A new group of Young Adult Volunteers arrived in Tucson in August 2022, where they were met with more than the usual level of rejoicing: This program year marks the 20th anniversary of the Tucson Borderlands Young Adult Volunteer program! For two decades now, young adults have sought the voice of God in their lives and in the U.S./Mexico borderlands through a year of service.
On Friday Tucson Borderlands Young Adult Volunteers joined with members of a partner organization, Tucson Mennonite Voluntary Service, to hold a streetside vigil demanding the removal of Title 42, the federal policy that has expelled more than 1.2 million asylum seekers since the beginning of the pandemic.
For the first time in the 30-year history of the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program, the COVID-19 global pandemic forced the program to be a virtual one during 2020-2021. Adapting quickly to the contextual realities was difficult, but according to participants, the virtual format has challenged them and help them grow.
Monday’s final installment of “Awakening to Structural Racism” provided the more than 200 online participants with a tangible tool: a method for forming a concrete first step that individuals and congregations can take to dismantle systemic racism even as recent news reports indicate those first steps are sorely needed.
More than 260 people spent a remarkable and at times uncomfortable two hours Monday evening in the first of a four-part online series designed to awaken Presbyterians to structural racism.
