An Interesting Intorduction to Bridgeport

Hello all,

It’s been an interesting couple of days in Bridgeport.

Last Thursday our house was broken in to while we were all at work. A couple girls had their lap tops stolen, along with one girl’s camera and a lot of loose change we all had in drawers and wallets. We’re all pretty shaken up by it, and really uncomfortable with the idea that someone we don’t know was in our home and dug through our things. Reclaiming our sense of home as a private, sacred space is an ongoing process and conversation. It’s going to take a while, and I don’t think we’re ever not going to be bothered by the fact that someone was in our house, but I also think it is something we can own and move on from. I think we’ll be a stronger community for it in the long run.

It was most likely what is called a “nuisance crime”, meaning the person/people who did it went from house to house, trying all the windows and doors until they found a house they could get in to. Our kitchen window happened to not be locking quite right, so they were able to force it open (for the record, this window has since been fixed, so it is locking all the way now). The item’s stolen are then usually taken to a pawn shop and almost impossible to track down at that point. Our landlord’s house also got broken in to within the last week or so, along with a house behind him. This is strange, because we live in a relatively safe/quiet neighborhood, but then, this sort of thing can happen anywhere. I definitely don’t want to blame Bridgeport. Bridgeport has its flaws and its problems, I wont sugar coat that, but it’s also so much more than that, so much better than crimes like this. A break in can happen anywhere. It could have happened while I was living in St. Cloud. It just happened to happen here. So don’t judge Bridgeport too harshly is I guess what I’m trying to say. It’s a lot better than the rough edges.

There are a lot of emotions that we’re all feeling in the aftermath. There’s discomfort and unease, as I said, with the idea of someone we don’t know being in our house and digging through our drawers. We feel really violated and that’s going to take some time to get over I think. We’re also uneasy with the idea that someone could have been home when it happened, or come home to the robbery taking place. That’s really scary. There is of course some sadness with the loss of valued items, and a lot of anger. Anger at the person/people who did it, for thinking they had a right to invade another person’s home like that. But also a lot of anger at the structure of oppression and injustice that pits the poor against the poor, that causes desperation, that doesn’t fund programs that get kids of the street and empower them to be more than their situation, that allows for such a massive gap between wealth and poverty and does so little to fix it. It’s something we’ve all talked about in the last few days, and something that I know I personally have been especially frustrated with while reflecting on our break in. I suppose that’s why we’re all here, to confront this oppressive structure.

We also view this as an opportunity to continue to be in solidarity with the community of Bridgeport, for whom crimes like this are unfortunately a reality. Things of this nature are a result of an injust and opressive system that so many people have to deal with every day of their lives. We've just gotten a small taste of what that's like. For a lot of people, this is every day stuff.

We've been really gratefull for all the support we've gotten. We feel very blessed, and we really appreciate it.

So, there’s that.

Other than the obvious, we had a really nice weekend. Friday night was very chill. We had pizza, hung out in the back yard (with hula hoops and a guitar—so much fun to be had!) ate brownies (with spoons, right out of the pan) and watched a movie together. It was really nice to relax and just have fun together. I think we all needed it.

Saturday we were invited to an end of the summer party through the young adults group at my supervisor’s church. It was a lot of fun! There was great food, games, music and dancing, and a generally merry time was had by all. It was the first time since the break in that we all left the house and no one was home, which we found really uncomfortable, but I think it was an important step for us. We can’t very well just always leave someone at home for the rest of the year.

Sunday a few of us went to a service at Joseph’s Coat of Many Color’s Lutheran Church (really I just love the name), which was really nice. The service was lovely, and had a lot of soul and passion, which I loved. I really felt that the church body had a deep investment in the community of Bridgeport, which I think is really important. We want to try different churches throughout the year, out of deference to the different traditions each of us come from as well as out of an interest in seeing what other denominations have to offer and finding a sense of unity in the Church, but I think Joseph’s Coat will be one we return too from time to time. We enjoyed it.

After the service we had brunch as a house, which we have decided should be a weekly tradition, and then in the evening our local support team (John and Sara – our support couple, Lindsey – an FJV living in Bridgeport, and Father Mark – our Jesuit contact in the area) came over and we all had a cookout in the back yard. It was a really nice weekend, even with everything we’re working through and struggling with.

Now it’s back to work for the week. We’re looking forward to getting into our jobs more, and at the end of the week we’re headed to Baltimore for a Labor Day party hosted by the JV house there, so that will be a lot of fun.

I’m still loving Bridgeport, and still SO glad I am participating in this amazing opportunity. I’m already learning and growing, and I am so blessed to have this chance. God is really very good. J

Hope everyone is doing well. Again, write, email or give me a call/text!

God bless,

Aimee

Greetings From Bridgeport!

Hello everyone!!

I’m a couple days in to my first full week in Bridgeport! I found a few free minutes and some internet access, so I thought I’d let you all know how I’m doing.

