The Larson Family, Eric, Liz, Zeke, and Eli
Eric and I have the joy of living at Jubilee Village with our sons, Zeke (age 4) and Eli (age 2). Jubilee Village (“JV”) is a residential program run by Outreach, which provides affordable housing for young moms, as well as wraparound case management services. We serve as “houseparents” at JV, which means we build community, offer relational support, and crisis intervention a few nights a week. During our weekly “community meal,” the entire building gathers for dinner, conversation, games, and life skills activities. Our family has happened to live in a series of different “communal living” situations over the last five years, and these experiences have deeply enriched our family’s relational structure, sense of communal belonging, and faith in the Triune God of love. Our strong value for community is one of the many reasons why we love living at JV.
When I came into JV, I anticipated the relationships with the women to feel similar to past “client relationships” I’ve had in other social services jobs over the last decade. However, I realized quickly that these relationships are quite different. My client relationships were (rightly and healthily) guarded by clear professional boundaries, where activities like talking about my personal life or cooking food for someone simply did not happen. The women at Jubilee Village, however, are not my “clients.” We do share life together in many ways: our kids play together, they come by to borrow band-aids or eggs, we take each other’s laundry out of the dryer, they see how our marriage works. Though there will always be some power dynamic between myself and the residents, this shared life and, specifically, my shared motherhood with these women, does help to “level the playing field.” There is no pretense of superiority to hide behind when we both know we share the same struggles of how to mother while also taking care of ourselves, when we have shared the gruesome details of childbirth, and when the walls are just thin enough that I know anyone can hear when one of my kids is having a meltdown, or when I myself have lost my patience.
That being said, I felt so moved and encouraged by Fr. Kevin’s sermon on November 11 on the New and Improved Earth, I realized it helped put words to my experience of living at Jubilee Village. I believe Jubilee Village is a place where “heaven is coming to earth” (the main theme of Fr. Kevin’s sermon), and I feel this most acutely during community meal. I do not say that in a romantic or idyllic way–lots of people (including myself) can show up to community meal feeling worn out, not willing or able to participate or contribute to “community building” with much energy or joy. Sometimes there are awkward conversations and lingering pauses in conversations. Nonetheless there is a deeply humanizing, mysteriously sacred, and distinctly vulnerable element to this liturgy of community meal: of cooking for a crowd, taking your seat around the giant table to eat together and share our imperfect lives together.
Many of the women that come to JV are escaping hardships of various kinds: abusive relationships, domestic violence, homelessness, addiction, or exploitation. But at community meal, none of these past experiences are stamped upon the women. In social services, there can be a tendency or an inclination to “pathologize” those whom you are working with–to see them primarily through their weaknesses. At JV, I have noticed time and again that houseparents and staff relate to the residents from a fundamentally different starting point than pathology. The joy of living at JV is the privilege of bearing witness to the journeys these mothers are on, these journeys that are inherently marked by their daily choice to sacrifice in order to build a life where they and their child can flourish, where their inherent worth and dignity can be recognized first by themselves and secondly in the new relationships they form in hope. It is our prayer that the beauty, goodness, and love of God may be known and felt by all the women and children who call Jubilee Village their home. We so appreciate Savior's regular prayers for the ministry of JV - thank you!
p.s. Jubilee Village is regularly looking for volunteers and donations to the resource room; please let me know if you are interested in learning more about this opportunity!