Welcome to southern hospitality!

And so it began...After arriving in Raleigh, North Carolina on Wednesday afternoon, I was picked up from the airport by Brooks, a very much southern woman. She was so friendly and had a strong sweet southern accent that you can't help but smile as you listen to her talk!

The orientation was phenomenal with the 13 interns, many guest speakers and leaders. It really made me think, touching my heart in places that aren't always super comfortable, and I still have processing to work through about service, faith, community, vocation and more. In the mean time, I thought I'd give a bit of an update. Thursday night, Jerry (my host father) and Molly (one of the two paid staff members at the labors resource center, who happens to be pretty close to my age) arrived! Devin (my co-intern) and I have been able to learn so much more about what this summer will entail after their arrival. Here's an overview of what he and I have gathered:

HISTORY
-Back in 2007, Wellspring United Church of Christ in Centreville wanted to find a way to justify its existence. They had been noticing that there are many immigrants in the population who gather daily on the streets in hope for a day job. Many local people complained about them being there because of the importance of image, especially in suburbia life. Alice, my host mother, started the Centreville Immigration Forum, providing a way to learn about issues and avoid overlapping services, opening up conversation between community members with both citizens and immigrants.
-2 1/2 years ago, a local commercial relator presented the idea of opening a labor resource center for the immigrants right there in a space in his plaza. It would be a win win situation - he would be pleased to have immigrants off the streets, which to him was making it look less appealing, and the immigrants themselves would have a safer place to get a fair (wage & condition) day job!
-After working with local governments, talking with immigrants that gathered on the streets (sometimes more than 100 in one place) and many long hours of sorting through details, the Centreville Labor Resource Center (CLRC) opened in December 2011!

RIGHT NOW
-Local natives are slowly becoming more open and willing to hire day laborers from the center for anything from landscape to painting to contractor work.
-Peer training has begun with immigrants teaching each other skills they have, such as painting or drywalling.
-Locals (nonimmigrants) who are not employed are starting to come, too, allowing for relationships to form that otherwise wouldn't have existed. One man from Guatemala is trying to learn English solely because he wants to talk with his African American friend from the CLRC.
-There are over 200 males and 20 females registered at the CLRC.
-A local congressman is trying to write a law that would close down the CLRC, but no luck so far.

PURPOSE(S)
-Make a community center, both cultural and social, for people to come to and meet others. They're even trying to make it a social center after work hours with events like movie nights and such.
-Destigmatizing immigrants in the community as a whole.
-Helping economy by putting money into the wallets of the workers who then spend it in the economy in some form, whether it be groceries or rent.



Here's one with me, Devin (co-intern), Jerry (host father & spiritual mentor), Molly (staff at CLRC) during orientation. It's a really fun group and I'm excited to jump in feet first!!

Right now, I'm all comfortably moved into Alice & Jerry's lovely house in Centreville, Virginia. For now, that's all I will say, but more updates to come!