Orientation went very well. We were at a Jesuit retreat center in the Blue Ridge Mountains in PA, which was absolutely gorgeous! I got to meet my 82 fellow Jesuit Volunteers (JVs) serving on the east coast this year, as well as the program coordinators for each city and some of the staff of the JVC Baltimore program office. Each day of orientation was focused on one of the four JVC values (social justice, community, spirituality and simple living) and included speakers and activities relation to that value. We also went bowling, had a talent show, did a bbq/bonfire and hiked part of the Appalachian trail. On the last night we had a Missioning Mass where each community was prayed over and we all received Jerusalem Crosses (the Jesuit cross, from what I understand). It was a really great few days. I loved meeting all the other JVs, the speakers were wonderful, and of course the mountains were just gorgeous. But I have to say, we were all pretty excited when it was finally time to leave for Bridgeport. We could not wait to see our house and the city and just get started!

We drove through New York City on the way to Bridgeport, which was just nuts! I haven't quite processed the fact that I'm on the east coast yet, and then here we are driving under the "Welcome to Manhattan" sign. Absolutely crazy. We almost died at least seven times; those NY drivers are intense! We drove through Manhattan and the Bronx, and we could see the skyline (saw the empire State Building!!). It was pretty darn cool.

We pulled in to Bridgeport around 6:30. The first thing we all noticed is that we are definitely the minority here. I think we all knew going in that this would be the case, but it's one thing to think about it in theory and another to drive down main street for 10 minutes and not see anyone who looks like you. It was definitely very eye opening, and something we continue to reflect on as a community.

Our house is on a nice little side street. It's a dead end street, so we don't get much traffic which is really nice. It's a beautiful little home. We have a living room, dinning room, a kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a (sketchy) basement and a little "book nook". It's very homey, and we've spent the last week really making it our own, which has been SO cool. There are some great kids who live on our street, so we've gotten to meet and hang out with them a little. They are definitely testing boundaries this week, as kids do, so we've had to have some conversations as a house about what boundaries everyone is comfortable with, but they're good kids and we're looking forward to playing with them this year.

We took a tour of Bridgeport with a former JV (FJV) in the area a few nights ago, which was pretty cool. She showed us around, gave us some history of Bridgeport, took us to some cool (free!) places to visit and so forth. Bridgeport is one of the poorest cities in the country, but it's located in one of the richest counties (Fairfield County), which creates a very strange dynamic. On the tour we drove into Fairfield (the town), and the night and day difference as soon as you cross that boarder is really jarring. Again, it's one of those things we knew about in theory, but seeing the economic gap displayed so plainly in real life is very...disturbing I guess. That's another thing we have been reflecting about as a community.

I'm enjoying Bridgeport. It's obviously got a lot of very serious socio-economic issues, issues with violence and gangs, abandoned or run down factories, buildings and houses, etc. But there's something really great about this city that I get glimpses of here and there. We are super fortunate because last week we toured each of our work sites (I have 5 housemates, so that made 6 sites in all), so we got to learn about some of the great work that is being done in this city, people's dreams and visions for it and just some really cool programs. I think it's such a blessing to have those connections, to get to see and participate in those great things. There's a lot of hope, a lot of good that is being done and that can be done, and that's really cool to see. And I don't know, there's just something really cool about this city. I haven't quite figured it out yet. It's rough around the edges for sure, but there's more here than just that.

On Saturday we went to an Oyster Festival in Milford, a town near Bridgeport, which was pretty fun. We got to wander around and see all the different booths and listen to music. I even tried a fried oyster. Personally, not a fan, but it was fun to try! Sunday we hung out down by the ocean (we're right on Long Island Sound for those who don't know their Connecticut geography) most of the afternoon, which was really fun too. We can't wait to explore more of the city!

On Monday we all started work. A couple of the girls brought cars, but I'm embracing the public bus system, which I totally conquered on Monday. All that practice with the crazy busses in Rome really paid off--Bridgeport busses are a breeze! In all it takes about a half an hour to get to work, which is super nice. I was anticipating a longer commute. Work was slow on Monday, mostly just paperwork, training and a lot of reading. Today (Tuesday) was more exciting. I got to meet with Josh, who is the Youth and Family Director and who I'll (probably) be working with most this year. (We think) we'll be organizing a new Teen Achievers program that will give high school students homework help, college prep, and some various activities that will give them a place to go after school and help them grow and develop important life skills, etc, which is super exciting. It's sounding like it'll be pretty much exactly what I was hoping to be working on out here, so that's really awesome! Some things are still a bit up in the air at the moment, but right now it sounds like that will be my main focus, which I'm super stoked about!

That's mostly it for now. I'm having a marvelous time, and I think this year is going to be really amazing. Write letters, shoot me emails, give me a call--I want to hear all about what everyone is up to! I'll update on here as often as I can find a free minute and some internet, but I'd love to chat on the phone or via email too.

  

God Bless,

Aimee