Whew!

That last entry (see below), is there. I thought I had erased it three days ago and would have to write it all over again. But I don't. It's still there. I'm happy.

The last few days we've been finishing up orientation by touring aroung the different Claretian facilities in the city. I am continually amazed by the number of things these people do. And more so when you hear things like "The Claretians only have about fifty priests." But then look how active they are. Look how many volunteers and salaried staff they have to do so much. They have publications on top of publications (US Catholic is probably the best known). They network with other non-profits in order to create a community of groups working towards similar interests. They develop low-income housing and offer legal help and have food pantries and youth groups and retirement homes and schools. The list goes on and on. And that's just in Chicago.

Today, I'm meeting with the first person who will try to sway me to work with a group.

You see, I'm in high demand, apparently. Holy Cross- Immaculate Heart of Mary is a double parish and the busiest parish I have ever seen. No seriously, more things happen there than at the Vatican. Okay, I made that up. But just working with the youth, which is my general idea of what to day, Sr. Angie has NARROWED the list DOWN to about a dozen groups I might work with. I'll meet with them and they'll tell me what they do and how much they really need a volunteer, and then we'll all decide which are the best fit.

Today, it's the altar servers, who are a long-neglected group. Fr. Steve had decided that after he was ordained, that would be his main group to work with, but then last friday, his orders came in to ship off to Guatamala. What the servers need is training and attention. A lot of the younger kids apparently just follow around the older kids and don't know what to do. And there are not many to begin with because the group does not get a lot of attention- no fun things, no junk feedings, no kid stuff. So will I take over?

I don't know yet. I'm pretty sure that some groups I will be working with are the writing and art groups, and Project HOPE, which is dedicated to preventing the spread of STDs, especially HIV. These are things that I am good at, and that follow my passions.

Oh yeah, Holy Cross-IHM is a very tight-nit community area. You can feel it when you're there. I've mentioned that. I don't think I've mentioned the high gang activity, though. Every child has a sibling or a cousin or a neighbor they love who is in a gang. So we don't discourage gang activity by saying "Those gang people are bad- stay away from them," because of course, they're not all bad. Sr. Angie was telling me how you'll meet them and not even realize it. Because they're kids, too. So we discourage gang activity by offering other outlets. Other things to do with their time. Promoting college education. Encouraging their passions. Like, say, writing and art.

And I think everyone can understand the need to educate people to help prevent the spread of STDs. It's really quite incredible how little some people know about STDs. Even simple things like, how you get them.

So yes, I may wind up somewhere else as well. But those are the main things I'm interested in right now, prior to having met anyone I might work with.

We'll see how it goes.