Reflective thoughts

I'm so blessed to have been able to spend a week living and serving the homeless in a shelter in Washington DC this week. Thank you Justine for being an amazing co-leader and role model for our whole group. Thank you to all the beautiful people in this picture because all of you truly have beautiful hearts as well❤️ I'm so grateful for the gifts I've been given in this life, and thank Gannon University for inspiring me to grow in love and compassion through experiences like this one.

-Maggie McKernan

Comments

Day three!

Father McKenna Center and Holy Redeemer Peace Meal Today we all went to the Father McKenna Center. We had the honor of taking a tour of the church above the father McKenna Center. We all had different tasks at the center including working in the kitchen, serving breakfast and lunch, and working in the pantry. I had the opportunity to work in the kitchen today with Ellen, Ryan, Hayley, and Father Shawn. We helped to prepare today’s lunch: cheeseburger Wednesday. We also made ratatouille that will be served tomorrow. After the Father McKenna Center we headed back to the Holy Redeemer Church to do a reflection letter for our future selves. After the reflection Hayley, Ryan, Josh, Elena, Mughiara, Liz, and myself all took a walk to Capital Hill. Once returned from our fun walk we all helped with the Holy Redeemer’s peace meal. We all got to interact with many of the other neighbor volunteers and all the individuals who attended the dinner. Today was a very fun ...

Safe Arrival Back in Erie

We have arrived back in Erie! After a week full of encountering new people and reflecting on our experiences at the Father McKenna Center, we have all returned safely to our home base. Thank you for following along with this blog of our trip. The implementation of our knowledge into our daily lives will not be an easy task, but we are well prepared to take it on. We all have learned so much through our experiences this week and are excited to share and show others what respect for human dignity truly means. Homelessness is an extremely complex problem in our country, and we have all struggled to grasp what the best response on our part should be. At the end of this trip, I have come to affirm that complex problems do not have easy solutions, and that solving huge problems like hunger and homelessness involve more than one person or one ABST group. However, the power of one is still strong and present everywhere- we experienced that through meeting amazing and inspiring individuals th...

Day four!

Day at Capitol Hill! Hey Guys! Today we got the honor and the privilege to go to Capitol Hill to meet with Representative Mike Kelly. He is the representative in Erie where Gannon is. We were able to tell him our experiences so far this week and the stories we have heard. We advocated for policies to help the homeless both here in DC and back home in Erie. He was able to tell us his feelings towards homelessness and poverty and his possible solutions to the issue. We would like to thank Rep. Kelly and his office for giving us the opportunity to talk to us during his busy schedule. We then got an amazing tour of the Capitol building. After that, we all walked to get lunch at District Taco and reflect on our time in the Capitol building. Then we walked to The White House to take a picture with the Gannon flag. After the picture, we all split up and went to different Museums. Being able to enjoy the amazing weather in the nation’s Capitol was a great way to relax during this busy...

Gannon ABST Washington, DC

Search This Blog