For Paula and Elena, volunteering at CMC is something they enjoy doing together.  The mother and daughter team have been helping out in the food pantry for about 6 months.

Prior to that, Paula had been a volunteer in the early 2000’s, for about a year.  When her and her husband moved to West Liberty, she stopped volunteering.  Needless to say, a lot has changed since then!  “CMC has always been a great place of support for many in our community who are trying to improve themselves, make a good life, and find support with each other. Coming back many years later, this has not changed and only been enhanced! The biggest most recent change is, of course, to the new building. When my daughter and I started coming to help with the food pantry last fall things were in transition! It is so wonderful to see everything start to take shape.  All of the cooler and freezer space available for the pantry is very helpful! Families are able to access more fresh, nutritious foods they can enjoy,” says Paula.

In the interim years between volunteering, Paula and her family moved to Guatemala – and she experienced the other side of the coin – from what refugees experience here.  “Some of my time in Guatemala was spent with people who had been refugees or internally displaced due to the 36-year civil war in that country. I want my community to be a welcoming place and to give support to those who need it, especially when people have lived through trauma and violence whether that has happened right here in Iowa or anywhere else. As a foreigner and immigrant in these countries I was welcomed by most people in most places I traveled or lived. If I stumbled with a terrible accent in Spanish or when I said or did things in a strange way because I came from another culture and way of life, people were patient and kind with me; they were forgiving and helped me learn. I hope that through CMC, I can help create a place in the community where people are given the opportunity to learn and grow and experience kindness and patience,” says Paula.  Elena says she enjoyed bringing food to the people in need.

For both mother and daughter, the highlight to volunteering was seeing the smiles of delight on children’s and parent’s faces when they delivered food boxes.  Paula sums it up when she says she “wanted to help reduce food insecurity in the community.”  Paula and Elena have enjoyed the opportunity to help CMC further its outreach in the community.

On May 3, 2021, President Biden signed a memorandum to increase the number of refugees allowed into the United States for this fiscal year (Oct 2020-Sept 2021) from a historic low of 15,000 to 62,500. CMC welcomes this development and applauds President Biden for fulfilling this promise. 

The President has the legal authority to change how many refugees are allowed into the U.S. through what is referred to as the Presidential Determination. Due in large part to the advocacy of the late Iowa Governor Robert Ray, the U.S. Refugee Admissions program was created in 1980 to formalize the refugee resettlement process in the United States. From 1980 to 2016, the average number of refugees entering the U.S. per year was 80,981. Under President Trump, the average number of refugees entering the U.S. per year was 29,512. Though still historically low, an increased admissions cap of 62,500 is an important step to serving the 26 million refugees in the world, among whom less than 1% are ever resettled into a country like the U.S.

Due to the decimation of the U.S.’s Refugee Resettlement infrastructure, both domestically and abroad, under President Trump, the number of refugees entering the US this year is not likely to reach 62,500. That said, President Biden’s action sends an important signal to the rest of the world: that the United States will once again lead by example in welcoming refugees. 

Refugees had to flee their country because of who they are or what they believe. No one wants to be a refugee. Given our history and status in the world, we have a moral duty to continue to welcome refugees to the United States. Refugees enrich our country and communities. Here in Iowa, refugees help address the increasing workforce shortage. Because of Iowa’s declining birthrate and aging population, we need more Iowans in order to stay prosperous and competitive with other states and the rest of the world. The refugees we welcome to our state become Iowans and can lead our state to a better future.

The Catherine McAuley Center believes our future depends on inclusive communities that welcome, respect, and support a diversity of individuals and ideas. Refugees come from other cultures and speak other languages. By welcoming refugees we show compassion for all people no matter who they are or their faith. As the number of refugee arrivals returns to what the US has historically received, CMC will continue to welcome these new Iowans.

Over the last few weeks, Catherine McAuley Center has been creating flyers and videos about the COVID-19 vaccine for the purpose of encouraging everyone to get vaccinated. We have been gathering important information about the vaccines, as well as meeting with leaders in the community from different backgrounds who speak a variety of languages to hear about why they have chosen to get vaccinated.

