First Day in Detroit!!!

Hey friends and family of our Detroit travelers!

We left snowy Erie at 10 AM and finally made it to the Detroit Urban Retreat Center safely at 4 PM!

Before arriving at the retreat center we had stopped at Detroit's Eastern market, enjoying the local farmers and some "schawarma" (a greek grilled meat wrap).

We settled into the retreat center and made two journey's to grocery stores, Food Pride and Whole Foods. The purpose of this activity was to experience the two different atmospheres and see the difference in food quality and price.

After the two shopping experiences, we cooked a spaghetti dinner and had a reflection of our first impressions of Detroit!

We are so grateful for your prayers to get us here, please continue to keep us in our thoughts and check back here tomorrow for another update.

Best your leaders,

Josh and Alesha

A See you later, not a goodbye

     Saturday is upon us and our group cannot believe that it is time to say goodbye to Detroit!  Somber silence filled the Detroit Urban Retreat Center as each student packed and loaded their belongings in the van for the 4 hour trip home. Before we embarked on our trip to Erie, we first stopped by the Eastern Market located in Downtown Detroit. This is a market area that sells fresh fruit, meat, baked goods, and more to the Detroit population. While we were there, we ran into Tyler from Earthworks! He was able to give the group a better tour of the market and offer insight on where we should eat lunch.  We spent about an hour at the market before heading to the GM Renaissance Center (a.k.a General Motors World Headquarters) to eat at the food court as Tyler suggested. A second goodbye to Tyler was twice as hard but we appreciated that he spent his time off  helping us! The GM Renaissance Center is located in the heart of Downtown Detroit. This was our first time being in the heart of the city and the big buildings were jaw-dropping. When we entered the GM Renaissance

Center, we were hit with the sight of flashy cars and business attired professionals. We caught a quick lunch before taking the time to walk the building and take a picture out by the water. Believe it or not, Canada was within sight and would have been just a quick swim away! Despite the close proximity, no one in the group wanted to swim in the cold chilly waters of Lake Michigan and so we stayed in America.
     After lunch, we stopped by Belle Isle once again and walked through the free aquarium on the grounds. It gave as an underwater glimpse of some of the fish that swim in the depths of the Great Lakes and the oceans that make up our Earth.
     After this, we sadly packed into the van and began our trip home. We had a reflection in the van and opened our "affirmation" bags, or bags that throughout the week people put supporting statements in! Both of these things brought a happy close to our trip before being dropped off in Erie at about 6pm.
     I personally had quite a transformational experience in Detroit and will miss it tremendously.
 Detroit was the first ABST for many students and when asked, the students reaffirmed that this trip was not only fun, but transformational. In fact, almost half the students want to continue doing ABST's in the leadership role!
 I am so happy to have been able to lead such an awesome group of students. I have no doubt we will all stay in contact and this trip did more than just bring a group of Gannon students together: it has created a family.


Thank you to everyone who helped make this trip possible! We appreciate you taking the time to follow our journey through this blog and wish you a wonderful Spring.

From all of us on the Detroit ABST.... this is not a goodbye, but a see-you-later:)

Warmest,
Rachel McKernan

Farewell Earthworks

Our last day at Earthworks has been a bitter sweet one. Today we started out our morning on the farm by doing some tree pruning and clearing of brush before heading inside to savor one last lunch with our friends at the Capuchin soup kitchen. After lunch, we began our final task at the farm: sifting compost. We enjoyed lots of laughter and good conversations as our group practiced various methods for breaking through the frozen surface of the compost pile (some unconventional tools, such as bricks, proved to be very effective and entertaining to use). Overall, while physically challenging, this experience was a highlight of the week for many of us, as it really brought us closer together, leaving us with tired arms and full hearts. After taking some triumphant photos on top of the compost pile, it was time to say goodbye to our friends at Earthworks. After we exchanged some emotional expressions of gratitude and a few group hugs, we left for the retreat center, feeling very blessed to have been able to share in so many beautiful  experiences with the Earthworks community. 

As evening approached, we piled into the van once again and headed out to the city of Dearborn to observe evening prayer at the American Moslim Society mosque. This experience was one of my personal favorites from the entire trip, as the members of this Islamic

community were incredibly welcoming and hospitable towards our group. We shared in an amazing interfaith dialogue on a number of topics, and we also enjoyed a meal together after the sunset prayer. The Arabic food was amazing, but the warm sense of community that we shared was what truly left us all feeling satisfied as we left the mosque. Finally, we finished the night off with some sweets from a local Arabic bakery before heading back to the retreat center and packing up to go home. If there was one word to describe today, it was unity. We felt such togetherness in all that we did- from working as a team to lift wheelbarrows full of compost, to sharing in conversations with our friends at the American Moslim society, to spending time in the soup kitchen, the entire day was illuminated by the joy of being together in the vibrant community of Detroit.

