Madison C. Meder

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Faber Service House

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During the Spring semester of 2013, ten of my friends and I founded Faber Service House, an intentional living community in which we put our faith into action through community, service, and prayer. In addition to the service hours we complete individually, we also participate in a different group service project each month, which allows us to reach people that we otherwise may not have thought to help on our own, reflect on the work we are doing at our weekly dinner in order to more intentionally help others, support each other in our educational and occupational pursuits, and open our home to the greater community for a large dinner once a month at which we enjoy the company of and learn from friends, professors, and mentors. One of my favorite reflection activities we completed as a group was each writing down ten things that make us truly happy on notecards, which now line the top of the walls around our dining room to remind us that, in order to best help others, we need to ensure we take time to care for ourselves and do things that we enjoy, as well. Some of our "Happiness Project" notecards read "glitter," "sweater weather," and "watching silly YouTube videos," but one of each of our notecards reads "service," as this is one thing that makes each of us happy and what initially brought us together. As the founders of this group, we have had to face a number of obstacles, such as how to ensure that all eleven of us are taking a strong leadership role in the group and how to work around all of our packed schedules to complete service projects as a group, but working together to alleviate these issues has made us a stronger community and improved all of our collaboration and group skills. I feel that being a part of Faber House has truly helped me to be a more intentional person, and I am so blessed to have the opportunity to learn from and grow alongside my roommates, all of whom are absolutely inspiring people who I know will go on to do so much good for so many people. We are currently in the process of getting Faber Service House associated with the university so that, after our own graduations, younger students equally committed to purposefully improving both themselves and the lives of others can apply to be a part of this community. 

Author: Madison Meder
Last modified: 2/18/2015 8:42 AM (EDT)