Currently, we have created flyers in 7 different languages: Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Spanish, English, French, and Arabic. We have also filmed 5 videos in the following languages: Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Spanish, English, and Arabic. 

To find our COVID-19 Vaccine flyers, please visit our website’s home page (cmc-cr.org), or follow this link to our Google Drive folder.

If you would like to watch our COVID-19 Vaccine Q&A videos with community leaders, you can click this link, which will take you to our YouTube playlist.

What is SF 252?

The Iowa Legislature has recently passed a bill known as SF 252. Governor Kim Reynolds also recently signed the bill, officially passing the bill into law. This bill was created in response to the nondiscrimination ordinances for individuals who receive housing vouchers in Marion, Iowa City, and Des Moines. Currently, these three cities have made it illegal for landlords to deny an individual housing based solely on their use of Section 8 housing vouchers. The Section 8 Housing Voucher Program is a Housing Assistance Program that assists low-income individuals and families in affording safe and sanitary housing.

With the passage of SF 252, cities and counties will no longer be able to protect voucher recipients from being denied housing. Essentially, landlords will be able to discriminate against low-income individuals who receive federal housing assistance and cities/counties will have no control over whether or not landlords accept Section 8 vouchers.

Read the bill here.

Impact on our Communities

SF 252 will leave a negative impact on many communities in a multitude of ways. 

Firstly, this bill is a blatant violation of civil rights, allowing the use of housing vouchers to determine an individual’s right to safe and affordable housing. People experiencing poverty are already facing numerous barriers to housing access, from lack of affordable housing options to limited availability of housing assistance. The addition of this bill will only further limit low-income people and families from attaining and maintaining housing.

Among all people experiencing poverty, women and Black people will be disproportionately affected by discrimination under SF 252. Women-led households account for over 80% of Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher recipients. Additionally, over 40% of Section 8 households are Black-led. When considering the discrimination and bias that these groups already face, this bill makes it easier to legally discriminate against people of any protected class by using section 8 vouchers as an excuse for denial of housing.

Section 8 recipients are reliable renters

Many landlords are hesitant to accept Section 8 tenants in their facilities due to the stereotypes of people experiencing poverty. In reality, Section 8 tenants are simply people who need financial assistance to have a safe roof over their heads, and vouchers can provide a reliable source of income for landlords who accept them. When asked about the benefits of having Section 8 tenants, Landlords Myrna and Jim Loehrlein stated “We have rented to Section 8 recipients a number of times. In fact, we have recommended it to tenants who were struggling. With Section 8 renters, we know that rent payments will be reliably supported. This is a program that serves both low-income renters and their landlords. So many people are on waiting lists for this benefit that we hope some way can be found to increase funding to support more program participation.”

CMC believes that all individuals, regardless of gender identity, race, socioeconomic status, ability, ethnicity, age, religion, sexual orientation, language, educational background, or family make-up deserve safe and affordable housing. SF 252 jeopardizes the rights of individuals receiving Section 8 vouchers, and CMC will continue to advocate for policy and culture that bolsters an individual’s rights to fair and safe housing, rather than taking them away.

Here at the Catherine McAuley Center, we’ve seen an outpouring of volunteer support over the past year, and in many creative ways from tutoring online, holding supply drives, assembling and delivering food boxes, to cleaning the new building and helping the Center move into its new home.  When the derecho hit in August, “The work after the storm really inspired people to step up,” says Katie Splean, Volunteer & Outreach Manager at CMC. Volunteers helped flip our old building and turned it into a shelter for displaced refugee and immigrant families, and we received an outpouring of support through donations from our community.  These basic necessities provided stability for families experiencing crisis, and are continuing to provide ongoing supportive services as we navigate the aftermath of this disaster.

In virtual “tutor talks” this year, volunteers asked questions about how they could be advocates for the populations we serve, and volunteers helped get people to the polls to vote.  More than 200 food boxes were assembled and delivered to refugee and immigrant families experiencing food insecurity.  These are just a few of the ways that you have inspired and helped the community this past year!

