Sunday, September 29, 2013

Same Mindset

Mariah (left) talking with other volunteers during orientation
This year I am serving in St. Michaels, Arizona where I am teaching high school math at St. Michael’s Indian School.  Although it is far from my hometown in New Jersey, I know that this experience will be amazing. When my parents dropped me off in Pennsylvania for Orientation, I have to admit that I was very nervous about this year of service.  However, after meeting the staff of Mercy Volunteer Corps as well as the other volunteers, my nerves have gone away.  I cannot wait to learn more about the Navajo culture and to fully immerse myself in their many traditions.  Also, I cannot wait to go see the beautiful land which I will be living on for the next year.  Everyone who has told me about my service site has told me about the cows and horses we will see roaming around and all of the different places we should visit, all of which will be very new and exciting to me.

Mariah (right) getting pinned during Commissioning Mass
Although some of us have nerves and excitement heading out to our service sites, it is very comforting knowing that we have so much support from those involved with Mercy Volunteer Corps.  Being surrounded by those who have the same mindset as me has made this decision much easier.  I cannot wait for each of us to get our feet wet and to embark on this new journey we have all started together.  This year may be difficult at times, but I know that talking to the other volunteers and keeping my spirituality will help me get through those difficult times.  I hope that this year helps to bring out the best in each of us while teaching us many lessons. I know that I have already been impacted by the people I have met during Orientation, so I can only imagine how much the Navajo community will impact me.


Mariah Iapicco - St. Michael's Indian School - St. Michaels, AZ

Monday, September 9, 2013

Mercy Day

On September 24th, 1827, the very first House of Mercy was opened under the leadership of Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy. Mercy Day is celebrated throughout the world, and I thought I’d commemorate it by reflecting a bit about my time as a volunteer with Mercy Volunteer Corps.
I am where I am today, and indeed, who I am today, in very large part because of my interaction with the Sisters of Mercy. I have known Mercy Sisters from the time I knew what a nun was, and I’ve always loved them. As I thought about what I wanted to do after college, I started looking at volunteer programs. I was drawn to Mercy Volunteer Corps because I’d always had such positive experiences with the Sisters. In August of 2002 I was accepted and offered a position at Marian House, a home for women in recovery. The program sounded amazing. There was one catch: it was in Baltimore, MD. I was finishing my senior year at a smallish college in the mountains of North Carolina. Baltimore could not be further from home or my comfort zone. Still, I decided to go, and it remains one of the best decisions of my life.
I lived with three other volunteers, Lara, Margy, and Rachel. We lived in the rectory of St. Peter’s in southwest Baltimore, where we were immediately welcomed by the church and the neighborhood. I even received a baptism by fire of sorts, as my car was broken into within a week. Our work sites were fantastic, though not without their challenges, and I could not have asked for better roommates/community members.
We were–we are–The Baltimore Girls. We have a monthly phone call so that we can all stay in touch, and we get together every couple of years. Our most recent reunion was in May 2013 - though everyone came to my wedding on the 14th of this month, it was a little too chaotic to call that a proper Baltimore Girls Reunion. Though it’s been over ten years since we lived together, it still feels like yesterday. It’s hard to explain my relationship with my Baltimore Girls. We are so much more than old roommates and friends. We have a connection that simply cannot be broken.
As a volunteer at Marian House, I worked primarily in the Education Center, tutoring women and helping them prepare for the GED or readiness classes. I also worked with families in the program, tutoring children and coordinating family activities. By the end of my first week there, I knew that I was meant to be a social worker and am now a therapist for children and families in the Baltimore County Public School System.
I learned so much in my year there. It was the first time I’d encountered and dealt with substance abuse in a tangible way, and I have vivid memories of times when I witnessed some of the incredible challenges faced by people who live with addiction. We had a movie night not too long after I started, and one of the movies was 28 Days, featuring Sandra Bullock as a woman who enters a rehab facility. I learned more watching the reactions and listening to the commentary of the Marian House residents during that movie than any course on substance abuse could have taught me. One of the most difficult days I experienced  there was when a resident’s boyfriend overdosed, was hospitalized, and nearly died. He had been clean for nearly 20 years, and he relapsed. That was the day I truly realized the power of addiction and the daily battle that a person in recovery faces. I’d already had tremendous respect for the women in the program and for others in recovery, but that day, I was simply blown away by the strength they demonstrate each day to remain clean.
My year in the Mercy Volunteer Corps brought me to Baltimore, to a city that baffles me daily and yet sucked me in so deeply that after a few years away, I was ready to come back. I returned to Baltimore in 2008, and much to my mother’s dismay, I’m not planning to leave any time soon. I credit my initial year in Baltimore for my profound conviction that I am a social worker down to my very soul.

And so on Mercy Day today, I remember that my MVC year taught me about service, about living in community, and about living simply. It taught me that as a young, sheltered, white woman from the South, I have even more to learn from my clients than I have to offer them. It taught me that friendship can stand the test of time, of distance, and of differences. It taught me that Phase 10 is hands down the best game EVER, that having PBJ for dinner several days in a row in order to finish a ridiculously challenging butterfly puzzle is worth it, that while there are indeed bats in the belfry there is also a beautiful view, and that the Circle of Mercy is indeed both kindness and timeless.

Janet Price Mercy Volunteer Corps Alumna '02