City Stories

Testimonial 1
Notre Dame Mission Club Students Take on Urban Challenge
By: Dr. Joseph Scanlan (ND Principal)

The Romero Center in Camden, New Jersey was the site of the ND Mission Club's Urban Challenge venture [4/17-22/06] over Easter vacation. Accompanied by Mission Club Advisor and Campus Minister Mrs. Kate Scanlan and ND Principal, Dr. Joseph Scanlan, ten ND students devoted a week of their recent Easter vacation to working with inner city people trying to improve the quality of life for the residents of the once proud urban area of Camden, New Jersey and neighboring Philadelphia. ND students who volunteered to be part of this year’s mission trip included seniors Cara Spadaccia, Meghan Woods, Heather Armijo, Jamie Morey, Julie Snyder, Alex Genter, Paul Sklener and Erik Vandenbosch and juniors Caitlin Bodine and Andrea Hofmaster.

Residing in the city of Camden, New Jersey, much less spending a week of your Easter vacation there, is not an option most people would ever consider. One only needs to review the following eye-opening bleak statistics of this urban area to understand why. A city of 87,000 people [40,000 under the age of 25], Camden is the 2nd poorest city in the U.S. [in the richest state in the U.S.]. Seventy percent (70%) of its population are on some form of public welfare. Forty percent (40%) of Camden's adults lack a high school diploma. Graduation rates in Camden's public schools average between 30% and 40%. There are approximately 3900 abandoned housing units in Camden. Statistics indicate that a person with an abandoned house on his or her street is five [5] times more likely to be the victim of a violent crime. The presence of an abandoned home on a block reduces the average appraised value $5000 per unit on that block. It is also estimated that Camden has 200-300 active drug corners.

Stationed at the Romero Center [named in honor of Archbishop Oscar Romero, a champion of social justice and the rights of the poor and oppressed]  our group had a myriad of daily "hands on" opportunities [including a daily ministry of presence] to work with individuals of all ages and circumstances. Our students teamed up with students from St. Francis Prep in Queens, NY [who also spent the week at the Romero Center] and traveled daily to a number of diverse worksites. Some of these sites included: New Visions [a center which offered multiple services - showers, daily meals, shelter and a place to be with others - to the homeless and indigent of Camden], Heart of Camden [a construction/demolition project which focused on gutting the insides of abandoned homes as part of a  housing rehab/ habitat type project], Inglis House [ an all wheelchair community for the physically and mentally challenged located in nearby Philadelphia], Francis House [a drop-in center for people infected and affected with HIV and AIDS], Bethesda Project [a cleaning and painting walls project at an organization for homeless men in Philly] and St. Joseph's Pro Cathedral Pre-School [working with 3 and 4 year olds in a nursery school on the Romero Center property] to name a few.

Evenings were spent learning about the various social justice-oriented ministries in the Camden/Philly area and reflecting and sharing about each day's experiences. Participation in the Camden Urban Challenge project was a powerful experience for everyone who attended.  As the week went by it became apparent that it was the group members themselves who were being changed by the experiences.  Each participant realized that by stepping out of his or her comfort zone a transformation had occurred.   The experience made faith come alive and brought down many walls that group members did not even realize they had built.  None of us really wanted the week to end for it was truly a moving experience. We were certainly not the same group as we boarded the train in Philadelphia on Saturday to begin our journey home.  

The ND Mission Club looks forward to a return visit to Camden and the Romero Center in the future. Camden 2006 was indeed an Easter trip none of us will ever forget, nor regret making!

ND Mission Club volunteers pictured at the Romero Center in Camden, NJ

L to R: Row #1 [Sitting] Erik Vandenbosch, Andrea Hofmaster, Meghan Woods, Paul Sklener and Caitlin Bodine.

L to R: Row#2  -  Dr. Joseph Scanlan, Jamie Morey, Alex Genter, Heather Armijo, Julie Snyder, Mrs. Kate Scanlan and Cara Spadaccia.

Testimonial 2

Testimonial 3