Service Site: Philadelphia

"As a Mission Year team member, you will spend four days a week volunteering with a local community organization. Your aim is to serve the organization where you’re working, encourage your co-workers, and serve the people there to the best of their ability. Mission Year has partner organizations in the neighborhoods that have invited us to join their mission. Community leaders guide team members as they recognize issues of justice that affect their neighbors and learn creative solutions from seasoned experts." www.missionyear.org

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Today, I found out my local community organization. I will be serving at the People's Emergency Center in West Philadelphia. According to their website:

"The People’s Emergency Center’s mission is to nurture families, strengthen neighborhoods and drive change in West Philadelphia. Through a community of more than 240 housing units and five educational centers offering job training, parenting and early childhood education, financial education and planning, lifeskills and technology coursework, PEC seeks to change the life trajectory for the women and children who seek its services and inspire them to aspire to new heights. PEC community development programs respond to community needs and build on neighborhood assets to help bridge the digital divide, expand mixed-income housing opportunities, stimulate economic growth, create wealth, and improve the quality of life for all West Philadelphia residents."

Where I will be specifically is in the PEC's Center for Digital Inclusion and Technology. I will be assisting in various classes and programs, and doing some administrative work for the DI department. 

Of the many unknowns going into Mission Year, not knowing my service site has been of little concern to me (mainly because I realized I had no control over that matter). I'm eager to step into the rhythms of PEC, and my hope is that my presence is encouraging to them organizationally and individually. I am excited, though, and a little surprised, at this placement. Of all the volunteer ideas I had crafted, working with people and technology was not one of them at all.

What is interesting to me is how my middle class worldview is so intertwined with my surprise. When I read the email that stated that "the Digital Inclusion department works to help bridge the digital divide that is become so apparent in regards to socio-economic class within the city," I found myself not understanding. 

What is the issue that this department is working towards developing? What is the digital divide? How does/did technology affect the opportunities I have? How does/did knowing how to use technology affect the opportunities I have? How does/did knowing people who know how to use technology (and have technology) affect the opportunities I have? Is technology really that important?

It's fascinating to me that I can't even dive into these questions because I don't understand the issue. I'm eager to walk into this department full time, and listen to why this digital divide exists and why it's an issue to the community I'll be living in. I'm eager to step into whatever role they place me in, and I'm eager to learn more about their hopes and expectations for me as a small part of their organization for a season.

If you'd like to read more about the Center for Digital Inclusion and Technology and the programs that they offer, you can click here!