2018 Washington, DC

Our group gathered at the 4 PM Mass at Saint Mary's Church on Saturday, July 7, 2018.  Most of our youth had their bags packed by then, and there was anticipation in their voices as we learned of their commitment.  Our Pastor, Father Peter Joyce, blessed our group for their journey to Washington, DC the following morning. After Mass, the group gathered at the home of Chris, our leader for the trip.

Our prayers and thoughts with the following:
Shailyn - Erik - Jackie - Jillian - Caroline - Ted - Victoria - Julia - Kaitlyn - Brigit - Joe - and Chris and Sandy our chaperones.

Just before 7 AM on Sunday, July 8th, their bags packed, the bus loaded, our youth and their adult advisors gathered in a circle for prayer, took this photo on the lawn and then headed out of Milford to our nation's capital.  Our thoughts, prayers and love, journey with them on this journey as they begin an exciting week for Young Neighbors in the DC area.

With an early start after a Sunday full of introductions, orientations and meeting new people from all over the US, our teens head off to their worksite in the Washinton, DC area. 
Assigned to a neighborhood food pantry and storage area  in a basement, they begin by cleaning, organizing and doing routine maintenance as needed.  

Our teens settled into their worksites with some familiarity and lots of enthusiasm. Those working at the food pantry site got to be outside and enhoy the weather doing yard work.  While it looks like some nasty work, they seem to be enjoying helping out while grinning for the camera!

The other half of our group is at a shelter for immigrant families.  They got lucky to be outside as well.  Volunteers to the shelter came for a visit and brought their dogs for therapy so our group got to enjoy the children there and the pets!

This is the last day our young people travel to the places they worked at since they started on Monday.  This is their last chance to make a difference and recognize the impact of their work and the relationships they have made during their week of service.  Here is a photo of one of our teams with the children at the daycare they staffed. It takes a moment to realize they never even knew each other before Monday!

Young Neighbors in Washington have an experience that is unlike any other site.  Because they are situated in our nation's capital, the seat of our government, they spend their last day not at a worksite but in legislative discussions.  Here are members of our Milford YNIA team meeting with a representative from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office who is one of our Senators from Massachusetts at her office on Capitol Hill.  In addition, to their service with the poor, they have the ability to learn first hand the frustrations and intracacies of our government and its process to be either a relief or a burden to the needy in our society.  They will spend their final night reflecting and processing the experience of their week.  Saturday's agenda is a farewell to new friends and the journey home to Milford.

In addition to meeting with a rep from Senator Warren’s office, our youth had the chance to meet with Rep. Joseph Kennedy and discuss their experiences to advocate for change.