On Monday, Jan. 20, University Ministry, led by Becky Vires, teamed up with Titan Equity Nourish Network (TENN), to travel to Zaman International in Dearborn, Mich., for this month’s Intersectional Immersion Day.
Zaman International is an organization based in Dearborn, which works to empower women, specifically single mothers, to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. This organization was selected due to how well it paired with TENN’s mission of pursuing work with certain identities that sometimes go overlooked in terms of food, economic and racial justice.
“They do a really great job with the holistic support of immigrant women and children,” Vires said. “They do everything from case management to health care, they have food banks and a full thrift store with clothes and furniture, they have entrepreneur classes to help them get jobs.”
Each Immersion Day is structured into three parts: education, community service and reflection.
The group started their day with the educational portion, which was led by the question, “What does intersectional justice mean?”
With the event falling on MLK Jr. day, it was important for the group to share and spread educational awareness regarding some of the intersectional work Martin Luther King Jr. had accomplished during his lifetime, covering topics such as economic, racial and other justice issues he had committed himself to serve and advocate for.
This then led into the service aspect of their day. After receiving a tour of Zaman International’s campus, the group went straight to work in the food bank. With limited food banks ranging within southeast Michigan, this was a huge help to their high-in-demand operation.
From sorting out the produce to keeping up with item stock, the extra help the group offered to keep this food bank well organized was largely appreciated.
However, the food bank isn’t all this organization offers. Zaman International also has a shop where you can order small batches of merchandise and other clothing items representing its organization, which Vires and the crew quickly saw an opportunity to give back through this clothing shop.
“Can we take that (the clothing merch) back?” Vires asked. “So, we can be able to advertise them (or) if we make T-shirts for the office, could we go to them and get them to make our shirts so we could support their work.”
As it was time to partake in the reflection portion of their day, it was important to the team to make this part of their day more hands-on and interactive.
They did this by hanging giant post it notes around the room with different questions regarding how their day related to intersectional justice, to which the students could go around and write under each one what it meant to them.
“It was a cool way to have a conversation without the pressure of having full-on conversation,” said Kathey, when talking about how their reflection aimed to make it more comfortable for people who don’t feel comfortable sharing in front of large groups.
University Ministry offers an Intersectional Immersion Day every month, which is a great opportunity to get involved and help out the community around Detroit Mercy. Additionally, it offers a M.U.G. (Mingle, Unwind, Gather) hour every Wednesday held in the Ministry office where students can show up, socialize and unwind for a mid-week decompressor.
Posters and Flyers for future activities will be posted around campus. For further information or questions you may have, you can go to the University Ministry office, located at the Student Union, or visit them online at https://www.udmercy.edu/life/ministry/ .