During my time at The Bridge Teen Center so far, collaborating with my coworkers and the teens has allowed me to see how a dedicated team of people can work together to provide free opportunities for students to learn and grow in eye-opening ways. Starting my first day and continuing every moment so far, my coworkers have led by example in inspiring me to be intentional with everything I do and every interaction I have this summer. At The Bridge, it is easy to see the big picture in smaller things I do like making phone calls to invite teens to various programs and putting them into our database. The reward comes when parents are compelled to take a moment to say how blessed they are that their teen found The Bridge this summer or a couple of years past. They have said that their teens have been benefiting socially and gaining valuable experience from the various types of programs offered at The Bridge.

Recently, when I got the chance to observe teens experience indoor scuba diving, I got to talking to the bus driver who is a frequent volunteer at The Bridge. After talking to her more, I found out that she was about to accept an assistant principal position and had been working in the education field for 20 years. We bounced back and forth about how students often struggle to have outlets and think of places like school and The Bridge as safe places to learn, be, and express themselves. Although she knew a whole lot more than I did, we shared a mutual core belief that giving students opportunities like The Bridge turn into impacts that will shape who they are as people in crucial ways. We talked about how the ways that teachers and role models view students will become the ways that students see themselves, possibly in a positive light for the first time. This brilliant discussion gave me a chance to review my calling, which includes giving students a safe space to grow into themselves. I have been able to be a part of The Bridge, where an excellent team of people work together to do just that by creating, providing, and organizing various programs where teens can learn and grow in their interests and gifts as well as social and leadership capabilities.

Every other Friday night, The Bridge hosts their largest themed programs where the entire facility including the outdoor space is open to the teens. On my first Friday night, I worked the front desk and was surprised at how engaged I felt with the teens as I got to check each one in and made a countless amount of new IDs for new students. As aforementioned, I have been able to make seemingly more tedious tasks meaningful because they all lead to the bigger picture of giving teens the best experience they can have at The Bridge. You can make any interaction with someone intentional and impactful. I have been inspired to not take any interaction at face value because each holds the opportunity to encourage a teen and set the tone for how they will approach and view their experience at The Bridge.

Last Friday, The Bridge hosted an “80’s and 90’s Bash” event for the students where I oversaw one of the rooms called the Garage. I encouraged students to vote for The Bridge as Southland’s Best 2022 for various categories as well as ran the candy bar. Although this may seem simple, there is a significant difference between someone who takes the task at face value and someone who works on a like-minded team that strives to use every opportunity to positively interact with students. At The Bridge, one must always hold dear to their heart of service, their care for student engagement and experience, and their dedication to excellence in everything they do. Having this in mind, I was open to asking students questions about what inspired their themed 80’s and 90’s throwback outfits and encouraging them to step out of their comfort zone by trying new things like our karaoke with their friends. It is surprising how little it takes to engage with a student that could lead to their personal reflections that make their night the best it can be. Myself along with over ten volunteers supervised and engaged with students in order for
the event to not only run but to thrive with enough student interaction and excitement so much so
that they would come back again.

– Isabelle Kalil, The Bridge Teen Center

It has officially been five weeks since I started my internship with Heartland Alliance and I could not be more grateful for this opportunity. From my first day in the office I have been overwhelmed with an incredible sense of community and in awe of the amazing work which my coworkers do on a daily basis. It has caused me to do a lot of thinking. While I have learned so much at this internship already, most of which I can’t disclose, for the purpose of this blog post I want to focus on one theme in particular which has been on my mind since starting in May–that is, the idea of community and boundaries.

Throughout my time at Valpo I have heard the idea of work and home life boundaries expressed in both the classroom and colloquially–to varying degrees. Many of the individuals I look to frequently uplift the importance of this separation–whilst also going above and beyond for their students, thus often sacrificing it for themselves. As a result, I find that I began this internship believing in a strict separation between the two–like church and state.

What surprised me starting day one at the office however, is that my coworkers approach their job and a sense of community differently. To begin with, Heartland Alliance is adamant that we call the people we serve participants and not clients–it emphasizes that we work together–as equals–not apart. This theme carries through in every aspect of the work which they do. Moreover, my coworkers spend their personal time interacting with participants doing crafts, gardening, and sometimes–years later–talking on the phone as friends. While they are distinct, there is a strong sense of community between coworkers as well as coworkers and participants. Additionally, as I began working with participants myself I found it difficult to process what was going on around me, or show up fully, without allowing for some spillover between my personal and professional life.

