Faith, Work, and Learning

     We started off today at the Solanus Casey Center for Ash Wednesday. As a non-Catholic Christian, it was a new and engaging experience to learn more about the Catholic Church. After the mass, we explored the Solanus Casey Museum. The museum was about Solanus Casey and his journey through priesthood and his path to potentially be recognized as a Saint. 

     Then, we went to the soup kitchen. Wednesday is a designated day at Earthworks where individuals can volunteer for half of a day. We worked mostly in the hoop house, which is another "greenhouse" on the Earthworks farm. It was interesting to meet the other volunteers and learn where they came from. 

     At lunch, we sat with a patron of the soup kitchen. He has lived in Detroit all of his life and currently has a daughter also in Detroit. Like other experiences of the trip, we talked about how you never know where you’re going to end up or what path you will eventually take in life. 

     After lunch, we went into the greenhouse to write more name tags for the produce and to create more nutrient-rich soil. Tyler, one of the workers at Earthworks, told us riddles while working to pass the time.

      We went to the Downtown Detroit Public Library after Earthworks. When I walked into the library, I was speechless. The library consists of stunning marble and hand-painted stained-glass windows. We went to the library to experience the exhibit about the Black Bottom neighborhood in Detroit. The Black Bottom neighborhood no longer exists because the city tore it down to put in freeways. The exhibit in the library is a street view of the neighborhood before and after the demolitions. You can walk around the exhibit and see the stark contrast of before and after the demolition. 

  Next, we went to the Dabl’s African Bead Museum after the public library. When you walk into Dabl’s store, there are hundreds of different beads hanging from the walls. If you ask Dabl about any bead, he can tell you the story behind it. While at his store, he explained his background with bead selling. Every African bead has its own meaning and he wants to share that knowledge with others, which is why he opened the store.

It was a great day!

-Julia Baumgarner