I got a Job!

Hello Friends,

Major life update. I have a job! I will continue to live at work in New York City. I am soooo happy!!!

The dets:

Starting Monday, August 12, I will be working at The Henry Street Settlement as a Volunteer Program Associate. About two months after I start, my supervisor will be going on maternity leave, and I will be running the program. I am really looking forward to this growing opportunity.

This is what the place looks like:

It is located on the Lower East Side in the heart of China Town (cheap dumplings for lunch--say what??) about two miles from Menno House.

My last day at CFY is August 7.

I will continue to live at Menno House, and enjoy living in the city!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers throughout this year of MVS, and for your continued thoughts and prayers as I transition to my new role.

Blessings,

Allison

Matilda

I had a wonderful surprise Tuesday afternoon! Mica Yoder, a friend from church, won the lottery for cheap tickets to see Matilda the Musical, and invited me along as her guest. The Yoders have been great supporters of MVSers, and tonight was no exception, since they paid my ticket. A full time volunteer couldn’t ask for anything more! A great show, great company, and it was FREE!

This week has been stressful for me with waiting for jobs to call, and all the anxiety that goes along with it. Tuesday was particularly difficult, so when Mica called, I was THRILLED to go to Broadway. Nothing like an inspirational story complete with cute kids, singing and choreography to turn your day around!

The show was fantastic! I would highly recommend it to anyone. The set and costumes looked like they came straight out of Roald Dahl’s imagination. The actors were stellar (Gabriel Elbert, Mr. Wormwood, won the Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical), and the atmosphere was great. A perfect pick-me-up.

Check out the medley from the Tony’s here for a taste of the show :)

Potluck with Penington

So there's a Quaker version of Menno House. Who knew? It's called Penington Friends House, and it's literally a couple blocks away from Menno House.

Penington is similar to Menno House in that it is both a guest house, and residence for long term residents. However, it has 25 residential rooms (much more than Menno House!), and two guest rooms. Once I realized Menno House had a counterpart, I decided to reach out to them. I wanted to meet some new people, and see how their experience was living in intentional community.

It was great! The residents were extremely hospitable and generous. Even though there are around 20 or so residents, there were about 6 people from Penington that came to dinner. It worked out well, because there were three people from Menno House, and one of them was my friend Monica from college who was just visiting! I was glad they didn't overwhelm us!

Unlike Menno House, their residents are very diverse in age. I saw a resident in grade school, all the way up to residents in their 70's. It was great to see how a house works when there is more age diversity than the young 20-something-year-olds at Menno House. What a breadth of experience the residents at Penington have! 

I talked mostly to three residents. One had moved to the city a couple years ago from Denver to be a full-time Grandpa to his grandchildren in Harlem. In his youth, he was a CO in Vietnam during the war. He had a lot of stories to tell! Another resident is an opera singer who regularly sings at Grace Church. The third resident is a retired film director for PBS. During her time, she was the only female director at PBS, and one of four female film directors in the country. While I was only with them a brief time, I was blown away at the amazing experiences and wisdom they had to share. I hope to meet with them again!

Hopefully once things settle down at Menno House, we can return the hospitality!