Over Spring Break this year, EMU students participated in two different Y-Serve trips. On one trip, a group of three students and one EMU alum traveled to Kimball, West Virginia to work with Sharing with Appalachian People (SWAP). The other trip had a group of ten students and University Chaplain Brian Martin Burkholder, who worked with Casa Alterna in Georgia.
SWAP is a Mennonite Central Committee–affiliated “home repair ministry program in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia,” according to its website. Senior Laurel Evans, who attended the West Virginia Y-Serve trip, says that SWAP prioritizes houses that are not safe or that have major issues, especially for people who are not able to do their own repair work. Evans notes that “SWAP is a Christian organization,” so this trip was more faith-focused. Her group had daily devotionals that focused on the kingdom of God and how God works in small things.
Evans says that the main goals of the trip were to make themselves useful, learn about a new situation, meet people, learn new skills, get to know each other, and have fun. They did home repair work, including painting and roof work, on a house that SWAP has been working on for over a year. The EMU group got a new coat of paint on almost the entire house, and they replaced the uninsulated windows with ones that would keep heat inside. One of Evans’ favorite parts was getting to know new people, including the homeowners. She also enjoyed learning new skills from the project.
Casa Alterna, the organization with which the other Y-Serve group worked, identifies itself on its website as “a community of hospitality comprised of recently arrived asylum seekers and US citizens.” It provides support for people hoping to receive asylum in the United States.
“The main goal of the trip was to get more exposure on how the immigration process works,” says junior Ruth Abera, “especially for those coming to the country undocumented and seeking asylum.” The group attended some Quaker church services and, throughout the week, had meals with various families who either had been or still are in the Casa Alterna program. They also visited the Refugee Coffee Company, whose mission is “to use a delicious cup of coffee as a platform for job training and personal development of resettled refugees and other immigrants.” The relationships built with participants in the Casa Alterna program during the trip were very impactful; Abera says, “We had reflection time every night where we all shared how the day was—which I think was helpful for everyone to have time to process different emotions we were feeling and break down challenging ideas.”
In addition, the group participated in some service projects during the trip. Part of the group went to an international magnet public school, and the other half spent time on a home repair project. They also did service work on Koinonia Farm.
Abera adds, “People should join the Y-Serve trips in the future as our trips are equipped with different types of learning experiences, real-life exposures, and chances to serve a community that serves us one way or another.” Evans also encourages people to participate in Y-Serve. For her, the benefits include traveling to a new place, expanding her skill set , and having a fun way to spend a break.
