Love is Found Through Community

“The LORD God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him.” (Genesis 2:18)

Since the second creation story, God created us for community. As Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas puts, the human person is a social and rational being. We do not live life in isolation, but in community with others.

This past Sunday, I had the chance to join the Filipino community for a Mass celebrated by our new archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford, Archbishop Christopher J. Coyne. As Archbishop Coyne preached, he talked about his time spent in the Midwest as the archbishop for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis for nearly five years. He mentioned that Catholics made up only 12% of the population in Indiana. Yet, the highest percentage of social services provided by an institution in Indiana was through the Catholic Church. It was great to welcome him, being part of the Filipino community here in Connecticut.

I’ve been in Connecticut for more than seven years and community has been an important part of my life, a source of stability when I transitioned to East coast living. One of the first communities that I reached out to when I moved to Hartford was the Hartford Catholic Worker in the North End. I’m reminded of a quote from my hero, Servant of God Dorothy Day, from her book The Long Loneliness:

“We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.”

Love is found through community. Through the relationships we form with others, we come to learn more about ourselves. For me, I learned that I need and thrive being in community. One recent experience that reminded me of this was a donor and volunteer appreciation event with Fresh Start Pallet Products (Fresh Start). Fresh Start is a nonprofit based in Hartford, CT with a mission to train individuals seeking to improve their lives with carpentry and woodworking skills by building high-quality custom wood products in partnership with community organizations.

Turning ten years old next year, Fresh Start had a humble beginning starting out in the backyard of Grace Lutheran Church in Hartford. Volunteers built benches out of wooden pallets found nearby. In 2019, Fresh Start received their 501(c)(3) tax exempt status and moved to its current location on Sargeant Street in Hartford with a 10,000 square foot shop. In 2021, with the assistance of the Garmany Foundation, Fresh Start started up the Richard P. Garmany Fresh Start Academy, a certificate program providing carpentry and woodworking education and skills.

This past Wednesday, Fresh Start had their first annual donor and volunteer appreciation event in Parkville Market, a food hall in Hartford. The second floor bar, where the event took place, holds special meaning for Fresh Start. During the start of COVID-19 in 2020, members of Fresh Start renovated the bar, redoing the entire interior and putting in table seating and a new bar. Things came full circle being there for the appreciation event!

I have been volunteering with Fresh Start since May of this year and it’s been one of the most rewarding experiences. The event was an evening of thanks to those who have supported Fresh Start and its mission these last nine years. The founder, Pastor Rick Kremer, was honored with an award, along with other board members and volunteers. The most powerful part of the evening was hearing from two students who graduated from the Garmany Academy. People who encounter Fresh Start and go through the academy, never fully part ways with the Fresh Start Community because they take the education and skills they’ve acquired, along with the memories shared, to the new communities they go on to serve.

October is the month of the rosary and Dominicans from across the U.S. are gathering this weekend in Washington D.C. for the Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage. The love of the Dominican community will bear witness to the power of the rosary. The pilgrimage is hosted by the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph to promote the Confraternity of the Most Rosary.

I’m thankful for the communities that I have found here and I will continue to make every effort to foster community with those God puts in my life!