“It’s clear that the community is engaged and wanting to help”.  Katie says that community interest has been high since the derecho.  In fact, since July 1^st of 2020, volunteers have donated more than 8,000 hours of their time, and 158 have been new to CMC.  This is incredible, given the current pandemic!

In the future, we look forward to seeing more of both new and long-time volunteers around CMC.  “Vaccines are rolling out and we’re looking forward to welcoming people into our building when they feel comfortable,” adds Katie.

April 18 -24 is National Volunteer week, so we could think of no better way to say “thank you,” than to feature all those who have helped us in the last year.

Thanks for all you do to make Cedar Rapids a welcoming community!

April 22nd is Earth Day, a day to honor our connection to the planet we live on and make sure we’re doing our best to help rather than harm our Earth community. Our staff, residents, and clients have a lot to say about why the Earth is important and what we can do to help.

The Earth matters to us because, in the words of a student, “we live on this world and we get everything we need to live from Earth.” This is the home for all people, and where all of our food and water comes from. “It sustains all life,” adds a resident, reminding us of the diversity of creatures that share their home with us. And what we do to Earth is what we do to ourselves, since, as Kristin from Womens’ Services observes “we don’t have another […] home to go to.”

What are We Doing?

On Earth Day it’s important to  “inspect what you’re doing,” says Kristin. How are your actions and the actions of the people and institutions around you helping or harming our patch of Earth? Many residents note that disposing of waste by recycling or composting it instead of littering can reduce harmful pollution. In addition, doing our best to use and create systems of transportation, farming, and building that use renewable resources instead of fossil fuels is an important project to keep the climate from becoming even more unstable. To one student, the most important thing is that “the Earth should be a safe place” to live, work, and play.

To observe and celebrate the holiday, one resident has organized the One Bag Challenge, a time to help remove litter from the CMC neighborhood. Staff, residents, and clients will be helping on Earth Day afternoon. This will help “be part of the solution, not the problem” by keeping toxic plastics out of the soil and water where they can harm plants and animals. Others plan to garden and plant trees to help Cedar Rapids’ plant community recover from the derecho. What are you going to do this Earth Day?

Words to Know:

Diversity – Many different types of people, animals, plants, or other things

Pollution – Things people make that go into the air, water, or soil and can hurt living things

Transportation – The ways we move from place to place

Renewable Resource – Something from the Earth that grows back and keeps the land safe

Fossil Fuel – Coal, natural gas, oil, and other things that people burn to make machines work.

Climate – The types of weather that happen often in a place

To celebrate Women’s History Month, CMC highlights stories of women in our community addressing the Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy. In this final week, we examine the importance of Nonviolence and highlight the impact and interwoven nature of the critical concerns by reaching out to Cora Marie Billings, a Sister of Mercy who is outspoken about racism, violence, and its effect on our neighbors.

Firsts

Sr. Cora Marie’s connection to the Catholic faith stems back to her great grandfather, a slave for the Jesuit community at Georgetown in the late 1700s. He was raised in the Catholic faith and eventually moved his family to Sr. Cora Marie’s hometown of Philadelphia. Under her great grandfather’s wishes, Catholicism was retained through generations of her family. But even as a “cradle Catholic”, Sr. Cora Marie’s upbringing in the Roman Catholic church was difficult at times due to the treatment she received at school and within the local ministry as an African American woman. Withstanding these obstacles, her dedication to her faith did not waiver, and  ten years after Black Sisters were accepted into Sisterhood, Sr. Cora Marie became the first African American Sister from Philadelphia in 1956.

