Join us at St. Pat's Feast on Sunday, March 9th, 2014 at St Francis to Benefit Father Pat Jackson House!

Join us at St. Pat's Feast on Sunday, March 9th at 1:30 pm in the St. Francis of Assisi Parish Activity Center (PAC).  WE NEED YOU! Protect one of the greatest jewels that makes Ann Arbor such a great community:  the Father Pat Jackson House celebrates its 30th Anniversary … this is a fresh take on the traditional Irish feast.  Join us as we support Fr. Pat Jackson House, a home for pregnant and parenting teenage girls. St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church is located at 2250 E. Stadium Blvd in Ann Arbor, and the PAC is located just outside the east entrance to the church.  We need volunteers to help us host by: setting up the tables, chairs, linens, decorations, food and beverage stations, kids activity table, dishwashers, and clean up.  Sign up to help at: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4BAEAF29AB9-father1  Have questions, please contact Deacon Rich Badics, 734-821-2171 or rbadics@stfrancisa2.org or Scott Wright at 734-821-2121 or swright@stfrancisa2.org. 

Purchase tickets online at: http://csswashtenaw.org/fatherpatsfeast/ or at the door. Tickets are $75/adult, $40/student, $15/children. All proceeds go to the support Father Pat's. Questions?  Contact: Jodi Giron at 734.971.9781 x 323or jgiron@csswashtenaw.org

Life Beyond Crisis - Fr. Pat’s Taught Me... (Written by Jodi Giron)

              Shakemeia Johnson is a smart girl. Hard-working, athletic, and mischievous, she was a good student and a great basketball player. Like most fourteen year old girls, she was bubbling with big dreams that would carry her out of a painful home situation; but it took one season of finding community in the wrong places and Shakemia - Kiki to her friends - learned that she was pregnant at fourteen years old.

              The father of her baby was older and had played up on Kiki’s trust and empty home life to draw her into a relationship that was damaging to Kiki and her dreams. He abandoned her during the pregnancy and Kiki found herself with no support from the father of her baby and kicked out by her mother.

              After bouncing from the streets to friends’ homes to a pregnant teen shelter two hundred miles from home, Kiki made her way back to her mother’s home where she was told that she was not allowed to attend school or get a job to support herself since she had to stay to care for her infant baby.

              One night, after another heated argument about finishing high school, Kiki made a desperate search on the computer. Father Pat Jackson’s House was the first hit and she picked up the phone, despite the fact that it was an hour after the office closed. She called every hour until a case worker answered. A month later, at 17 years old and with a baby daughter, Kiki moved into Father Pat’s. She immediately found her stride, establishing herself as a promising student in traditional high school, taking a part time job, and working hard to open up in group sessions at the house.

              Now, at 18, she’s moved into her own apartment where she works part time and is preparing to study Criminal Justice at Oakland Community College. With a bright smile, she looks me in the eye and says clearly, “Father Pat’s taught me how to live my life. For me and for my baby” This is the work in which continue: to give pregnant teens and their babies a life. Life beyond pregnancy, beyond birth. Life lived abundantly.