Your Gifts At Work
This year we invested in the future of CPE through the Hemenway Scholars fund, support for summer students to help offset the cost of housing and educational debt. Twenty-five students received $2,000 of support while they completed a summer unit. While we may never realize the full impact of our gifts, below are a few quotes from Hemenway Scholar recipients (identified and quoted with their consent).
From Gemma Cubero del Barrio:
"During this first summer unit I have been able to visit patients from very different ethnicities, socio-economic levels and religious backgrounds. I accompanied a man in his dying who had been homeless for instance, who seemed to be Christian but also chanted with me the lotus sutra before passing. I will never forget that moment. As I explained in my professional goals, I learned a lot about prayer, specifically how to offer prayer to people from Christian faiths, but I have also provided ministry to Buddhist families who were not in the Zen order, patients who were LDS members, Pentecostal believers, Jehovah’s Witness, a Sephardic Jew woman and also to many “non- religious- believers” patients, family members struck by tragedy and the members of the medical team. Very grateful to the diversity of population we have served at Queens Medical Center."
"During this summer unit of CPE I have realized my calling for this work is real. I also feel that I have a gift to be with people who are in “liminal spaces”, facing tragedy and death. I look forward to continue my training in chaplaincy get my training also in disaster chaplaincy with the Red Cross and hopefully do a residency next. I have enjoyed the time in the Emergency Department and the variety of the hospital so I want to continue of this path pf providing ministry to a wide range of people and belief systems."
From Adrian Mendoza:
"I am very thankful for considering me as a recipient of the Hemenway Scholar Award. The stipend that has helped relieve some of my living expenses worries for not being able to work full-time while I am completing my unit. This CPE has given me not only an opportunity to expand my ministry outside of my congregational settings, but it has also helped me personally in learning about my emotions and in giving more attention to the losses in my life and the need to grieve for them. The mentorship of my educator and the encouragement of our cohort has allowed me to be courageous and intentional in exploring my own emotions, how they impact me, where they come from, and how they can be used as a tool in providing spiritual care. My time here in this unit has allowed me to see emotions in a different way that deconstructed my own perspective that it will hinder me in my goals and productivity."
From Emma Griffis:
"My experience with [her and other] victims of domestic abuse has sprouted an interest in prison chaplaincy, particularly the possibility of working in a women's prison. While I still am primarily directed toward hospital chaplaincy, I hope to explore this alternate possibility with the faculty at my divinity school. I aim to finish my degree and apply to a residency program…I applaud the supportive and warm environment our educators nurtured at this institution."
These and other stories begin to paint the picture of your gifts at work. Supporting students translates to touching individual lives around the world. As we enter into a season of holidays for many, I encourage you to make a contribution to the Foundation for ACPE to continue investing in our future. Remember Giving Tuesday is November 28, 2023. As always, thank you for your contributions and support for the Foundation.