This was not the only ‘first’ title that Sr. Cora Marie would attain in her life. In 1968, she became a co-founder of the first National Black Sister’s Conference (NBSC) in Pittsburgh, a turning point in Sr. Cora Marie’s life as she began recognizing the need to work against racism and for Black liberation. Realizing the impact racism had on her life and on society as a whole began with important conversations with her fellow Black Sisters about race and faith. Immediately after the NBSC, Sr. Cora Marie returned home and attended a Black Power civil rights protest. “My cousin picked me up from the convent and took me to be a part of the movement. That was one of the first times that I was active in the movement and in solidarity with my Black brothers and sisters. This was not something that Sisters always would or could do. I went, I learned from it, and I became a different person because of it,” Sr. Cora Marie stated. 

Racism and Nonviolence Today

During our conversation with Sr. Cora Marie, we discussed the intersection of racism and nonviolence, and how the philosophy of nonviolence has impacted anti-racism work in the U.S. “With the tension of the 1960s movements after King’s assassination, people didn’t look at what King was really speaking to. Although he died violently, he was always speaking and pushing for nonviolence.” When asked about the status of the movement and the philosophy of nonviolence today, Sr. Cora Marie shared, “Today, some things are even worse. There was a song in the ’60s… I think it was Peter Paul and Mary’s ‘When Will They Ever Learn?’. We’ve gone through all of this so many times; people have been killed, there have been lynchings… a lot of those things are still happening today. A large part of the problem is that in the United States, we train people to fight or bully violently. We TRAIN our police to be violent… Yes, there are responsibilities as a police officer, but it can be done in a nonviolent way that doesn’t take away the rights (or life) from someone.” 

Creating Change

When asked about how we create change, Sister Cora Marie made it very clear that nonviolence was and still is a value that our country needs to learn in order to make any difference in the fight against racism. “I need you as much as you need me. We need to be relational with each other… We (as Catholics) talk about being a part of the body of Christ, and when we say that, that means that what happens to one of us is happening to all of us… If someone is suffering from racism or violence, then we all are suffering. Until we become relational and listen to each other, racism (and violence) will persist.” 

Sr. Cora Marie even noted the impact that the value of nonviolence has had on how she discusses racism: “With the idea of nonviolence, I had to change my language around racism. I no longer talk about choosing my battles; I talk about choosing my challenges.” 

Through all of the injustice and violence, Sr. Cora Marie still finds hope in the face of systemic racism. Obstacles like police brutality persist in the United States, and the Summer of 2020 was one example of the ways that violence and racism hurt us all. Sr. Cora Marie believes that it is our responsibility to respond in a way that will not perpetuate such hurt. “It is horrible for anyone who dies violently, and I think George Floyd’s death was a moment that is creating change. (Society) will accept the challenges of racism at different times, and this is one of those times. And things are changing… The hope is that there are more people that are becoming aware and trying to be aware. If we continually deny the evil that is present, things will never change. Having people that are willing to talk and willing to learn is a big part of the hope that I have to fundamentally change our society.”

We would like to thank Sister Cora Marie Billings for her willingness to speak with us, and with audiences across the country, about her life and legacy in anti-racism and nonviolence work with the Sisters of Mercy. May we all take time to listen to one another and be relational in an effort to put an end to racism and violence.

This Women’s History Month, CMC would like to highlight the stories of women in our community doing work in the areas of the Sisters of Mercy Critical Concerns. This week, CMC is focusing on the critical concern of earth. We reached out to Rachael Murtaugh, Director of Sustainability at Mount Mercy University, to dive deep into issues of sustainability, environmental justice, and local efforts to take care of our planet.

What is your role at Mount Mercy University, and how does your work relate to the critical concern of Earth?

I am Mount Mercy University’s Director of Sustainability and Stewardship, so that’s really just focusing on that critical concern and care of the earth. We do a lot of work with the curriculum at Mount Mercy, getting care of the earth linked with a lot of our classes, as well as sustainability as a whole. Sometimes when people think about sustainability, they go to recycling or green energy and that’s kind of where the conversation stops. We really look at sustainability from a holistic view. You really can consider all 5 of the critical concerns under that umbrella of sustainability because we look at it through the lens of the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals, which include earth topics like: climate change, life on land, life below water, clean water, and sanitation. But it also includes social justice issues like poverty, hunger, gender equality, peace and justice, sustainable city, economics, and more. There is a lot of education that we do on our campus showing that. one of my current goals has been helping students understand that no matter their major, their background, their interests, they have a role in sustainability and as they leave college and go on to their careers. Their career is going to have an impact on one or more of these goals and they have the choice of whether they are going to help move these goals forward or whether they are going to contribute to negative impacts. It’s helping people understand that everyone has a role and a stake in sustainability — and our earth, for that matter.

