On the Strings of Hope

As the time with my internship with the Faith Community comes to a close, I really would hate for all of this work to be done in vain, for another year to pass and for the speakers of Labor in the Pulpits to converge on their congregations with the prophetic voice of the poor behind them and then when the message was heard, for people to be moved, but not be able to participate in the creation of this better world.

As my time runs out, I would like to create a progam that would keep people of faith connected to the phlight of low wage worker justice. However, like many things there simply isin't the money for the Labor Council to pay someone to continue doing this work. Realizing that time is of the essence I talked to the Capuchin Volinteer Corp here in Milwaukee about the possiabilities of maybe moving into the Capuchin House and having them cover my expenses for the year so that I could continue this work.

So I had a meeting today with the director of that program, seeing if it would be possiable to work for the Faith Community for Worker Justice all year long and he was completely excited about the prospects of the program, unfortunately like the Labor Council, they do not possess a never-ending pool of money that can allow everyone to work for Peace and Justice. My living expenses would have to be covered by someone other than them as their pockets are quite empty.

After having a discussion with both the Labor Council and the Capuchins, it dosen't seem like collectively, there would be enough money to allow me to eat food and do this work at the same time. However, I have not given up! With a beleif in Providence (the way in which God allows things to just fall into place) I feel that somthing will turn out. Its not going to be easy, afterall, I am just a college graduate with no 'professional' fundraising abilities, I don't have experience organizing huge not for profit organizations, and no strong track record of organizing people of faith around low wage worker issues, but what I do have is 2 things, faith and optimism that somthing will work out.

I've started trying to figure out various funding sources for grants to continue the program throughout the year. I also have an idea of a program that involves getting clergy connected to local campaigns and bringing a youth presence that has been noteably absent to the movement for low-wage workers in the past.

I guess sometimes the only thing you can go on is faith and beleif in Providence. With only a few leads on jobs after this is all done in about a week and a half, I really don't know where I will stand with regard to my ability to devote my life to the work of low wage workers. This work is not the most lucrative of careers, but I assure you that it is the most rewarding when you can go home at night really knowing that your neighbor may have not gotten evicted from their house, or was able to put food on the table as a result.

Things are so up in the air, hopefully the coming days will bring good news as to how I could possiably continue this work, as the fruits of it cannot be underestimated. If you have any ideas, please let me know...