Every Tuesday for the past three years, Oak Parker Debbie Birkey has been traveling to what sometimes seems like the other side of the world-Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood.
Promptly at 3:05 p.m. she picks up her daughter Kathryn, a junior at Oak Park and River Forest High School, and together they drive east on Lake Street to Breakthrough Urban Ministries. As the el rumbles above, mother and daughter share stories from their day and recall the past Tuesday’s adventures tutoring rambunctious sixth-graders.
Breakthrough began in 1992 as a drop-in center for homeless men and has grown into a comprehensive non-profit based on the West Side, focusing on personal renewal and community transformation through men’s and women’s overnight shelters, job-skills training, intensive recovery programs and after-school programs, sports teams and summer camps for youth. In recent years, Breakthrough has experienced remarkable growth, due in no small part to the generosity of individuals who donate time and money to the program. Breakthrough’s mission is to demonstrate “the compassion of Christ by providing neighborhood-based holistic services that empower individuals, families and urban communities to overcome poverty, addiction, and isolation.”
The wide range of service opportunities Breakthrough Ministries offers attract businesses, schools, churches, and groups of friends and families to volunteer. But for many parents finding quality time to spend with their busy children is hard enough, and the thought of volunteering somewhere together might seem extra demanding.
Not so, says Birkey, who fondly remembers serving with her family one Sunday a month at a South Side mission throughout her childhood. In her memories, the time and sacrifice were easily outweighed by the benefits of helping others with her family.
From the get-go, she and her husband of 28 years, Randy, wanted to make service a priority as they raised their four children. Birkey recalls the joy her sons gave and received during weekly visits to a nearby nursing home. Though the boys were small, they were able to sing, listen, touch, talk and connect with seniors.
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“Modeling and teaching service to others is one of our responsibilities as parents,” Debbie said recently. “The same way we are servant leaders to our kids, we want them to be servant leaders in their own worlds.”
The Birkeys, who attend Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, realized their world of service might need to be broadened. While Oak Park is a diverse community, they noticed “fear, uncertainty and a certain discomfort with life on the other side of Austin. We felt it wasn’t just enough to financially support inner-city ministry and community outreach. We needed to get personally involved. Tutoring was a natural.”
As the kids grew into teenagers, involvement in sports and music started to take priority in their lives, but not serving wasn’t an option. Three years ago when Birkey approached her youngest child, Kathryn, about tutoring at Breakthrough once a week, her daughter was reluctant. But, as her brothers before her had been told, service wasn’t optional. “We won’t support dance unless you also have a service opportunity integrated,” Birkey remembers telling her then 13-year-old daughter.
As the Birkeys volunteered to serve people outside of their own age group at the nursing home, they also expanded their understanding of the world by reaching different racial and economic groups. While they tutored others, they learned so much personally. Fear was replaced by friendships and discomfort with confidence.
After three years at Breakthrough, it is safe to say that Kathryn now sees a world beyond her own. Seeing the value of those who are different and knowing that she can make a contribution “gives her perspective on the all-encompassing intensity of high school,” her mom says. In short, serving with her mom has been a much-needed reality check.
Breakthrough’s Nettie Bailey Student Achievement Program is home to over 80 at-risk youth from one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods, but to hear Birkey tell their stories, the kids are just searching for love and trying to keep their heads above frequently troubled waters. In East Garfield Park, crime and poverty statistics are high, but the future is bright, thanks to committed staff and volunteers who, year after year, pay attention to the lives of Chicago’s children.
Riverside hairstylist Cindy Russo is a fellow, faithful volunteer at Breakthrough. For the past eight years, Russo has been stocking her SUV full of art supplies every Monday and Friday for the kids, most of whom don’t have art class at school. On Monday, Russo and her daughter Maureen, 23, can be found teaching any number of Bible stories to the 5- to 7-year-olds, followed by a craft. Things get crazy and creative on Fridays when the mother and daughter team-teach art to pre-teens, encouraging them to express their emerging personalities and gain confidence through creating.
Unlike Birkey, Russo didn’t begin volunteering with her family until more recently.
“As my kids got older, I saw that we had so much. I wanted to be a good example for my kids and lead them in becoming loving people, not just kids focused on themselves,” Russo observes.
When she began volunteering at Breakthrough, Russo was also a youth leader at an Oak Park church and brought high school students to help at the after-school program.
“I explained that many of the kids we work with don’t have a support group at home and told the teenagers they might see and hear things that would shock them. As they committed to serve even in a small way like tutoring, their eyes were opened to the world and they were changed for the better.”
Some have asked Birkey and Russo if they feel safe volunteering with their families in a high-crime area.
“That my kids will grow up completely self-absorbed is a greater fear than our personal safety,” Birkey said firmly, noting that she has seen the benefits outweigh the risks time and again as her children move into their own roles of servant leadership in adulthood. In fact, her son Noel, 23, goes to work early twice a week so he can tutor with his family on Tuesday.
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Through the sacrifices and difficulties, both women agree that volunteering with Breakthrough has changed not only their kids’ lives, but their own as well.
“Serving with my family and friends has really melded our hearts together for a common cause,” Russo noted with a smile, remembering a recent Christmas day on which her family and out-of-town guests made dinner for the women’s shelter at Breakthrough. At first her guests were skeptical, but by serving the ladies together, they grew tighter as a group and that bond continues today.
For both women, acts of service haven’t always produced heart-melting, bonding experiences, and that’s not why they serve. Birkey and Russo serve with Breakthrough because they saw a need and wanted to do their part to help, despite difficulties.
Birkey recalls her early idealism being met with apathy and toughness. Russo agrees that many of the kids live in a dysfunctional environment with absentee parents. Abandonment is a fear for many of the kids, Russo believes, but by showing up week after week, year after year, she has gained their trust.
“At first I saw such apathy in the kids’ concern for education, but now I see kids who have dreams and hope for the future. They love coming to Breakthrough and want to do well. When we pour love into people, we see powerful results,” explains Russo.
At Breakthrough, those results come in the form of small bodies with outstretched arms and big smiles. As soon as Russo, Birkey and their daughters walk in the door, heads turn and eyes widen. Little hands tug and wrap around the women as they greet each child by name and with a hug.
Like Breakthrough’s full-time staff, Russo and Birkey serve out of a conviction of faith and believe that it truly is more blessed to give than to receive. If you don’t believe them, feel free to visit Breakthrough any Monday, Tuesday or Friday afternoon.
Oak Park native Abigail Cramton serves at Breakthrough as well and is reachable at
abbycramton@yahoo.com. Visit Breakthrough online at BreakthroughMinistries.com and contact Volunteer Coordinator Tony Escobar at 773-346-1705.
