family member or a friend or those who would like to learn more about providing caregiving to a person with a disorder that affects memory and cognition and may also impact behavior and physical abilities. Meetings are held once a month.

For more information on all Shepherd Center programs, go to: http://www.scfbva.org/

Friendly Visitor Reflection:

I have been participating as a Friendly Visitor through The Shepherd Center for 3 years.  My friend is 96 years old and never fails to share with me her energy for life in spite of living with macular degeneration, arthritis, and limited hearing.  We share our concerns/consternations with current affairs and joys/struggles of our lives.  Each visit ends with a meditation from her library of spiritual readings and much joy is having our time together. I know her life is fragile and it is so important that she is able to live in her family home.  Many others support this goal but I think we have a special understanding with each other.

Joan Mahal

Caregiver Support Reflection:

About three years ago, I was asked by SCFB to form a Caregiver Support Group.  Since I had formed, and for many years facilitated, a group for The Alzheimer’s Association, I was willing.  But the huge initial response from community caregivers was overwhelming!  It was necessary to form three groups.  The satisfactions I have experienced from this work are many.  Caregivers are responsible and loving people who often feel exhausted, powerless, and isolated.  The support groups allow them to meet others and share information, struggles, and successes.  Members leave re-energized and re-committed for their constantly evolving challenges.  At each meeting there is laughter, and often there are tears.  But there is always acceptance, generosity, and friendship.  I feel God’s loving presence in the room, strengthening us.  Caregivers are brave people shouldering the Lord’s work daily.  I am privileged to know them.

Eileen Thompson

Medical Transportation and Companion Shopping Reflection:

Do you have a mother or father in an assisted living home? How do they get to medical appointments? My mother lived in an assisted living home in Richmond for the last 10 years of her life. It was run by the Richmond Catholic diocese and she really liked her home there. It was very inexpensive so they couldn’t provide all the services of places like Sunrise homes. One service they didn’t provide was transportation to medical appointments. The City of Richmond has a bus for this need but it wasn’t very reliable and didn’t include help into the office. Although we could afford cab fare, that wasn’t much better. On more than one occasion she had to wait for over an hour after her appointment for a cab to come and get her. Knowing the problems involved, I frequently took time to drive to Richmond to take her to the doctor’s office.

After my mother died, I happened to see a drivers wanted notice for the Shepherd Center of Fairfax/Burke. I called to find out more about the organization. I found that they provide here, just what my mom needed in Richmond. They also provide elderly and disabled with escorted shopping trips. I couldn’t do this for my mom due to the distance, but I can help others in this area. I have been doing this for a couple years and I see so many old people in my mother’s situation that have no one to help them. I am grateful the Lord has given me this opportunity to help those in need. If you have some free time in your schedule, go to http://www.scfbva.org/volunteer and sign up to volunteer. It’s a great organization staffed by volunteers. The Lord will bless you and you will meet many great older people in our area.

This reflection was written by a Nativity parishioner who asked that his name not be listed.

So Others Might Eat (SOME)

Reflection:

Participating in Nativity’s SOME (So Others Might Eat) outreach effort is a responsibility, an obligation, and a privilege.  It is a silent, prayerful duty of the highest order to me.  SOME is an obligation that I willingly take on each month in service to our Lord.

Each month is a marvel how all the elements come together to gather and prepare a meal for more than 300 individuals.  It continually amazes me how my small effort, combined with the efforts of many, bring forth an amazingly, large meal.  It is the fishes and the loaves every month!

The fact that our faithful volunteers, drivers, and sandwich makers come together in a most random way to provide meal after meal, month after month reveals the constancy and faithfulness of our God.

I feel that each month I receive more that I give—every time! And it seems that any effort to serve those least among us, is always blessed.

It is a privilege to help and has become part of my life that is ‘just expected’ of me.  And I’m happy to do it!

Katie Scully

Another SOME reflection:

I have been volunteering at SOME with the group from Nativity Church for about 5 years. We take all the food for a lunch meal to SOME every 1st Thursday of the month.  Katie Scully has been buying the food at Costco for the last couple years. She also arranges for volunteers to go to SOME and other volunteers to make bag lunches that are given out with the hot meals. That is a big job that she does every month.

My reason for volunteering at SOME are the words of Jesus “Whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for Me.”  Mother Theresa of Calcutta tells us to look for the face of Jesus in the hungry, homeless and sick. The experiences I have had at SOME have always been very positive.  I am sure it is not easy to work in that dining facility in D.C. It is not a high tech kitchen as could be found in a better restaurant.  People from my community (Burke, Springfield) generally would not want to associate with the folks taking advantage of the free meals at SOME. However, the staff at SOME are great people.  Many of them are “graduates” of SOME rehabilitation programs.  Any employer would be blessed if he/she could get people that worked as hard as these folks and have such a positive attitude about their job.  The cooks and the dining room staff make sure that the meals they serve are always sanitary, nutritious and tasty. They insure that all the diners feel welcome and treated with dignity. In addition to working with the SOME staff, there is usually a group of volunteers from corporations or schools. It is always enjoyable to talk to these folks about their experiences, especially if they are from out-of-area schools. The fact that such a facility exists in our nation’s capital shows that there is a great need for Christian charity in this country. We can’t do much to help the people coming to SOME change their lives, but we can at least give them a good meal the day we are there. Another teaching of Mother Theresa “God doesn’t expect us to do great things but small things with great love.”

