Gannon ABST Washington, DC

Natalie-“How is your day going so far Sir?” Hecta-“Well I’m alive!” What a perfect response to a question. His simple response reminds us all what it means to be truly alive. It reminds to be so thankful for what we have and for what God has given us. It reminds us to be thankful for all that we have in life. God has blessed me with so much in life and I can’t thank him enough for that. This experience has been so humbling for me and I am absolutely loving every minute of it. Our life is a precious gift from God and it’s up to us to make it great and be the servants that we are called to be! I never expected a homeless man of the Father McKenna Center to have such effecting, inspirational words for me. I was telling this guy Earl of my future plans of school, work, and career goals and he said to me “Listen, have a Game Plan and Play it out directly”…… Just those few words dug deep and were inspirational. I now know that we didn’t come to just give a helping hand, ...

Where can you begin on a trip that continuingly reminds you of the beauty of creation? The service trip to DC reminds us all of the beauty of creation, the dignity of each human person and the blessings that come when 11 people come together for a week of service. The love that has been fostered in such a short time humbles me to new levels and lets me notice all the blessings that our God gives us; big and small. Today we were allowed to talk about peace and creating peace in our own lives, and despite our numerous differences as people, the men of the Father McKenna Center shared with us how we can all create peace across our cultural and economic groups. I can’t begin to describe how proud I am of the students making this trip for their ability to dwell in the presence of poverty and find the face of God in each man they encounter and for all the blessings that will continue to come our way. Thank you for your prayers and continue to keep all of us here at the McKenna Center as ...

Hey there, it’s Allison! It is late Tuesday evening, and we have only been here a little over 48 hours. I can honestly say in this short amount of time my life has forever changed. So far, this has been such a rewarding and eye opening experience. I have gotten a chance to talk to quite a few of the guys here, and it is amazing how much they have opened up, to not only me, but all of us. Their stories have inspired me, and their optimism through their hardships is truly admirable. Yesterday, we got to meet with a gentleman one-on-one, and then introduce each other to everyone else at the front of the room. I was paired with Rodney, who at the end of our conversation told me that I was going to change the world someday. Hearing that from someone who barely knew me was incredibly touching and motivating.   Today, during a life skills meeting, each of us had a group with four gentleman in which we discussed our biggest life struggle on our path thus far, and tools we use to cope with ...

Hi everyone! Its Lauren here, it is around 8pm and we have had an eventful day! This morning even though some of us (including me!) woke up a bit late we got the day rolling and attended mass. After, I was able to come back to the McKenna center and talk with some of the guys. Jacques was one of the guys I had a nice conversation with. We really hit it off discussing books, and our shared love for author John Gresham. Then, Allison and I talked to Latif who really opened up to us about his life in Africa, his personal relationships, his children and also his journey here in DC. It was surprising to me how much he was willing to share about his life, but also very inspiring. Hardships are a part of growing in life, but it truly depends on what you chose to make of those failures that will determine your future successes. This lesson is reflected in many of the conversations I have had with the men, a lesson they had to learn the hard way. They care so much about our well-being and w...

Good evening everyone! Carly here! It is around 10:15 PM Monday night and it has been an AMAZING first day! We woke up (yes, feeling a little groggy) but got right to work in the kitchen, preparing for our first day meeting the guys at the shelter. One of my favorite experiences of today was how well our group worked together. Not only do we collaborate well in a serving environment, but we even bonded when we had the chance to site-see all around D.C. We walked a total of twelve miles and saw the Capitol building, the Supreme Court, the Washington Monument, the WWII memorial, the Lincoln memorial, and the MLK memorial. It’s amazing how well we’ve bonded in such a short amount of time and I can’t wait to see what the rest of this trip brings for us!

A main topic of discussion among the guys today was about attitude. The men got a chance to discuss positive and negative attributes to attitude. The positive consisting of humility, motivation, patience, open-mindedness, determination, and resilience. The negative consisting of entitlement and arrogance. A quote from one of the gentleman was “attitude determines altitude,” which we found very inspiring. Another gentleman said that there are three types of people: those who make things happen, those who witness things happen, and those who don’t know what is going on at all.” He told us to be those that make things happen.    

