Email: Hilary Engelhart

Broadstreeter Newsletter

First I would like to thank everyone from Broadstreet for their support. I’m grateful that you’ve helped me reach half of my fundraising goal but also for your messages and prayers, which have all been greatly appreciated.

The last three weeks have been a whirlwind for me. I spent a wonderful week at Stony Point, New York, with about 70 other YAVs preparing to travel around the country and globe to serve God. We all shared our stories of recognizing our calls in the various forms they took, and there were many information sessions to prepare us for our year of service. I am sure that I won’t ever be able to remember all of it, but I took copious notes to help myself try. During that week we created another layer of support, another family, which made for a bittersweet end. After a late night of laughing, dancing, and good-byes, we left in groups throughout the next day for the airport and eventually to our sites.

During my first week in Denver my roommates and I got the grand tour of the city by car and public transportation. We learned where all three of our agencies were, how to get to Rockies Stadium and downtown. When we weren’t wandering the streets of Denver with Molly, our site coordinator, we were going over local information and learning about each other.

There are three of us, Rachel from Cincinnati, Meghan from Harrisonburg, Virginia, and me. We range in ages from 20-24 and so far have gotten along perfectly. We will be sharing the back half of a duplex, which has been newly renovated. It has four bedrooms and plenty of common space for all of us to feel perfectly cozy and at home. We live within four blocks of three major bus routes, which makes it easy to get to and from work and pretty much everywhere. We have already made some friends with the Lutheran Voluntary Service group and found a running group to join on Thursdays.

I have only been at my placement with the Denver Inner City Parish for about a week, but I can already tell it is going to be a great fit for me. I will be their volunteer coordinator, which is a new position for the parish. I am sure I will have much more to tell about that over the coming months. Until then, thanks again for all that you have done. I’m keeping a blog, which I update more frequently than I write letters.