Hall of Fame Chavez

At Bill's with Greg

Tonight (11/18/2014) I have the honor, and pleasure of attending a special dinner here in South Bend. At the Century Center, in Downtown South Bend, a special man is getting inducted into the South Bend Hall of Fame. Mr. Gregorio Chavez, Jr., a tireless community supporter, proud Air Force Veteran, committed LULAC Member and a great mentor, is getting his day and some overdue recognition.

I wrote about Greg a little over a year ago when I had just accepted my position with La Casa (9-10-2013 "I Sat Between Two Giants"). He has continued to impress me with his dedication and hard work well into his 80s. I sneak over to Bill's Place to have breakfast with him every other week or so, its fun to have coffee and listen to all his stories. I enjoyed reading my old blog again and remember the import role, and foot steps that I follow in this community.

I will share my favorite story about his dedication and commitment:

In late September 2013 I had just started working full time and Greg came to La Casa to see me. He asked me who edged our lawn... I remembered seeing it that morning and it was a bit of a butcher job. I told him our maintenance guy and that we didn't have an edger so he used a weed whacker on it. He said he would get it fixed for me.

Well later that week, Greg shows up, with an extension cord and a trimmer, he plugs in, and goes outside and starts edging our lawn. Wait What? My first thought was to go outside and try to make him stop, but he wasn't having that...

So I went inside and the staff were all not sure what to do... I thought about liability, I mean I have an 80+ year old man outside edging my lawn. No one else would volunteer to try and make him stop after I tried... so we let him finish. Of course I snuck a picture of him out there to prove that yeah, he really did that. Like anyone would ever doubt his hardwork... and now I always make sure the grounds at La Casa look good... out of fear that if we don't, Greg will come back again and do it.

He has done so much for La Casa, for the Latino community, for Veterans, for anyone who needed help and I am glad he is being honored, and proud to have been invited to celebrate the evening. From donating copy paper, to taking students to the state house and raising money for scholarships and pushing to get Western Ave named Cesar Chavez Parkway. All the work of Mr. Chavez...

Congrats Greg, glad to have been able to walk along side you on immigration rallies, sit next to you in meetings with the mayor, and watch your selfless acts that have made this city a better place. Congrats, well deserved.

Halloween and Cop Cars

I posted about this already... but wanted to write a little more before I move onto my next topic. I wrote below about how the perceptions people grow up with of the police. I had an interesting opportunity to teach the lesson in a unique way, and have since engaged folks in some dialog around my point. So I thought I would share...

The weekend of Halloween I was working with an weekend immersion class from Saint Mary's College. The group of students would live in our neighborhood for the weekend, staying with families from La Casa de Amistad. It was designed for them to learn about immigration and the role of an urban parish in immigration.

Friday night was halloween, and the students volunteer at a local Catholic parish halloween event. They got to paint face, prepare food and hand out candy. At dinner afterwards as we reflected on the evening I asked them... did any of them see any little boys dressed as cops? Or firemen? Then asked, if any them maybe had little brothers who might of dressed up like that growing up... and of course they did.

Without me baiting the conversation much, one of the young women guessed it was because of the view the neighborhood kids would have of the police. Exactly, and we talked how that impacts how people react when they interact with the police, their feelings towards law enforce make a big difference in their willingness to call police when needed.

Later I presented this thought to a group of staff from the Notre Dame Center for Social Concerns. I don't have answers, or an idea on what to do with then information but I might of peeked from interest in research around the topic.

So tonight, when I saw one of Cruz's cop cars on the coffee table... got me thinking again and that I needed to write this down. Sometimes we don't think of the small subtle ways that inequality is created in this country. How maybe someone's immigration status might make them fear the police so much they won't call when they need them. Or how the high African American incarceration rates create a how class of people that fear the police.

Some food for thought on a Sunday night... and a question... what are you doing to help make things better?