This July, our youth and adult leaders packed up the van and headed to Chicago for a week with Be The Neighbor. Guided by the parable of the Good Samaritan, we spent our days learning about environmental justice, serving alongside local organizations, and soaking in the sights

of the city. It was a week full of eye-opening experiences, meaningful service, and plenty of laughter together. Scroll through the gallery of photos below.

Participants: Will Ray, Connor Johnston, Ashe Hornthal, Sam Pass, Owen Peterson, Rosie Peterson, Mary Anderson, Oly Vassallo, Amber Guzy, Nik Waddell, Collin McCormick, William Whisnant

Adults: Debbie Cox, Mike Reardon, and James Price

Be The Neighbor is a justice-based service-learning trip ministry that equips people to live lives of love, service, and justice.

Day One: We left Trinity’s parking lot at 7:00 a.m. We thought we would arrive at 6:30 pm in Chicago. That didn’t happen due to the traffic around Chicago. We arrived at 7:30 p.m. Our Interns, Allison and Eleanor, greeted us. We stayed in the basement of the United Methodist Church on North Broadway Street in Chicago all week. We had worship and a staff meeting before we went to bed.

Day Two: We had breakfast and packed lunch each day. We loaded up and went to the Field Museum. The Field Museum connected us to the natural world and the human story of the indigenous people. We spent two hours at the museum. It was a great museum! We went to Lou Malnati’s to eat deep-dish pizza for dinner.

Day Three: People for Community Recovery - Toxic Tour

On the southeast side of Chicago, surrounded by landfills, industrial facilities, and polluted waterways, are communities like Altgeld Gardens. The late Hazel Johnson, the Mother of the Environmental Justice Movement, labelled this area the "toxic donut," a name which gained widespread notoriety and shed light on the connection between industrial pollution and negative health outcomes in frontline communities like Altgeld Gardens. There was a mishap with transportation, so it was hard to hear the guide as we toured this area, but we understood what was going on in that community.

In the afternoon, we went to A Just Harvest. A Just Harvest’s mission is to fight poverty and hunger in the Rogers Park and greater Chicago community by providing nutritious meals daily while cultivating community and economic development and organizing across racial, cultural, and socioeconomic lines in order to create a more just society. We weeded and spread mulch in the area near the garden. I love that they are providing healthy vegetables and meals to their neighborhood. That was our active time of service. That evening we went to Millennium Park for our free time.

Day Four: We had breakfast and fixed lunch like every morning. We went to tour the Urban Rivers. The Wild Mile is the first-ever fully floating eco-park in the world, and it currently stands at about 700 linear feet. They are creating floating gardens and creating a place for animals in the water to cohabitate in the waterways of Chicago. In the afternoon, we made seed booms and urban ovens. Then, we had a speaker from Faith in Hope. This is a non-profit organization of people of diverse faiths and spiritualities leading the environmental movement to create healthy, just, and sustainable communities for all. Isioma Odun works for Faith in Hope. She is the Faith in Place's Climate Change and Energy Coordinator and also a champion of racial healing. Isioma talked with us about what is going on with environmental change in the Chicago area. We had dinner out and went to Navy Pier.

Day Five: In the morning, we talked about Advocacy & Awareness. In the afternoon, we took the subway to Michigan Avenue. We went on the Architectural Chicago River Boat Tour. It was a beautiful tour and we learned so much about the buildings in Chicago.

Day Six: This was our free day. We said goodbye to the other group that was staying with us. We had a slow morning. We went to a Chicago Cubs game, had dinner, and then took a subway to the Skydeck Tour. The Sky Ledge tour is 103 stories. Skydeck provides an unforgettable experience that showcases the essence of the city.

Day Seven: We left Chicago at 7:00a a.m. on our way back home. We were making good time until we arrived at the Gorge. We arrived home around 8:00p.

Reflections:

"This trip was focused on Environmental Justice. The parable of the Good Samaritan was our focus throughout the week. This parable highlights being a neighbor actively showing compassion and helping those in need, regardless of their background or relationship to others. We did learn about what Chicago is facing regarding environmental issues. We had some bumps in the road at the beginning of the week, but stayed positive. I love how our youth rolled with what was going on and didn’t complain. During the week, we learned of ways to work for change in our community. On our trip, we are trying to find a way that they can use our skills and passions to be the neighbors that our faith calls us to be. Our youth knew a lot about environmental change because they study it in school. The trip equipped us to put our faith into action in our communities through service and justice in ways that are relational, sustainable, and dignity-affirming. Chicago is a great city, and we enjoyed our time there. Our world is facing so many environmental issues, and we can make a change in small ways. Trinity is doing our small part environmentally with the Creation Care team, composting, and learning ways to help in our community. Thank you for your support and prayers!"

Debbie Cox

"In Chicago, I mostly learned more about environmental crises and what we need to do to treat and prevent them. We did much more learning than physical work than I thought/hoped, so that was a little disappointing, but some of the activities were enjoyable, like spreading the mulch and the Wild Mile, and I liked the guest speaker. We also learned a lot about Chicago's environmental problems, which I think was much more helpful to the other churches that live in Illinois than us, but some of the problems did correlate to those of Asheville."

Owen Peterson

"It was fun visiting a large city because it was my first experience with a big city. The visit reminded me about how much nature we have around us compared to other places. When we were on the toxic tour, we drove through a field roughly the size of a football field with about 20 trees and bushes. This was called the “enchanted forest” because of how much nature there was. I had a lot of fun exploring the culture and the city. The height of the Willis Tower was scary. Overall, the trip was fun and I learned quite a bit."

William Whisnant

"While in Chicago, I experienced that a lot of places don’t have as much open space as Asheville. This opened my mind up a lot more and it gave me more to be grateful for. I also didn’t really appreciate all of the outside space until I saw how much other places lack it."

Ashe Hornthal

"The mission trip to Chicago was a trip of a lifetime! I enjoyed the bonding that was made through the week, especially in the church we stayed at! The week was filled with educational activities and opportunities we took from museums on Monday and Tuesday, with a toxic tour (did not go as expected), to the service in the harvest garden! W for Wednesday and the Wild mile! Learning all about the nature of environments and ecosystems around the rivers in Chicago. Then, with a final boat tour of Chicago’s architecture, the best tour yet!! I learned so much about environmental justice and the little things I could do to make a bigger impact on the world. Whether that’s completely changing to solar use or simply not littering. The two interns, Allison and Eleanor, were so kind and very optimistic, especially with the group meetings in the mornings and evenings. Overall, the Mission trip to Chicago was insightful, and helped put a perspective on environmental justice into my mind."

Amber Guzy