Mary Catherine Fish and Abigail Vazquez talk about the ministry, programs offered, and how they impact individuals and build community. Here's a transcript of their conversation with KC Counts:
Mary Catherine Fish:
So it started with a women's prison ministry. After they get out of prison, they need things to do. And it's kind of evolved into what it is today, what we work with, whereas we work with men and women, helping them to improve their life skills to help improve employment opportunities.
KC Counts:
So let's talk about some of those life skills. Where did you start?
Mary Catherine Fish:
It started with job readiness, so resumes and cover letters and interviews. And then it added parenting classes and anger management and several other classes. The only reason I'm thinking of parenting and anger management is those are the two that we've had recently and right now that are coming up.
KC Counts:
I see. Now, how do you find the professionals in the community to lead the education in those areas?
Mary Catherine Fish:
I get the wonderful job of interviewing people or just people I run into and I talk with them and I tell them, hey, why don't you come out and see me and we'll see where we can pitch you. And others just hear about us and they come and volunteer and then I have to find a place for them and I absolutely love doing that. We do our classes by semesters. We do a survey, actually. and we ask people, what would you like us to provide? And so one of the things that came up was the Cooking Together class. And this will be our second semester with Cooking Together. We'll have an evening class and a morning class this semester. And that one was, what do we do with the things we get in our food boxes? Because there's a lot of things that they just don't know what to do or they throw it out or they recycle it or whatnot. Some of it just gets thrown away and it's really sad that somebody gave that to you and you can't use it because you don't know how. So we come together for that class. Everybody gets to put in their input. We all learn from each other. And Money and Me has been a very popular class. That one is basic money management so that you have a little more money and less month at the end of the paycheck. And it's just more using resources and helping them get the resources they need to. If you need to do a GED, for example, we don't offer that, but we will offer, if you have an encourager, your encourager can take you to that appointment, get you started with the high schools if it's an evening class or with the branch if it's a daytime class.
KC Counts:
You used the word encourager.
Mary Catherine Fish:
Yes.
KC Counts:
Tell me about that.
Mary Catherine Fish:
Encouragers are people that come alongside. They don't make decisions for you, but they ask you questions and they ask you what your hopes and dreams are. And it's somebody to come along beside you to help you accomplish those. It's an encourager, a brother or a sister, you know, somebody that wants you to succeed and it's going to be propping you up and helping you get there.
KC Counts:
So I think this is a good time to bring Abigail into the conversation. Tell me about the encouragement that you received going through programs with Crosswalk to Life.
Abigail Vazquez:
So actually I came to this program kind of, you could say by chance. I had just stopped working and I was just kind of doing a little job on the side. And so I came across one of their flyers and I was like, oh, well, I have a lot of time right now. So I think it'd be interesting to do something like that. I've never done anything outside of quote unquote normal schooling, you know. or work and so I thought it would be interesting and I feel like the fact that I had instructors like Daniel, Kat's husband and Catherine, it was just... amazing because they are people that have already gone through life living what they're teaching and they encourage not to just learn the subject that they teach but also to live you know truly what you're learning and so I really like the way they encourage us you know every day they're such a blessing to my life personally and so to me it's really been a really huge benefit to have people like them that are always supporting you.
KC Counts:
So Abigail, not only did you start with the programs of Crosswalk 2 Life, but now you are an employee. Tell me about your transition to working for the organization.
Abigail Vazquez:
So when I got asked if I wanted to volunteer, I was like, okay, yeah, volunteering sounds good. Whatever I can do to give back to the community, or to the program that embraced me and to help my community. Honestly, I've never been involved in any community programs that are non-profit, but it really made me feel useful. And so then, when the opportunity came, like, hey, do you want to work for us? I was like, yeah, sure. I've done admin work before, and so I was familiar with certain things, but not in the aspect of just community-related directly, and so it has a purpose, but it doesn't have a specific purpose to each person. Each person comes in with their own issues, their own ideas, and our job is to help them expand that, while maintaining their sense of person, their sense of family, their sense of community. Person, their sense of family, their sense of community.
KC Counts:
Did you feel a bit of a transformation yourself, you know, going from starting with the Money and Me class to now potentially being an encourager for others?
Abigail Vazquez:
Yes, of course, simply by being here, you know. I am not the type of person that's very open, but these kind of classes have really helped me to see outside of my little bubble. There is a community, there is a family out there. I love my family, I love my home. I love the way that I have been brought up, but this is different. And so I really like the fact that I get to work with really good people like Catherine and Daniel, they're amazing. Peggy and all of the instructors, pastor at the church, he's amazing. And his wife, they're just so embracing and so warm and welcoming all the time. It's a really awesome environment to be working at.
KC Counts:
So Mary Catherine, when you hear Abigail talk about this, what are you thinking while you're listening to her?
Mary Catherine Fish:
I'm like, oh, let me give you another hug. It makes us feel like we're doing what we're supposed to do. Really, our job is to help people grow and embrace who they are as well as expand their own abilities. So it just makes me feel like, okay, we're walking in the right direction we want to walk in. And while we're doing it, we're encouraging them to not ignore their spiritual growth, but not pound it down their throat either.
KC Counts:
I mean, people might be wondering, right? IfI'mnot necessarily of the same religion, would I be welcome, right?
Mary Catherine Fish:
Absolutely. We are not, we are, just because we're a Baptist ministry doesn't mean that you can be only a Baptist to come in. As a matter of fact, I think we have a lot of people that are not Baptists that come in. It's beautiful. It's really beautiful to see people making friends with other people just because this is now our community. And honestly, if you come into our textile together class, you're going to find something for your hands to do. If you come into our cooking together class, not only will you cook together, but you'll actually get to eat something that we made together.
KC Counts:
Mary Catherine, thank you for coming in and sharing more about Crosswalk to Life. It was great to have you. Thank you. And Abigail, thank you so much for coming in and talking about it from your personal perspective.
Abigail Vazquez:
Thank you. Thank you for having us.
