Corps Member Profile: Meredith Grabek reflects on how she came to work with Rebuilding Together
Meredith Grabek, working in the field with Rebuilding Together New Orleans
Meredith Grabek only needed one short trip to New Orleans to know she wanted to live here. Having grown up in Paxton, Massachusetts, Meredith was a junior at the University of Delaware when she first visited the city on an alternative spring break trip with her Hillel. Instead of lounging on the beach in Cancun, where many of her friends were planning to spend their break, she rolled up her sleeves to help gut and rebuild homes destroyed by Katrina’s flood waters.
During that first trip, Meredith heard the estimates that New Orleans wouldn’t be fully rebuilt for another 15 years, and that number inspired her to take action. Her Hillel had not planned another trip to New Orleans for the next year, choosing instead a destination abroad. Knowing how much effort the rebuilding would take, Meredith petitioned her Hillel to host two alternative breaks the next year, with the spring break at the original destination, and a new winter break trip to return to New Orleans. After a lot of recruiting and fundraising, Meredith came back to the city that winter, this time with an ulterior motive: she wanted to scout opportunities to live and work here full time after graduation.
Even though she didn’t get much opportunity to explore beyond spending a couple hours in the French Quarter during her two Hillel trips, Meredith still felt drawn to the city. “Every single homeowner I talked to absolutely loved it here,” she explained, “so I figured there had to be something to it.”
The work done by the volunteers of that winter Hillel trip was organized by Rebuilding Together New Orleans (RTNO), a nonprofit organization that has restored and revitalized more than 1,000 homes around the area during the 20 years it has been in existence here. RTNO predominately uses volunteer labor for its restoration work, and that, along with community partnerships and corporate sponsorships, makes it possible for all work to be done at no cost to the homeowner.
Meredith kept in touch with RTNO, in the hopes of being offered an AmeriCorps position on staff that was in the works for the 2008-2009 program year. However, she also learned about another service program during that alternative break trip. The trip leader told Meredith about AVODAH, and explained how the Jewish Service Corps was expanding its program to New Orleans. As Meredith discovered more about AVODAH, she was excited to learn that the program offered opportunities for social justice work similar to other AmeriCorps programs, but with two important distinctions. First, the AVODAH program wove social justice work together with Jewish teachings. For Meredith, Judaism has always been closely tied to volunteerism, as all of her volunteer work has been done through Jewish programs like her college Hillel.
Meredith works as an Intake Assistant at RTNO
The second aspect of AVODAH that was attractive to Meredith was the intentional community it formed by placing all of its Corps members in housing together. She knew that having a group of people all going through similar experiences to come home to would be a comfortable support system for her. Ultimately, Meredith made the decision to accept the position offered to her by AVODAH, even though she didn’t know yet what organization she’d be placed with.
Imagine Meredith’s joy when she discovered that RTNO had partnered with AVODAH, and that she had the opportunity to interview for an Intake Assistant position at the very organization she had hoped to work for anyway. Meredith and RTNO were an obvious match, and she was awarded her first choice placement.
Today, only 4 months into her job, Meredith beams when she talks about her work: “I absolutely love my job. I enjoy learning the stories of the homeowners I talk to. I get great support from my coworkers, and really like the work environment. The director here has great goals, and I really respect and admire her. It’s really cool to be part of this growing organization that’s been here for 20 years.”
Camille Lopez, Meredith’s supervisor at RTNO, had similar glowing remarks when asked about Meredith’s job performance at the beginning of her placement: “Meredith is a quick learner and very eager to jump in and get her hands dirty. She doesn’t get frustrated or discouraged (so far) when the workload is large, the work painstaking and the details precise. Her attitude is also great to have around the office. She’s excited about her work and the prospect of learning more about the community and our clients over the next year.”
Meredith poses with housemate and fellow Corps member Eliza Baron
Besides her work placement, Meredith has been very happy with her choice to enroll in the AVODAH program. The exposure she’s had to the variety of ways to practice and observe Judaism has been educational to say the least. Because several of her fellow Corps members keep kosher, Meredith has learned what it’s like to live in a kosher home, an experience she’d never had before. Though she admits she probably won’t continue keeping koshering once she leaves the AVODAH house, she explains that what she’s learned about different ways of practicing Judaism “hasn’t changed me as much as it’s broadened my Jewish horizons.”
That intentional community of Corps members that has provided Meredith with exposure to different lifestyles, has also given her much needed support in her daily life. She has a group of people to come home to who understand the stresses and the joy of her work experience in New Orleans. “It’s awesome how a group of people who never knew each other can come together so quickly even though we all come from different backgrounds, just because we’re going through similar experiences, ” she explains. “I knew I was going to get support from them, but it’s way more supportive than I expected it to be so soon in the year.”
Meredith is still uncertain about her future, as most 22-year-olds are. While she’s open to the possibility of staying in New Orleans beyond her current service year, she expects to return to live in the Northeast again, someday. Right now, she’s busy sorting out all of the opportunities made possible by all of the connections she’s made while working at RTNO and living in New Orleans. Even though she’s somewhat overwhelmed by the daunting task of starting the rest of her life, she’s excited by all of the possibilities and various directions her life could take, or in her own words, “It’s less of ‘Oh my God I don’t know what to do’ and more ‘Okay, where do I start?’”
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