Real Talk
St. Leonard's House provides interim housing and comprehensive support services for formerly incarcerated men. When I drove there last night I didn't quite know exactly what to expect. I parked across the street from a beautiful building in a clean, quiet neighborhood near the United Center.
The building exterior and grounds were gorgeously maintained and very inviting as I walked through the gate. Once again, I arrived to the volunteering early, very early this time (for some reason I think of Chicago as being a really vast place and am never sure how long it's going to take to get from A to B, especially driving during rush hour). There were a few men sitting at a picnic table outside. I let them know I was volunteering with Chicago Cares, then woman came out of the door the building in the back (which turned out to previously be the carriage house to the house featured above, we were told later), looking for the cat (above). I let her know I was volunteering with Chicago Cares and that I was pretty early and asked permission to sit on the bench outside the door as I waited. I'd shoved a couple of Time Magazines in my backpack before coming here as I didn't know what to expect (how early I would be) or what Real Talk was going to be like. I only knew it was going to be talking about a current events issue.
A few more volunteers arrived. Shortly thereafter Sister Sharon, the volunteer coordinator for St. Leonard's House, arrived on the scene. Since there was time remaining before Real Talk's began Sr. Sharon took us on a tour through the house where the residents live (featured above). She told us it was built in the 1800's and that the house in the back, also utilized by the organization, was the carriage house. The ministry additionally occupies the house next door for the residents as well. She took us through the main floor of the house. The ceilings were gloriously high. There was a beautiful fireplace in one of the main rooms. She told us there is a fireplace like it on each floor. The octagonal part of the house (pictured top left) on the main floor is used as chapel for the residents. It is a really beautiful building. But once again, like the last volunteering, I was critiquing, to myself, the colors and condition of the interior paint job. I know there are a lot of other things on the peoples' minds who utilize the buildings as residents and who run the programs as employees and volunteers beyond outdated paint jobs that could use touch-ups. Maybe I should lead a volunteer program to paint interiors. On the other side of the carriage is an Episcopal church which is the foundation of St. Leonard's Ministries
and is where Real Talk was held in the dining room in the basement. Sr. Sharon led us there and we were met by a man who was the Chicago Cares Volunteer Leader for Real Talk. What Real Talk consists of is discussion about an article that is brought in by the Volunteer Leader. Print-outs of the article along with suggested discussion questions were handed out to us and then the residents came into the dining room. It was different than volunteering at Mock Interviews because the room was filled, all the tables and chairs were filled. There was a woman who was also a Chicago Cares volunteer as well as four resident men at the table I where I was sitting. We began Real Talk with going around the room, introducing ourselves, and telling our "dream job." It was beautiful to hear what the residents' dream jobs were. A number of creative jobs came up: author, musician, architect, cook, and additionally: pilot, casino-owner, and surgeon. Sr. Sharon announced that she was already working at her dream job, but would also like to be a fine art painter. I announced that my dream job(s) were photojournalist and illustrator, because I am interested in photojournalism right now and I love illustration.
The Real Talk article was about Edward Snowden, who worked for the National Security Administration (NSA) and leaked information to a journalist about the United States government monitoring cell phone calls and emails before fleeing the country. The questions had to do with whether or not we felt he had done the right thing, what we would have done in the same situation, and if we felt that the government was right in what it was doing. Sr. Sharon turned off the giant fan that was blowing in the corner to lesson the noise in the dining room so we could hear each other talk. It was a warm, humid evening and the room heated up with our conversation. Talking about the government can certainly lend itself to the revealing of opinions in just about any group of people. What I found interesting at my table was the pro-goverment sentiment, coming from a group of people who had previously been incarcerated. It actually turned out that I was the one with the strongest opinion that was not in favor of giving un-checked power to the government. Some at our table expressed trust in what the U.S. government does with the faith that they are doing the right thing for the people. The room was boisterous with conversation and definitely heated up during the hour.
Before we began I had asked Sr. Sharon about St. Leonard's House's sister program for women, Grace House. The services that St. Leonard's Ministries provides to its residents include job training and education. Sr. Sharon let me know that Grace House has a program that runs on the same night as Real Talk: computer skills training. I think computer skills training would be a perfect volunteer fit for me, and I could even see if I could teach some of the cool Web 2.0 tools that I've recently learned about in my Technology course at Dominican University. Sr. Sharon wrote down her info and the name Grace House on a slip of paper and gave it to me before the discussion hour. I've signed up for it during the next scheduled time that they need volunteers through the Chicago Cares website.
I'd had no idea what people were going to say during Real Talk at St. Leonard's House and through what I had learned about the organization and it's residence through Sr. Sharon's volunteer orientation I knew to stifle my typical line of personal questioning. But I also knew I was going to be curious and still inferring things in my mind about the residents as I observed. These were people who had previously been incarcerated, and I'm a naturally curious person. What I ended up observing was nothing like what you see on Fox TV. I witnessed a room of people who were just like anyone else discussing a topic that basically had to do with right and wrong. At the end when we shared the results of our tables' discussion they listened when each person was speaking, applauded when he finished, and thanked us when we left.
St. Leonard's House
Sister Sharon Bossler, OP, Volunteer Services Coordinator
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