Sacred Complexities

By Ali McCandless, Jesuit Volunteer I have to admit, I’ve never been good with transitions… Although I was secure in the fact that I would be moving over 2000 miles from Southern California (where the weather doesn’t waver much) to Chicago (where the weather is unpredictable hourly), it didn’t become real until I started my…

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The Places We Go

Accompaniment can take many different forms at Taller de José. Sometimes it means making phone calls, filling out forms, or listening to someone share their story. But in many cases, accompanying our clients means traveling offsite to various agencies and courts throughout the Chicagoland area. To help demonstrate what offsite accompaniment means for our staff…

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Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. Domestic violence affects people in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background. Domestic violence results in physical injury, psychological trauma, and sometimes death. The consequences of domestic violence can cross generations and truly last a lifetime. But those living in situations of domestic…

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Inspired by the Papal Visit

By Sr. Sheila O’Brien How inspiring last week was to hear Pope Francis repeatedly encourage us to minister to the least amongst us. How refreshing to have an entire week where our airwaves weren’t filled with constant messages from wealthy politicians denigrating the weakest, calling us to deport them. In Madison Square Garden, Pope Francis…

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A Resilient Spirit

One afternoon, while helping out at Taller de Jose’s front desk, I answered a phone call from one of our clients. While I had accompanied this particular client to previous appointments and knew her to be a friendly, outgoing and jocular individual, Raquel sounded a bit frantic on the phone. She told me that she…

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With the Hand of a Child

By Laura Camarata, summer intern With school out and summer in full swing, the number of kids we see come in our doors with their parents has increased dramatically, enlivening our small office quite a bit. But before the end of the school year, I accompanied Claudia to court. As we made our way to…

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