-Katie Dickey 

Meeting our Futures: Dinner with Alumni

     On Thursday's adventure, we woke up early for another day of volunteering at Earthworks. Most of us were excited for the night's Alumni dinner. The temperature had risen a bit and a few of us decided to work outside pruning some trees and bushes. The rest decided to help at the Greenhouse planting seeds. As usual, we had lunch at the Soup Kitchen and met some really nice folks. We left early to get ready for the Alumni event we were attending that night in Troy, Michigan. Joseph Bione, one of Gannon's distinguish alumni, welcomed us at his office. He is the founder of WhiteHall Group, which offers services to companies in transition or in trouble. Mr.Bione shared with us his Gannon experience, career path, and how his company has helped development in Detroit. He also empathized his commitment to grow Gannon's Alumni Association in Detroit. After that, we joined with other alumni (roughly ten) for dinner at the "Alibi" Italian restaurant and had the opportunity to talk to them and ask them questions about their current careers and how Gannon prepared them for such. We had a lovely and informative evening where we got to share our Gannon pride.

What a wonderful day with wonderful people!

 - Claudia Herrero

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

Enjoy the Now

       Today, we started off by enjoying a delicious breakfast from the Sun Rise bakery, a bakery which is ran through Earthworks. 

     After that, we started our second day at Earthworks. Today was a pretty easy and laid back day... we got to know a little bit more about the workers and some of the attendees of the soup kitchen. People tend to believe that people who attend places like this do not have lives and are just miserable. Which was not the case at the soup kitchen. The individuals we got the chance to talk to had families, stories, and were cheerful, especially Connie who seemed to bring a smile to even the most grumpiest persons face. Hearing all of their back stories and seeing how they come together as a community was something that inspired all of us and showed that you can always create light out of dim situations. 

     While there, we also learned about food security and how food brings people together. Food is not something that only nourishes our bodies, but bring us together as one;  whether it’s a special meal your family has every holiday or just a family dinner of pizza. It’s something about the feeling of togetherness one gets while they’re eating with those they love and care about.

     On the way home, we drove around the Heidelberg project. We noticed how a majority of the project consisted of clocks. To satisfy our curiosity, we looked up the reasoning for this. The abundance of clocks are there as a way to remind us to live in the present and to question what time actually is. This was quite interesting because no one us could actually come up with an answer. Is something humans made up or does it actually have meaning?

         
     To end the day, we toured the Motown Museum, which was personally my favorite part of the day. Reason being is that my Nana is a huge fan of all of their artists and just being there made me feel closer to her. It was amazing to get to experience a piece of not only Detroit history, but major part of musical history. Being able to walk through the halls that staple musicians, such as the Temptations, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, and so many more had was something the one would not forget. Showing that dreams can always be accomplished, especially with the help of others. 

-Zy’Anne Grady

Loving Through Our Actions

    This morning, we reported for duty at Earthworks!

    Earthworks is a 2.5-acre urban farm, founded in 1997 by Brother Rick Samyn, a Capuchin friar who felt a calling to start a garden at his workplace, the Capuchin Soup Kitchen.  Brother Rick had witnessed many young people from the neighborhood buying their groceries at local gas stations, and wanted to help the youth understand what good food was, and where it came from.

     We learned from the friendly Earthworks staffers (Patrick, Tyler and Wendy) that Earthworks grew to include bee hives, a greenhouse, a hoop house for year-round production (for plants that do not require as warm of an environment), a community orchard, and community plots maintained by the locals.  Food yielded from the farm is provided to the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, transplanted into other Detroit community gardens, or sold at a weekly market stand to support the work of Earthworks.

    Earthworks has also developed a training program to teach Detroit residents the art of gardening, so that they can use their knowledge to teach others, and for the betterment of their neighborhoods.

     Our work today involved peeling lots and lots of garlic and making hundreds of tags for various plants. While we worked, Tyler from Earthworks and Rachel entertained us with lots of brainteasers and riddles. 

    We ate our lunch among the clients of Earthworks' adjoining Capuchin Soup Kitchen. This soup kitchen was started during the Great Depression by Capuchin priest, Father Solanus Casey, who is now recognized by the Catholic Church as "Blessed Solanus Casey."  

    Later, we enjoyed a simple dinner of Little Ceasars Pizza (a Detroit original!) and Katie treated us to a dessert of homemade cinnamon-sugar butter popcorn, which had a taste reminiscent of churros and snicker-doodle cookies.

   We concluded the evening with a group reflection on charity, social change, and the meaning of service. We agreed on a working definition of service: "loving others through our actions." All of us are grateful for the opportunity to love and serve together in a city with such a strong heart, filled with beautiful people. 

-Dave Slusarick