Mike Muller

Sunday Suppers Reflection

Watching God’s love in action through Sunday Suppers has been a privilege since 2006.  Nativity’s participation in this ministry began as an outgrowth of the social justice teachings of the JustFaith program.  It is an outreach to a group of homeless and working poor brothers and sisters in Washington, DC.  Nativity parishioners provide food and fellowship on every fourth Sunday of the month in two outdoor settings.  There are so many stories to hear if you just listen and that is joy of this meal – seeing the Lord in all the people involved: The good parishioners of Nativity who have never failed to come through with food and service and at Christmas time with hygiene kits that are very gratefully received; the organizers who over the years have given so much of their time and talent to serve an evening meal every Sunday as promised; the “regulars” who come each Sunday and have become friends whose lives are shared along with the meal; the strangers passing through who stop to rest and relax momentarily in their journey.  Nativity’s answer to God’s call is evident in so many ways including the care and concern for the Sunday Supper’s ministry.

Joyce Giuliani

V.O.I.C.E. (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement)

VOICE Reflection:

Personal stories of concern and struggle form the heart of agenda-setting in VOICE.  When VOICE was founded in 2008, over 150 group “listening sessions” were held in over forty interfaith member organizations, in addition to hundreds more one-on-one meetings designed to build relationships among leaders and advocates.  Common concerns among members in the initial “listening sessions” were striking, the need for more affordable housing, greater access to health care, and immigration issues were high on the lists of almost all members.   Such general areas of concern, however, needed to be translated into “actionable and winnable” objectives.  Addressing the foreclosure crisis formed the central issue in Prince William County, while adult dental care, various affordable housing actions and immigration issues formed the basis for advocacy in Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax. 

VOICE leaders from Nativity have been involved in several efforts: affordable housing, adult dental care, improved mental health services, and immigration issues.  In my five years with VOICE, I have been most involved in increasing adult dental care and in on-going efforts to gain the adoption of a zoning amendment in Fairfax for affordable residential studios, or efficiency, apartments.  Working with the Northern Virginia Dental Clinic, established in 1994 by the local Dental Society, VOICE helped persuade Arlington and Fairfax counties and the City of Alexandria to fund a full-time dentist to supplement the efforts of volunteers.  The four years of funding for this dentist has meant the Clinic has been able to provide over 6,000 additional appointments to low-income adults.

Efforts by Nativity VOICE leaders to help pass a zoning amendment for affordable efficiencies grew out of discussions in the parish for the need for more housing options for persons with disabilities and other low-income citizens.  Households needing low income housing are made up of a wide variety of individuals–our friends and family members, such as young people starting their careers or still in college or in training programs, retirees with modest pensions, individuals with disabilities, recently separated individuals, homeless individuals, returning veterans and others who have been forced to rent units larger than they can afford.  This effort continues and involves helping our fellow County residents understand that these units will not lower property values or increase crime and will help Fairfax County meet its goal of providing affordable housing “as close as possible to employment opportunities without adversely affecting quality of life standards.”

Four years of community organizing have helped me learn the power of listening to, and sharing, personal stories and the power of individuals working together, across different faith communities, to achieve specific objectives.  Working with and for others also leaves me with wonder. Wonder about randomness and luck in my life:  the country in which I was born, who my parents were, the religion in which I was raised, that my wife agreed to marry me, the gifts of our two sons and their families, my opportunities for education and fulfilling employment. I also wonder if gratitude is enough? What more should I do? Finally, I wonder what response the rich young man might have given Jesus if he had a half-century to reflect?

Joe Pettit

Descriptions of Other Current Nativity Community Activities:

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other to solve their common problems and to help each other recover from alcoholism.  The only requirement is a desire to stop drinking.  There are no dues or fees for AA membership.  AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, political group, or organization.  The ‘Easy Does It’ group of AA meets every Monday night at 8:00 P.M. in the Nativity All Purpose Room.

JAIL MINISTRY

Jail Ministry provides quality pastoral care and a healing presence to incarcerated men, women, youth and children.  It invites and offers opportunities for the Christian community to volunteer, time, talent and treasure and thus participate in the healing ministry of Christ.  It promotes Gospel values through educational public witness and participates in shaping Christian responses concerning the criminal justice system.

PAX CHRISTI PENTAGON AREA

Pax Christi Pentagon Area (PCPA) formed in the Spring of 2006 in response to a growing demand in Northern Virginia for an active, nonviolent Christian witness in resistance to our modern-day culture of violence, death, and retribution. Our advocacy for peace and justice is grounded in Jesus’s example of prayer, nonviolence and solidarity with the poor and in Catholic social teaching.  While based at Our Lady Queen of Peace parish in Arlington, Virginia, PCPA is made up of faithful Disciples of Jesus Christ from many parishes, all within the “shadow” of the Pentagon, who take seriously His call for us “to love our enemies.”  http://www.paxchristimetrodc.org/pentagon

SALT (Social Action Linking Together)

http://www.s-a-l-t.org/

Social Action Linking Together (SALT) is a parish-based network of persons in the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Virginia trying to bring the social and economic teachings of the church to bear on public policy and legislation, especially at the local and state levels.

TRANSTIONAL HOUSING AT ST. MARGARET OF CORTONA

Catholic Charities of Diocese of Arlington operates a program featuring a 12 unit apartment building in Woodbridge, Virginia, for homeless families seeking to transition from emergency shelters to self-sufficiency.  Such families, often single working mothers with one or more child, enter this transitional housing program with limited personal possessions upon arrival.  This program features allows the residents to stabilize their family and financial situation.  After graduating from the program within a two-year period, the stabilized family takes all the furnishings to their new housing situation.  Accordingly, there is a steady need for furniture, kitchen and bathroom supplies and other household items for the new families.  Also, there is a great need for volunteers to provide loving support to these families, ranging from babysitting, sprucing up the units for new families and providing mentorship to these families.

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