COMMON VOICE FEBRUARY 2011

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

CREIGHTON CORTINA STUDENTS REFLECT BY EMILY HUNT AND LYDIA RIEHL

LISTENING PROJECT UPDATE BY CAIT CAUGHEY

LOCAL ARTISTS FEATURED AT INCOMMON BY CAIT CAUGHEY

happy new year… Happy New Year everyone! It is hard to believe this is our first issue of Common Voice in 2011. We look forward to sharing our story with you over this next year. Thank you for supporting our endeavors to strengthen community in Omaha!

Love, The inCOMMON Staff

CREIGHTON CORTINA STUDENTS REFLECT BY EMILY HUNT AND LYDIA RIEHL

“Cortina” BY EMILY HUNT, CORTINA DIRECTOR The Cortina Community at Creighton University is a group of students who have committed themselves to the service of faith and the promotion of justice. In the spirit of the Ignatian tradition at Creighton and following the path set by the late Father Jon Cortina SJ, who served the people of El Salvador around the time of their civil war. While we recognize this is a tall order, we recognize this fidelity with which he served his God and his community and seek to live that out in our lives, on our campus, and in our world. This is a challenge that a diverse community of second year students at our local Jesuit institution face head on. These students come together around the common themes of faith, service, and justice and implement them in the context of an intentional living community. All students take a core ethics class as well as a discussion course on poverty and privilege out of the Justice and Peace students department. Our community draws on a variety of majors, background, beliefs and commitments, but is united under the commonality of vision and pursuit of truth for our world. As a group we realize and regularly face our limitations in learning to love our neighbors as ourselves if we don’t truly know our neighbors. All Cortina students spend hours in the metro-Omaha every week developing relationships with others and putting their knowledge into action. inCOMMON and Neighbors United have been a tremendous partnership for our students over the past two years as every week a group of Cortina members come to the Community Meal on Park Avenue, learning in a spirit of unity what it means to be attentive and to love. To find out more about the Cortina community please visit us at, www.cucortina.blogspot.com

True Community BY LYDIA RIEHL, CORTINA PARTICIPANT You could tell that they cared about the mission of inCOMMON and felt joy in spending their afternoon helping those in the neighborhood. However, our group was not there to volunteer by serving the food. We were there simply to enjoy a meal while meeting the people there. At first this was hard for me, I felt like I should be behind the counter serving. But then I realized being at inCOMMON is not about me “serving” the people there, but rather it’s about every person “serving” each other by sharing in conversation. inCOMMON is not a place that looks down upon the homeless, unemployed, or those who are in need. Instead, it opens the door to anyone in this community, homeless or not, who is looking for a hearty lunch to share with company. inCOMMON is all about community: it is people forming relationships with other people over a meal. I love going week-to-week and seeing familiar faces. I know I will be greeted by Larry,who has been going every Saturday for three years. inCOMMON is a group of people who are there for one another to get through the good times and bad. It is truly a gem to be found and I feel so lucky to be part of the community there.

A LISTENING PROJECT UPDATE BY CAIT CAUGHEY

Over the last few months we’ve been honored to host listening trainings for students at Creighton University and Grace University in Omaha. We are still offering listening trainings each month. For those interested in participating in the project, we welcome you! Please stay tuned for more updates on our website and Facebook page. "The heart of any Listening Project is trained volunteers from an organized group going out into a community to listen to individuals. These volunteers use active listening in their interviews because they really want to hear what other people think and feel about community issues." Rural Southern Voices for Peace

LOCAL ARTISTS FEATURED THIS MONTH BY CAIT CAUGHEY & CALVIN SMOTHERS

We are so lucky to feature the following visual artists and musicians at our space this coming week (March 5th). With the organizational genius of Leslie Wells, Calvin Smothers, and a few others this show will be something you won’t want to miss. Calvin says, “Leslie Wells and I have been working on getting the Silent Art Auction and Open House together for about 4 months now. The art that will be displayed in this auction-fundraiser will be worth every penny. If you cant make it to this one keep your eyes out for another event like this in Summer 2011.”

inCOMMON has a long history of working with local artists and musicians. For years we have been privileged to work with

creatives and curators working together to bring art shows to 13th Street. Each art show is unique and offers a wide-variety of mediums. Artists are such an important, visionary part of our community and many of them are our biggest supporters! Please come out on March 5th. There will be plenty of pieces for you to bid on! Artist List: Denise Muller Jonathan LeGrand Nicole Shuerman Jeff Speihs Dana Ryan Miljavec Sara Connelly Sarah Middleton Dave Nelson Dave Koenig Audi Kuiken Jonathan Starkey Jon Gimbel Jenny Marie Samantha Jones Ryan Curtis Kari Allgire Maggie Weber Caroline Hurley Tyler Christian Details: Saturday, March 5th 4:00-11:00PM (Silent Art Auction and Live Music) $5.00 suggested donation Food provided by: Bliss Bakery & Beansmith Coffee

inCOMMON Community Development 1258 S. 13th Street Omaha, NE 68108