Our summer program staff have arrived at Dunrovin and are preparing to welcome summer campers and DLITErs (DLITE = Dunrovin Leadership Intensive Training Experience is a high school retreat program). As much as these staff desire to help the youth grow, they are also blessed to come alongside retreat participants in mutual strength and encouragement.
Meet our 2018 summer program staff:
David Maslow, a fourth-year philosophy major at St. John Vianney, loves being at Dunrovin because of the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of youth. This begins his second year on staff after three years of DLITE.
Danny Bielejeski recently finished a year with National Evangelization Teams (NET). He spent four years on DLITE, and this is his first year as a program staff member. He comments, “DLITE made a big impact on me in my high school years and it was always the best week of my summer. DLITE encouraged me to grow in confidence and leadership skills.”
Maria Meeds, who will begin a music therapy internship in Sacramento this autumn, enjoys seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter of the students. She has worked with DLITE for 8 years and says, “Being with the students has changed my worldview of life. I see the importance of service. I can share in human life by walking alongside others and I can try to shape the value that I have to love others. However, it isn’t about me giving service. It is more about what the impact the kids have on me. They give me so much.” Maria visits Chicago most summers to attend the San Miguel School eighth grade graduation.
John Mark Sorteberg is a man of few words. “They are cool kids. What more can I say?” He loves to catch the students’ smiles on camera while they are at Dunrovin.
Teresa Richards is our longest reigning program staff member. She has been part of DLITE since its first year. “I can’t leave. I’ve tried many times. I keep going back to the first summer I was here in 2009 with the Gary Comer students. The kids stole my heart! There is something about camp – the freedom, the growth, the relationships, the freedom in the Lord – that is like nothing I’ve ever found anywhere else. There is a beauty and fullness of life with the students here that I think is like Heaven!”
Director Jerome Meeds experiences the gift of witnessing young people grow in life and confidence. “You can see the change in the one week they are here. It is phenomenal to watch the students struggle and then be transformed as they work together. Each team is unique and that makes each team special.”
A core value of Dunrovin youth programs is to come alongside the young people who come to us. The students are not in need of us; we need each other. We strive to build bridges between cultures to help everyone involved grow. In the end, our staff are as rewarded and strengthened as the students.