J-Walking Project Report
March 2007

On March 12, 2007 the St. Rose of Lima Justice Walking group in Gaithersburg, Maryland welcomed a family as they entered their newly refurbished and furnished apartment. The family had been waiting seven months to move from a room at the shelter into this large two bedroom apartment. Over the same seven months a new J-Walking group had formed at St. Rose. The group learned from parishioners of an outreach service in Gaithersburg called The Dwelling Place which soon became the focus of their meetings at the margins.

Every third Monday the J-Walking group gathered at the Grace United Methodist Church. There they met families associated with The Dwelling Place that were transitioning from homeless situations into transitional living situations. On these Monday evenings the J-Walkers met with the children of the parents and organized activities to get to know one another. The parents met with social workers to learn life skills such as how to interview for a job and how to balance a checkbook. Through their contact with The Dwelling Place they learned that each month the organization seeks to find a group to furnish an apartment for a family that completes the life skills training and is ready to move from the shelter to the transitional apartment. After learning about the need the St. Rose J-Walking group decided that they wanted to find a way to furnish an entire apartment for one of these families.

When the J-Walking group received the list of everything that was needed for this new home they were feeling quite overwhelmed. The list included big items like beds, a couch, furniture, and lots of small items to fill the cabinets of the kitchen, the bathroom, and the closets. The J-Walking group reached out to the Just Faith group, small faith communities, and the social outreach committee in their parish to request help. Soon the entire St. Rose of Lima Catholic Parish was being invited to donate or purchase new items. They even enlisted the assistance of the St. Rose furniture ministry which had a truck to haul donations and pick up new items. Within three weeks the J-Walkers had collected all of the items on the list to entirely furnish the apartment.

In late February the J-Walking group gathered on Friday evening and all day Saturday to load, unload, move, and unpack. Throughout the day additional donations were dropped off such as new utensils, bath towels, coat hangers for the closet, a new vacuum, and the list goes on. As the day concluded on Saturday the apartment was beginning to feel like a home. A few more tasks needed to be accomplished before the apartment was ready. Finally, the J-Walking group heard from The Dwelling Place that the family was ready to move in.

On Monday evening, March 12th, the J-Walking group gathered in the apartment with their pastor, Msgr. Paul Dudziak, to eagerly welcome the receiving family home. When the family walked through the door you would have thought that you were watching a live episode of Extreme Home Makeover. There were smiles, laughter, tears, and clapping as they experienced the gift of their new home. After the rooms were explored everyone gathered to share stories. The teens and adults presented the family with a loaf of bread – a symbol of their prayer that they always have enough, a bouquet of flowers, and a children’s bible. Just before the prayers were said, the director of The Dwelling Place put a nail in the wall near the entrance. On the nail she hung a plaque that read: May God Bless This Home, St. Rose of Lima, Justice Walking, March 12, 2007.

The social outreach committee of St. Rose was so inspired by the experience that they connected with The Dwelling Place to inquire about ways that they could invite other ministries in the St. Rose community to take on additional apartments to furnish. The spiritual journey of Justice Walking has brought alive the needs of others within their own community. They have learned and prayed about poverty around the world. They have also opened their eyes to the drastic needs of many who are local neighbors too. The young people of Justice Walking have mobilized a community of faith to move beyond themselves. They saw how the cooperative efforts of many can indeed make an impact. More importantly they recognized that being able to rejoice with the family truly was a gift from God.