Sept. 2007 MIM Meeting:
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF ONE CHANGED LIFE
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| Pastor Laurel Bunker and Rosie Rogers |
It’s the second Monday of the month – it’s the MIM (Mental Illness Ministry) meeting and the folks are on hand for a light supper and a heavy dose of encouragement, faith and fun.
She strode into the room, tall, beautiful, bright with purpose but even with her entrance, no one was prepared for the rapid fire, non-stop mixture of faith, insight and passion for social justice the next hour would hold.
She says, “I’m just a Saint Paul girl.” And then the story unfolds. Pastor Laurel Bunker, now Associate Director at the Jeremiah Program, tells of the program’s beginning. It was the dream of one person, Father Mike O’Connell who “put feet to what he heard” were the needs of people of color. The dream has grown into a program with two campuses and visitors from around the world to study the model.
Jeremiah Program “is a personal development program within a supportive housing environment that, through education moves women out of poverty and into meaningful and significant employment………that allows the entire family to learn, grow and become financially self sufficient.” Pastor Bunker noted there are people who are looking for housing but they don’t want to change their lives. They would not be accepted into the program because it is about transformation and serious learning of skills including effective day to day living skills.
The entrance requirements are specific and firm including attending a six week, one night a week course of study in readiness for the program and to test the sincerity of the applicant. The participants are screened and must be:
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a low income single mother with a high school education or GED.
- Minnesota resident, 18 years or older
- Enrolled in or accepted to a post secondary education or training program
- Child(ren) under the age of 5 at the time of application
- Highly motivated and committed to self improvement.
The housing and study programs may last as long as 3 years so there is a significant investment in each person. Participants study part-time and work part-time so they can be contributing to their lives. It’s too big an undertaking for staff alone so the Volunteers do the following amazing things:-
Cook for Kids: Provide and serve dinner for Jeremiah Program families enabling mothers to attend weekly Life Skill classes.
- Supplement care for children during daily Child Development Center hours.
- Provide child care, including arts and crafts or reading activities during evening and weekend programming.
- Provide hospitality and basic administrative service at campus front desks.
- Facilitate workshops designed to enhance participants’ life skills development.
- Provide professional services such as legal, graphic design, human resources or marketing consulting.
- Host or organize a Jeremiah Journey information session to raise awareness of Jeremiah Program.
Sometimes the specifics and details of a program start to sound pretty sterile, but to hear Pastor Bunker is to realize the energy, intelligence; the passion, faith and commitment that is present. You hear the realization that the most impossible tasks are accomplished by faith based communities. She ardently believes that it is the faith of individuals and communities that can bring these miracles to reality and “give them feet.”…that and the penetrating intelligence and bright outlook of people like Laurel Bunker who dream the dreams and strive mightily to make them come true.
and
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| Ronnie Angelus says: "There are three things that make my life work: Talking to my daughter who
opens vistas to me and makes me laugh; being in the circle of the Divas, my
writing group, who shout "go girl" and give me standing ovations with their
smiles and tears; sitting next to Mary and Claude Paradis during Sunday Mass
at St. Joan of Arc, which is as close to pure goodness as I will know in this
lifetime."
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To learn more about this program and see its facilities you are invited to visit at 1510 Laurel Avenue in Minneapolis. The website is www.jeremiahprogram.org. The phone number 612-692-8711. You will be warmly and gratefully greeted.
Opening Prayer: Led by Mary Paradis
St. Hilde Community of England Peace Prayer
Brothers and sisters, be at peace
We meet together to share this meal.
May it express our love for one another,
our commitment to each other
and point us beyond ourselves
to the needs of the world.
God make peace within us.
Let us claim it.
God, make peace between us.
Let us share it.
Amen
