March 11, 2013 | So this was it. The final week. I finished up some projects (like applying for Matthew 25 to be a FoodCorps service site this year – so cool!), passed some others on (no way I had time to tackle the complex proposal for a $50,000 Wellmark Foundation grant, though I wish I could have), and […]

March 4, 2013 | Without further delay, a photo essay. The entrance to the Matthew 25 Ministry Hub headquarters at 225 K Ave. NW in Cedar Rapids. This building is also the home of Block by Block, the multi-organization partnership headed by Matthew 25 that renovated more than 270 homes in the wake of the 2008 flood. Most of […]

February 24, 2013 | The long-awaited third blog post! See, the thing about my fellowship is that it’s basically just a two-month exerpt from a normal-person job, and there are reasons that novels and Oscar-winning screenplays don’t get written about normal-person jobs. They are not very glamorous, and they involve a lot of me sitting at my desk and […]

February 1, 2013 | You know, this winter thing is really throwing off my groove. Matt, my boss, told me last week that since so much of the work I’m doing is computer-based, I didn’t absolutely have to come in to the office every day. “Careful,” I said. “Give me an inch…” Except I was kidding! I actually LIKE […]

January 25, 2013 | It’s been a wonderful nine days so far. I didn’t have a lot of prior knowledge about Matthew 25 as an organization, so I didn’t know what to expect. Basically I’d heard about it from friends who were like, “sorry we’re busy on Saturday, we’re doing [flood relief] [music mentoring] [youth empowerment] with this really […]