How does the critical concern of earth and sustainability resonate with you or impact you personally?

I’ve grown up appreciating, enjoying, and being out in our natural world. I grew up in a strong, faith-based family that spent as much time as possible outside. My dad often went fishing and hunting. Even before I could walk we were out in the woods learning about the various plants and animals. My dad is also an avid arrowhead hunter, so connecting the current land with the history of people that were historically there… has helped develop this ingrained love of the natural world. As I got into college, learning more about the fragility of our systems and the fragility of this planet and how much we were having an impact helped me see that I needed to have a career that helped educate and helped people realize that we have a choice in what legacy we leave on this earth. That’s been my goal for my current career and wherever my career leads me.

Tell me a little bit about your perspective on the impact that non-sustainable practices have had on indigenous communities/first nation people.

I have always been really interested in Native American history, and my dad was always intentional in educating me about which indigenous tribes were on the land we were exploring. I’ve noticed more and more frequently this idea of land acknowledgment and not sugarcoating the past. The atrocities that happened in the past are connected to our current day. We can’t go back and change the past, but we can acknowledge what happened and begin to respect that history and own that history. That conversation has been happening a lot more recently at higher education institutions. Oftentimes when I am having these conversations, we are looking at it from the scope of the concept of sustainability and where it comes from. It is so interesting because the word and idea (of sustainability) is a very western term. For many cultures, and first people/first nation cultures, they didn’t need to think about it because it was ingrained into their way of life. It was only until we started to be unsustainable and impacting our environment to such a degree that we had to name this concept in order for us to make a shift. For many cultures, that shift doesn’t have to happen. So, it’s interesting to have those conversations and talk about why we have to talk about these things because for so long we were not living by those principles. I’ve also noticed more and more classes at Mount Mercy wanting to include native voices and perceptions and I think that’s really exciting.

Looking at things from a gender lens, what is your experience like as a woman in your field and how are women specifically impacted by issues relating to care of the earth?

There are so many things we could talk about. My educational background is in conservation biology and ecology, that kind of field. Although the field is changing, it is still a very male-dominated field. That can be detrimental, for sure. I have definitely had opportunities impacted by the fact that I was a woman. At one point, it was deemed an inconvenience and uncomfortable to be working with an all-male team in a remote setting. And so, there are definitely still barriers for women in this field, but you are seeing more and more of that start to change, which is exciting. You are seeing more women and girls being encouraged to take STEM and STEAM courses, women are getting into all of these different fields which is what we need to do because when we have a diversity of people in any field means that we are going to have a diversity in ideas and that means that we are going to have better ideas overall, so I think that is really exciting.

When it comes to sustainability and specifically climate change/environmental stewardship, women have a unique potential for impact, and also a unique potential for being impacted. I think a great example a lot of times in our culture and other cultures, women are seen as stewards of resources. Whether it is the care of the home, or tending to the land in agriculture/gathering, women are often seen as caretakers/caregivers. More and more I am very happy to say that that role is being shared in cultures, but there is kind of this ingrained cultural view of women. So, on one hand, women have this unique opportunity to become better stewards of environmental resources, and to be a voice for that stewardship, and to make changes and educate their community. On the other hand, as we continue through climate change and begin to deal with more and more of its impact, women are at a greater risk of being harmed by resource shortages like water and food. Women are often more likely to be victimized if they are refugees, like climate refugees fleeing a climate-related disaster. Women and girls who need to travel a distance to get water, or firewood — as those resources become more scarce— may have to travel further. Sometimes, girls will be pulled out of school to help their mothers to obtain resources. Even just traveling long distances puts them at a greater risk for sexual violence and physical violence. According to the UN, especially in countries where women do not have equal access to economic benefits, they are much more likely to be severely injured or even die than their male counterparts due to climate-related disasters; this is for a slew of reasons. I am happy to see that there is a rise in gender equality in these fields and in climate action, and I think that for a lot of cultures, women have a unique opportunity to have a positive impact… while they also have a greater risk if we don’t take action.

