Alex Fendig

I partnered with Catholic Charities Twin Cities for the summer portion of the Chuck Green Fellowship. Catholic Charities was a perfect fit for me because of their values and the community that they served. I worked at Endeavors residence, which is permanent supportive housing for people who have experienced chronic homelessness. As a Chuck Green Fellow, I planned and executed programming for the residents. In this role, I was able to both restart activities, like bingo Tuesdays and movie nights and create new activities like a resident-led beading workshop and painting activities. I also used these activities as a way for residents to vent to me or as an opportunity for them to disconnect and take a break. 

My fellowship culminated in a Spirit Week that ended with an Endeavors Prom. For this week I planned events every day including a tie-dye activity, a movie night, a beach day and a bingo extravaganza. The prom and the tie dye events were some of the highlights of my entire experience because these activities had huge turnouts, were really fun for the residents and made the building feel much more alive. 

There were certainly more intense moments during my fellowship, as is expected when working with the homeless community. I assisted in aiding residents that had overdosed, helped de-escalate conflicts between residents and also helped residents that were experiencing mental health crises. These experiences and the fact I felt equipped to handle them made me thankful for the holistic education that Macalester has provided me. In particular, I am especially thankful for the skills I have learned as a student athlete. My experience as a student athlete also meant that I worked from day one to be part of the team at Catholic Charities. This meant my fellowship included taking on other projects that may not have been in the scope of my fellowship but were still an important part of my experience. These projects included using my knowledge of Spanish to translate for latino residents, organizing and inventorying supply closets and helping administer food operations. I even got to help some residents with case management type duties like helping them fill out county and Catholic Charities paperwork as well as help them problem solve any issues they were facing. Overall, I ended the summer being thankful for the opportunity to be a Chuck Green Fellow and proud of the work I was able to accomplish. I am particularly thankful for the guidance and especially the support of Professor Lavery and my supervisor Rachel Silver at Catholic Charities. 

*My photo is from my first day of work.