Lasallian Volunteers assist in the operations of both the soup kitchen and shelter and provide assistance as needed to the guests. Second year volunteer Kendall Marsden and first year volunteers Cecilia Luna and Rachael Hoffman all provide hospitality, food, and lodging to the homeless.
Each volunteer also serves in another part-time ministry in Kansas City. Kendall serves as youth minister and volunteer coordinator at St. James Parish; Cecilia provides support services and advises student council at Cristo Rey High School; Rachael works as a community organizer with Communities Creating Opportunities.
Holy Family Catholic Worker House chooses to live a simple lifestyle, with the poor as their neighbors, for whom it provides emergency services for human needs and dignity, and advocacy for greater justice in the systems and structures which oppress the poor. Located in a deteriorating neighborhood in the central city, Holy Family offers shelter and meals for homeless families. Holy Family is also available to the poor of the neighborhood for various emergency needs. Guests at the shelter must be families and are mostly single parents with small children, a mix of Caucasians and African Americans. Supper guests are an unpredictable mix of single men, women, elderly, and families. The community offers a simple presence to just listen and be with its guests, model nonviolent conflict resolution and resistance, and advocate actively against local, national, and global injustice.
Migrant Farmworkers Project, which was organized to assist farm workers living temporarily in Missouri’s rural areas who are well below the federal poverty level, speak little or no English, and have little access to any services, has served as a part-time ministry for many volunteers in past years.
Second year volunteer Heather Melgosa is the 3rd grade teacher at St. Stephen’s Academy, and first year volunteer Kristen Rafferty is the 4th grade teacher.
St. Stephen’s Academy (K-8) is located in Kansas City’s urban core, an area targeted as in need of recovery. This inner city neighborhood has a population that is 72% Hispanic, 8% African American, and 20% Caucasian. Of 94 families, 29 speak no English at home. The local population is considered working poor and have recently immigrated.
The Lasallian Volunteers work at St. Stephen’s Academy with a 15 person staff to provide a quality Catholic education to these children. They serve as full-time teachers, teacher aides, and English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors. After school, Brothers and volunteers tutor Latino 4th-8th grade students from Catholic and Public Schools. They help with homework, remedial tutoring, and reading. The emphasis is on language development since many of the students come from Spanish speaking homes.
