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Profile: Julie Faxvog

Julie Faxvog lives in a world where the Kingdom is well and thriving, and from all appearances she has had a hand in bringing it about. She, though, would never say that about herself. She doesn’t need to really. You see it in her sparkly blue eyes, her smile, but mostly in the stories she relishes in telling about her world and those who people it. (Enthusiasm: Latin:passion; Greek: possessed by God: en (in) theos (God))

Which, of course, she is. She starts by telling about her passion: an organization called IOCP (Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners) stationed in of all places, Wayzata. You know, Wayzata, the parking lot for sailboats and cruisers, multimillion dollar homes that frame Lake Minnetonka, and spendy shops up and down its main street with customers who more than keep them going. No one in want here, you think. And even if there were, none of these well fixed folks would notice. Right?

Think again, says Faxvog. First of all, you have to know how Interfaith got started. Faxvog was in the congregation of St. Bartholomew Catholic Faith Community in Wayzata, (St. Bart’s to those who know it.) when she heard LaDonna Hoy, a mother of 9, give the homily that day. She spoke like a prophet as she painted graphic pictures of homelessness, missed mortgage payments, and hunger among people right in their own midst. That was all Faxvog needed to become galvanized into action. Her action in 1980 was to start volunteering at IOCP, an organization founded by LaDonna with the help originally of 9 local churches. That number has now grown to 30.

She is currently on the board of that organization, but that doesn’t mean  she sits in a fancy office and dictates messages from on high. In fact, she has cleaned bathrooms, refinished furniture and commandeered teenagers into action for more than one good cause. All this in addition to plying her organizational skills, of course.

Her Interfaith office is about the size of the library we’re sitting in at the SJA Parish Center. There she serves as receptionist on most Friday mornings. The building  was once the old St. Bart’s rectory donated by the church and recycled now. Someone else donated the land it sits on at Rice and Grand in Wayzata. Other volunteers painted, did carpenter work, laid new carpeting and furnished the place “A real community effort,” says Faxvog.

It is in that spot that Faxvog is witness to the parade of humanity that passes her desk every week. Once she directed a young, desperate Iraq war vet with no money over to an older Vietnam vet, another client, who was sitting nearby. Soon she saw the younger man begin to relax as the older man spoke gently to him and they shared stories. “There is magic here,” she says, “where clients help each other. “

Interfaith puts on a client Christmas party every year. At last year’s party, one client, a man with a beautiful voice, brought a Karaoke player and pretty soon had everyone singing along. “Even teenagers,” Faxvog says with some wonder in her voice.

“Listen to this,” she says. Then she tells of arranging to deliver some furniture to one of their clients. In this case an iron trundle bed complete with all the bedding: soft sheets, a warm blanket and a pretty scalloped quilt. Upon seeing it, the mother burst into tears of gratitude. It was her 13- year-old daughter’s birthday that very day. Up until then she was sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Overcome, the mother turned to her daughter and said, “Look what these good people have done! Our lives are turning around.”

IOCP, or Interfaith, is an emergency services provider that serves people in the western suburbs. It is supported by  local churches, businesses, grants and individuals and covers a breathtaking scope of activities. These include such things as a food shelf, help with rent, gas cards, housing, transportation and a car program, free vouchers for those with special diet needs and a child care center, started by the local Methodist church. There are churches and neighborhoods willing to adopt a neighborhood to be a support  system, (tutoring, dinners, special needs).

IOCP, with the help of staff, volunteers and businesses has built 4 Habitat for Humanity homes. They leveraged money from the Sleepout and in collaboration with Common Bond, the City of Plymouth and many other partners built 54 affordable homes in Plymouth.. This neighborhood has an Advantage center with computers for those who need them. Mother Interfaith: (Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied. Matt 5:06)

Then there is the annual “Sleep Out”, started by Bob, the local shoemaker. The first year he collected $12,000 by putting out a can asking for donations to Interfaith for its many programs. In exchange he would “sleep out” on his front lawn in downtown Wayzata in the height of a Minnesota winter to experience what the homeless endure on a regular basis. Last year families, neighbors, clergy, CEOs and children slept outside during the winter months to raise $1.6 million for Interfaith.

Faxvog tells of a mentally challenged gentleman, a regular in town who was known by the whole community. When word got out that he had died many in the community came to his funeral which was put on at no cost by a local mortician.    

Sunsets, a well known Wayzata restaurant, gives 50% of its revenue to Interfaith on the first Tuesday of December every year. Just before school starts, local barbers give free hair cuts to children who need them.“We are all taking care of each other,” Faxvog says. (Care for the widow and orphans and welcome the stranger and the downtrodden, says the Torah, an ancient Jewish text.)

From the vantage point of her desk out in Wayzata on Friday mornings, Faxvog is able to say “Hello,” in Somali to the Somali clients who come in. Not only that, but without blinking an eye she can greet any Russian who stops by in Russian with a “Good morning,” “Good afternoon,” or “Good evening.” She could be a U.N. delegate if she wanted to. 

Faxvog loves St. Joan’s and can’t believe there is one committee in the whole church that isn’t fun to belong to. She and her husband, Fred, began coming informally to St. Joan's at the suggestion of a friend in 1980 before moving to Michigan for ten years. After moving back, they finally signed up officially in 1990 when typically she began pouring her energy into whatever came along. She has worked on more than one Cabaret and in the latest one was what she calls a "personal shopper" for Chad Campbell, the decorations chairman for this year's event.

Father George Wertin asked her to do something with pictures for the (then) new parish center. If you wander through the place you’ll see what she came up with: pictures enlarged by Todd DaleBroux, a fellow parishioner, which Faxvog had framed. They all show some of the activities that those in the church support. For instance, just outside the library is an image of an African child behind a fence, this taken by a parishioner who went with Father Cassidy’s delegation to Soweto, Africa. Down the hall is a picture of the Lake Harriet bandstand taken on a summer Sunday morning when it was SJA’s turn to conduct a liturgy there.

“I love this church,” says Faxvog who drives 45 minutes from her home to get to SJA. “I love its people and all its ways of being hospitable.” (Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another. “ Mark9:50)

Here are a few lines from Interfaith’s vision statement. Faxvog says it stands for what St. Joan’s means to her too:

Rooted in our vision is our belief that we are on this human journey together and that the community we build together will be more for the sharing and less for the withholding of the gifts of each person. You are invited to find your irreplaceable role in this sacred venture and come along!

Jo Welch-Youngren worked with Harvey Egan in the early days of St. Joan of Arc. At that time she, Cy and Joan Speltz, Nancy Anderson, Darlene Arbuckle, Ferry Deslauriers, and John McGowan made up the staff. We all pitched in and did everything that needed doing and had a ball every day. Jo’s first husband, Jack Welch, was buried from St. Joan’s in 1980. Later she married Dave Youngren, moved to New Mexico, then returned to her roots. Now she and Dave sit on the left side center at the 9:00 o’clock Mass on Sundays and love every minute of it. Jo can be reached at joandave@ties2.net.

(Who shall find a valiant woman.? She is far beyond the price of pearls.) Proverbs