Being Present, a Practice to Invest In

"We are all one family, but sometimes people don’t experience family within their communities or within the greater community of the world. Many people feel isolated, and worse, ostracized. The pain and suffering of aloneness, of being forgotten, or pushed aside is one of the multi-dimensions of poverty which cannot be addressed by an act of political will. It takes the will of neighbors and family to break through that isolation. I think this is why Mr. Troy of the Seventh Ward in New Orleans used to always address everyone as “family.” He always said, “Hey family.” That was his greeting to everyone.

ATD Fourth World strives to break the isolation of poverty by creating a familial spirit within the communities where we are present. We can be sister, brother, aunt, cousin, or a friend to everyone we meet, especially with the most isolated."

Donate now to build life changing relationships and opportunities for people experiencing poverty.

Being present - What it looks like

Last year Dierdre Mauss, an ATD Fourth World Volunteer Corps member in New Orleans, was asked to invest in the strength and relationships of the people who have been part of our movement in her hometown.

After years alongside people isolated by poverty, a few months with this focus and with her reflective practices helped Dierdre find words to describe Being Present. The words quoted in this letter are from her writing.

"Being present means stopping by to say hello and ask, “How is it going?” Being present means baking cookies and sharing them. Sometimes it means attending a funeral or a wedding. Being present means talking about big questions together, like the next hurricane or the elections, or about how to access a service, or simply comparing experiences. Being present means listening quietly while another cries about the injustices they are experiencing. Sometimes it means spending time helping someone move out and look for a new home. Being present means showing someone how to pay a phone bill by phone or how to write a money order. Sometimes it means reminiscing about the old times when we used to go to the park together, to have a good time or work on a project together. It means building new memories."

Being present - Why it matters

It remains difficult to describe this as an initiative of ATD Fourth World that requires financial support. But it so clearly is. For the isolation of poverty to be broken, we need both time to be present and freedom from an obligation to funders to find concrete outcomes at the end of each day.

"Being present also means allowing the neighbors to watch you enter the homes of the people that they fear or have ostracized. Letting them see that you find joy in being connected to people they hold in suspicion, with the hope that they will rethink their opinions and judgements."

Being present - How you help

As an organization we prioritize this step of the work in our strategies and program planning. As a Volunteer Corps we learn how to be present just as we learn to run Street Libraries, facilitate Merging of Knowledge workshops, or operate an office. Support from individual donors allows us to dedicate the time and resources to be present with people. The flexible process and emerging outcomes required to be present is difficult to fund through grants.

"Being present sometimes gives people courage to believe and to find the strength to try something they hadn’t tried in a while, like gardening. Nothing is promised, but there are glimmers of hope in each life and each community when people take the time to be present to others."

Part of the Volunteer Corps philosophy is to live on a stipend, keeping the cost of our time relatively low. Your financial support of our being present will go a long way.

As always, thank you for all the ways you support ATD Fourth World.

Sincerely,

Maria Sandvik
Finance and Administration Director

$50 buys a personally made photo album for a family after the loss of a loved one

$150 purchases 30 round trip metro cards for Volunteer Corps members to go visit people

$450 covers one month health insurance premium for a Volunteer Corps member under 30 years old

$1000 contributes one month stipend for one Volunteer Corps member