Connecting People At The Center for Just and Caring Communities

I am sitting with my computer in my lap, taking in the new feel of the department of social work, when Mary Anne Poe, a professor of social work and the director of the Center for Just and Caring Communities, comes to welcome me into her office.

We chatted about our days and she is quick to ask about how I am doing. I am here to interview her, but it seems like she has more questions about me. Her kind smile shows me that she is genuinely interested in what I have to say. As we continue the conversation, I quickly come to the conclusion that this woman is one of Union’s many hidden gems. She has a purpose at Union that few people see and even fewer people know about.

Poe serves as the director of the Center for Just and Caring Communities. This organization has two initiatives, “faith, church, and community,” of which Poe serves as the head, and “trauma, faith, and resilience.” The center was founded in 2009 and has since grown through education and service to the Union and Jackson communities.

“It is about education and research and the notion of the connection with the community,” Poe said. “Really helping us and our students and also the university as a whole to be connected with the community in the hope of, I think we used the word transformation, and relationships.”

Transformation and relationships. This seems to be the recurring theme that the center focuses on. They use their resources to help people through the darkest times in their lives. They walk alongside the people they serve by hosting support groups and events such as “The Remember Me Walk” which allows community members the chance to grieve or support those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.

This alone is beautiful to me. Throughout my life I have known people who have desperately searched for a place to help them in their physical, mental or emotional struggles. Unfortunately, sometimes it is difficult for organizations to know how to properly support victims of traumatic experiences. In fact, other organizations have come to the center looking for training to be trauma sensitive and informed.

The center also instructs students at Union on complicated topics such as poverty and racial justice.

“I think students are interested in the things we’re talking about,” Poe said. “Mental health, trauma, faith in the community, how to engage in the world and the bigger community, and the relationships that are there, and how we engage in a way that’s meaningful and helps communities to thrive.”

She is correct. Students do need instruction on these topics, but I wonder how many really go out of their way to receive it?

Poe understands this. “I think for many students it’s a new thing,” she said, “They haven’t thought about trauma very much or they haven’t thought about how to think about justice.”

That is why the center is so impactful at Union. It educates both the university and the community through events such as the poverty simulation. They also give students the ability to help care for those who are homeless through their partnership with Room At The Inn.

My question as I listen to Poe discuss the countless projects and the vision she has for the center is why don’t we as students pay more attention to these things? In all honesty, I have only attended one event put on by this organization. I am not sure I could name more than a handful of people who have told me they have attended more.

Poe acknowledges this and partially attributes it to how students typically don’t dwell on these issues on a daily basis. After that, she commented on how it could go deeper, particularly when discussing the topic of justice.

“The idea of justice is somewhat controversial in Christian circles these days. But the truth is, the idea of justice is from start to finish throughout the scriptures,” Poe said. “The way the scriptures talk about justice is about restoring right relationships. A right relationship with God, yes. That’s primary. But how do we have right relationships with other people, even with ourselves? How do we think about ourselves in a way that is right and just?”

This convicted me. Sometimes, as people, we become so focused on our own lives that we forget about those around us. When we divert our attention from ourselves and look toward  others, we will be on our way to achieving what the center is focused on. Nita Mehr, who serves as the head of the Trauma, Faith, and Resilience initiative, emphasized this.

“We have such a holistic perspective,” Mehr said. “When we’re looking at our work, at the people we work with and the community and involving others. We put the walk on but we have other people who come and join us.”

After my conversation with Poe and Mehr, I came to the conclusion that the Center for Just and Caring Communities covers a broad span of topics. The most prominent though, is the vision to bring people together for the purpose of supporting others through their grief and circumstances in life. The idea to “uplift, restore, and transform,” as it says in the center’s mission statement, is clearly demonstrated through the work they do. It was inspiring to hear two professors so passionately talk about something that makes such a big change.

“Can you tell we’re sort of animated by this whole thing?” Poe said, with a light laugh and a spark in her eye. “You haven’t even had to ask us a lot of questions.”