Chicago-Women's Issues

3/29/12

Last night after getting 'home' from our eventful day in Chicago, we saw we had received friendly notes from the building caretaker to make sure we paint the house this morning. So early morning, around 8, we were up and at 'em making breakfast and preparing for a day of work. Two of our lucky crew were able to go to Sacred Heart, a home for adults with mental disabilities. They enjoyed a morning of discussing the patient's lives with them. Diana (our lovely leader) has been visiting once a week on Thursdays for six years, recognizing the importance of such a unique community home.

The rest of the group stayed around the house, finishing tasks from earlier in the week and tackling ones desperately needing to be done. Red fences were put up, and the ceiling in the Gertrude Stein room was completely sanded and painted. This did however result in a very dusty Carlos and Mandy, but a gorgeous ceiling, no longer threatening to collapse. The fences around the UAR trees at 21st and Kedzie, named Expressions, were nailed together and cemented in. Staircase rails were touched up and the back of the house made more attractive. A set of gates to the meditation portion of the backyard garden was painted a glossy black, and everything began to really come together. The exciting (and minorly distracting) addition of some neighborhood kids kept everyone on their toes. They were eager to help where they could, but we quickly realized, our group is focused on women's issues for a reason – child care is not our forte. After a few hours of utilizing their eager aid, they scampered off onto other interests and we brought our focus in and came to a close for the day's duties.

Needless to say, such a day of effort resulted in a deep need for Sean's homemade brownies. The kitchen was full of life as dinner was prepared, throwing together a hodge podge of leftovers that resulted in a delicious dinner full of flavor. As the brownies came out of the oven, nearly every body in our group occupied the kitchen for a taste. It's a wonder we avoided a stampede in our excitement for the dessert, a fantastic conclusion to our day of hard work. It was a useful day in the end, with many new skills learned: mixing/laying concrete, fixing toilets, and explaining tough life situations to nine year olds (such as why we don't wish dog biting upon people). And now we may or may not be witnessing an exchange in the street involving illegal substances. Apparently there's still a few more things to be learned before the day is out!

With love from our happy, and freshly painted, household,
ASB Chicago