Jerusalem Farm to “serve the dear neighbor” in downtown Kansas City The northeast corridor of downtown Kansas City, Mo. is not unlike any other urban core that dots the U.S. landscape. Rows of century-old homes line parallel streets, the vast majority in various states of disrepair. Others sit completely dilapidated alongside unkempt vacant lots and shuddered storefronts. But help is on the way to this area. A new volunteer service initiative, sponsored by Avila University, promises to give new hope to this blighted area, all while serving the mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet that Avila has espoused from day one of its existence. The initiative took root in the mind of Dave Armstrong, Avila’s director of mission effectiveness and campus ministries. Over the past 10 years, Armstrong had taken numerous trips with Avila students to Nazareth Farm and Bethlehem Farm, service mission retreats in rural West Virginia which housed student volunteers from all over the country and put them to work helping better their surroundings. When Armstrong heard that Kansas City social service organization Don Bosco Community Center was looking for another nonprofit entity to come in and use one of its properties, he immediately thought of all the wonderful experiences he and students had at those farms and figured, why couldn’t one be created in an urban setting in Kansas City? Say hello to Jerusalem Farm. Starting this summer Jerusalem Farm, a two-story brick house and surrounding property will house up to 24 volunteers and six staff members with a mission of providing service to the community – especially home repair needs – and creating a community of service. Volunteers participate in service retreats of up to one week. Group retreat weeks are made up of college groups, high school groups, and other weeks will be for families to retreat and serve together. Another mission of the farm is to be entirely green. Or-
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ganic community gardening will be one of the ministries that will be offered to the community. The ultimate goal, much like those at Nazareth and Bethlehem Farms, is to become largely self-sustainable, providing most if not all food for staff and volunteers through the gardens and housing chickens on the property. Armstrong estimates total service hours per year among staff, volunteers and summer help coming out of Jerusalem Farm to be nearly 30,000. “Everything just fell into place,” Armstrong said. “This house became available. I had my mind on two people in West Virginia to come out and run it. They will begin in April 2012. We’re all pretty excited about it.” Ben Cascio, executive director of the Don Bosco Community Centers, said he expected Jerusalem Farm to be a great asset to the area on two fronts. “To have a mission like Jerusalem Farm to do work where it’s affordable and makes it safe for people to live in a home is a really big deal,” he said. “Then, there’s the green philosophy part of it, where they come in and clean up and make blighted space green, garden space. That’s needed badly as well. “It’s a wonderful solution to a very large problem.” Avila is sponsoring Jerusalem Farm until the farm becomes incorporated as its own non-profit. “The farm plans to be incorporated on its own no later than Jan. 1 of 2015, but I anticipate that it will be much sooner than that,” Armstrong said. “Avila will be associated with a program that will make a big difference in the inner core of Kansas City. This direct connection will give Avila a prime opportunity for inner-city immersion in the inner core of Avila’s home, Kansas City. “Jerusalem Farm matches well to our mission and values.” The farm’s values combine the four cornerstones of prayer, community, service and simplicity, with the Sisters of St. Joseph commitments of right relationships with SPRING
2012 Accent