SearchOmaha Area Spring and Fall Break Immersions
As part of being in relationship with the Omaha community, a new site was added here in Omaha to our Fall and Spring Break Service Trips. The Omaha immersion shows students issues ranging from homelessness and immigration to racism and poverty as students get to know guests at one of our community partners, the Siena/Francis House.
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Katie Bradley wrote about her experience last fall, featured in our newsletter, Praxis:
For many college students, fall break is a time for ski trips, warm beach escapes and all-night parties. I, too, was excited for break, but decided to do something a little less traditional. I traded a car packed with suitcases for a comfortable pair of sneakers. I packed simply. In addition to the clothes on my back, I grabbed an extra sweatshirt, a few pairs of socks, my journal and a sleeping bag. With my backpack on, the trip began. Points of interest during my break included Youth Emergency Services, the Gene Leahy Mall (Pedestrian Park) in Downtown Omaha, The W. Dale Clark Library and Goodwill Industries. After a short early morning walk from Creighton University’s campus, the group of seven students arrived at our two hotels for the week, The Siena Francis House and Holy Family Church. In the cold morning air, I could see my breath, and feel my heart beating out of my chest.
Without hesitation, we silently left our few belongings in the Church and wandered out of the church and into a “new Omaha.” Not your typical fall break? This trip is actually a four-day immersion offered by Creighton University and the Center for Service and Justice, as an alternative to the typical fall break vacation. It is a chance to understand a lifestyle, in a world that we often block from our everyday consciousness. I’ve lived in this community for 21 years without seeing the Gene Leahy Mall as a place of shelter. I’ve never gone to the library for the sole purpose of getting out of the cold or waited in line for food. I never thought that I would spend my fall break in a homeless shelter.
Just like any other city, Omaha has done a wonderful job hiding the poor. Just north of the downtown area, bustling with outward signs of progress and wealth, the Siena Francis day house and shelter welcomes the homeless and marginalized members of our community. On the corner of 17th and Nicholas, the rest of the world seems to melt away. Seventeenth street weaves into a dead end, and we are hidden from sight, as to not attract attention. Out of sight, out of mind. To understand homelessness, I must leave comforts behind and immerse myself in a new journey.
Katie Bradley — Fall Break Service Trip '06 Participant, Omaha, NE
A longer account of Katie Bradley's Fall Break Service Trip