Hi there, it’s Janna. Can I just say that even spending just one day here has already been so transformative! Everyone I’ve met has touched my life in some way with their amazing stories. Listening to Cortez give a talk to the guys about attitude, and seeing how they all contributed their thoughts was really inspiring. It’s evident that the people working here really care about the men, and the men really care for each other and us. Many of the people I got to chat with one-on-one talked about the plans they have, and how they are working each and every day to get back to where they want to be in their lives. That to me was moving to hear, since the common conception is that many homeless individuals aren’t doing anything to better their situation. I found this to be completely untrue, as many of the men were students, or had job offers coming in. Overall, each person had a unique story to tell, and they all wanted to give each one of us a piece of their wisdom. I can’t wait to mee...

Hello! This is Natalie here! It’s only been our very first day here and I can honestly say I have learned so much already. The word homeless means something completely different to me than it had just 24 hours ago. Getting to talk and actually interact with the people at the Father McKenna center has been incredible. All of the guys have been so open to us in sharing their story and it’s been nothing short of ordinary. As we are all here serving them, they are actually serving us. I have already taken so much from them especially when I had the chance to talk to a few men one on one. I met such an inspiring man today. At the very end of the day, I went right up to a man sitting by himself and started talking to him. We talked for almost 45 minutes and it was just an awesome conversation. Even though I did not know how old he was (he had to be above age 50), I was utterly surprised to learn that he was a student at local college to become a nurse. It warmed my heart in knowing that ...

Cody here… so it’s 2:07 PM right now and it seems like our first day of work with the Fr Mckenna center is done! Literally as I’m typing this a have a couple of the guys passing me talking about their lives and the one was praising Jesus like this is an awesome place. So far I can already tell how powerful this place really is. Everybody is so friendly and talkative, I didn’t really expect that! Today I talked so many different things with some of the homeless guys from stuff about Metallica to a guy who used to work at the department of communications! The guys who come here are all so special and unique and they are all determined and optimistic which is very respectable considering most days they have to go through hell! Anyways I’m more than excited and it’s only been our first day. The rest of the day we have to ourselves and I think before dinner we’re going to visit the Lincoln memorial and a couple other things. One last note; the scenery down here is incredible! Brandon, M...

We have safely arrived in Washington DC at the Father McKenna Center, after a fun filled drive of jamming out to some classic hits. During our car ride we decided on a team name which was “Team Chairos”. Chairos is an ancient Greek word meaning; right time for something to happen - in this sense something constellates in ones life as a period of time set apart for the carrying out of some specific task.… Upon arrival, we unloaded the van and received an introduction regarding the history of the center, as well as a tour from a staff member, Ned. Our next destination was Georgetown where we attended mass around 5pm, which has now become the anticipated future residential destination for many of us. After mass, we headed back to the center to make a delicious meal consisting of tacos J

We also want to thank all of you who have supported us to this point as we navigate our finals week and make last minute preparations.  We are most grateful for your prayers, warm wishes, and generous donations.  Though many of us are a little nervous about what awaits us in DC, we are comforted by knowing you'll be with us in spirit.  Finally - we want to share this journey with you!  Please check back to our blog frequently as we will be posting regularly.   Thanks for reading. God Bless!

Greetings!  It's hard to imagine that we will soon be embarking on our alternative break service trip to the Fr. McKenna Center in Washington DC.  We are quite a medley of characters!  We range in age from 18 to 52 years  and represent science, health professions, theology, criminal justice, and communications majors.  Some of us are the oldest in our family, some of us are the youngest and others are right smack in the middle.  Two in our group share the same birthday and mother - that makes them twins.  We also have many talents amongst us - some are outgoing while others are quiet and reflective.  Some are musical while others (who are not so inclined) have an appreciation for those that are.  Some like to cook and others like to clean.  Some are morning people and others are night owls.  But - like peanut butter and jelly -- it's clear from our weekly meetings, we are going to get along just fine!  It's al...