What is the local community doing to help save the earth and implement sustainable practices? What should we be asking our community to do to help the planet?

Let’s start small and then expand. At Mount Mercy, we have been doing a lot of energy conversions. Our facilities crew have, whenever possible, replaced old systems with high-efficiency systems. We’ve been switching to LED lights. We’ve done two huge lighting projects that together are saving over 149 tons of carbon every year just in switching out lightbulbs, which is really cool. We’ve also been introducing native plants on campus. We have two pollinator gardens and two rain gardens. Those rain gardens are also helping to improve water quality by infiltrating stormwater instead of it flooding out into our streets. COVID has shifted some things a bit but once we are out of the woods of the pandemic we will be going back to more environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies. We have a very robust waste system, trying to recycle as much as possible. That being said, we are also doing a lot of education on waste reduction as a place to start. So often, people focus on recycling, when that is simply waste management. What we really should be focusing on is waste prevention. How can we stop producing so much garbage in the first place instead of trying to figure out where to put it. Our facilities have done an amazing job trying to reduce our waste. In our kitchens and cafeteria, the director of the cafeteria is very waste-oriented. He keeps very meticulous data about what students are eating and how much they are eating. He is very careful to only prepare what he thinks students will consume, rather than creating extra food waste.

If we open that up to Cedar Rapids, I am personally very proud of the work that Cedar Rapids has done toward sustainability. They just redid the zoning laws to allow for more sustainable structures and more renewable energies in the city. They’ve been implementing a lot of stormwater management systems. Through the stormwater program, there are cost-shares so that residents and businesses can implement stormwater infrastructure with an incentive. We have a whole sustainability division for the city that does amazing work. Even our solid waste agency does a great job, such as the yardies for yard waste. In my house, we compost our food waste and paper towels. What is so unique about that is that I can go to the solid waste agency to get free compost and free mulch! You don’t see that in a lot of cities. It is a wonderful service to reduce waste going to landfills, which then reduces our carbon output. Cedar Rapids, in many ways, has been very forward-thinking. Post-derecho, we lost so much of our canopy, they are still calculating how many trees we’ve lost. They are starting this relief plan that is a very long-term project— taking years, possibly decades— to rebuild our canopy, and (the plan is) very impressive. They are not just going fast and planting trees; they are looking at how we can build an urban forest, how we can make the trees functional, how we can improve air quality. We are even looking at how we can make trees an equity issue in our city: How can we reduce food deserts? or how can we increase wildlife? So, they are thinking very holistically about the trees and our city as a whole. They aren’t just looking at it as a bunch of buildings with people in it, but looking at it as this living, functioning system, and I think that is really unique. Lastly, Linn County just hired its first sustainability coordinator, one of the few in the state, so Linn county is jumping right into climate action, in both urban and rural communities. Locally, I think that we are moving in the right direction.

Who is your favorite Herstory figure and why?

Ada Lovelace. She lived in a time where women were not accepted in positions of innovation or power. It’s just amazing that so often we see computer science as a male-dominated field, and yet the birth of computer science was created by this noblewoman. There were no other expectations for her life beyond getting married and having children. In the face of those expectations, she became the foundress of this field that our entire world is now based on, and I find that pretty cool. 

We would like to thank Rachael for taking the time to share her expertise and experience with the critical concern of earth. We learned a lot from her, and hope you have as well. To learn more about how CMC is playing our part to be environmental stewards, tune in to our Earth Facebook Live Q&A airing on Thursday, March 18th at Noon.