This has caused me to reflect a lot on the way I understand boundaries. Specifically, I have been wondering more about what the purpose behind keeping personal and professional lives separate is. I am finding that when I approach participants with the intent to foster community, as my coworkers model, it feels as though I am better able to honor both their humanity, as well as my own.

In my spare time this summer I have been doing a fair share of reading–one author I read recently, Nadia Bolz Weber, discussed the idea of being fully integrated and its centrality to human flourishing. She mentioned that, as she engages with the members of her congregation, she wants them each to be able to feel fully integrated emotionally, physically, spiritually, socially and so on so forth–no discontinuity at all.

So I am beginning to wonder: what are the implications of this for my work/personal life boundaries? On the one hand if we can integrate so fully in work and home life that there appear to be no boundaries we risk our mental well being and personal privacy as well as the privacy of those we serve. However, on the other hand, if we separate the two drastically we risk making it impossible to cross that divide and do a discredit to ourselves by forcing a divide between professional and unprofessional aspects of ourselves. In thinking more about the balance between these two I am realizing that I want to be in community with those I serve. While I also believe it is necessary to have boundaries between my work and home life, I think that aspiring to live in community with those I serve is the best way to inspire me each day to work and lead from a place of love. As a result, now that I am more comfortable in my role, I find it inspiring to aspire to this and am trying to adapt these ideas into my own life so as to live more integrated.

So what do you think? Perhaps this all sounds a bit too much like I am applying to be an RA, but I am curious what your thoughts are. How do you practice living integrated while also uplifting personal and professional boundaries? Most importantly, how do you believe we can cultivate boundaries without fracturing ourselves and allowing ourselves to lead from a place of love both professionally, and personally?

At this point in time, I by no means feel like I have any answers for these questions–but I am curious to learn more and am, as we speak, taking time to observe the ways that community and boundaries are appearing in my life, and the lives of those around me.

– Katharina Depenthal, Heartland Alliance Health

Arriving at the Kheprw work site for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I was parking not at an office building or cold, emotionless structure. Instead, I had arrived at a neighborhood. This is where most of the workers live and spend nearly all of their time together. Rather than sharing an office space, they share a community. The word “community” has continued to encompass my experience, and it’s what everyone here at Kheprw lives and breathes by. Every night one worker makes dinner for everyone else, and whoever is available will sit together on what’s lovingly called “the porch” as they talk through their day. I have had the pleasure to join on multiple occasions. On the first day I shared some personal passions, including my love of dystopian novels. The second day, I was given a dystopian book to read, free of charge. Moments like this have slowly cemented my respect and love for this organization and the people in it.

My work largely includes working with food-based programs. Food structures, food deserts, and food markets have filled my thoughts for the past month while working on projects and finding my place within this organization. I am currently managing our participation in a weekly food market, and I am helping with a weekly gardening class called Growin’ Good in the Hood. Kheprw has long believed in establishing food sovereignty through local efforts, and their work has led to many partnerships with local farms and gardens. Every week I am able to purchase food from a couple of these places and sell it at a market. One week Growin’ Good had a field trip to one of these gardens, Lawrence Community Gardens. Amber, who is in charge of operations, used the phrase “Labor of Love” to describe the work they are doing. I saw such love with my own eyes, through the sustainable practices used and through the mission of food justice. And, I see this love everywhere I look in this line of work. I see it in the farmers, I see it in the gardeners at Growin’ Good, and I see it in Kheprw itself. Everyone loves what they do because they care about why they are doing it. Whether it be food sovereignty, economic justice, or what Kheprw calls “community wealth building,” everyone here sees a greater purpose in their work.

Reflecting on this first month or so, I hope to find the same passions in my future. This work has been challenging, but I see and feel how important it is. My coworkers have taught me what it means to personally invest in your job, and what it means to invest in each other’s success. Although I largely work from home, I find myself speaking more and more with my fellow coworkers, as we discuss my projects or just our personal lives. Whatever career I pursue, I hope to build these same types of relationships, and to find my own “Labor of Love.”

– Emily Fletcher, Kheprw