Jessica, who celebrated her home dedication in February, is Pikes Peak Habitat’s 3rd Interfaith Build for Unity (IBU) homeowner. She shared with us her experience of working with various faith communities from all over El Paso County to build the two-bedroom home she shares with her 9-year-old son, Bryson.
“It was amazing to see how many people of the faith community came together for somebody that they had no idea about whatsoever!” she says. “They were there to support me, never knowing me; to hear my story.”
Jessica grew up with divorced parents who came from different religious backgrounds. Her mother was raised Roman Catholic, and while Jessica learned about the faith from her maternal grandmother and uncle, her mom “didn’t push it on us.” She adds, “My mom just felt like she was failed so much by religion because it was forced upon her in the wrong way, I guess.”
Her dad, who came from a Protestant Christian tradition, was a different story. “When we were with my dad, it was all Christian-based, and we did our prayers every morning. We did our prayers at night. We did our grace before dinner and all of that, and that’s amazing,” Jessica says. “But you learn, I don’t know how to say it, not be bullheaded, but that’s the best way I could think of it, with your own opinions and your own beliefs and your own thoughts. And you think that your thought is the only way that it’s going to work.”
She adds, “When your family’s divided, it’s hard to understand what you want as a child, because you’re being told where you have to be, and you want to make your parents happy and try to understand.”
But her experience with the faith communities and individuals who came together to build her home proved discussion and collaboration are possible.
“It was like a breath of fresh air to get everybody’s insight, their beliefs, their thoughts, what they can and can’t do in their religion,” she says. “And a lot of it’s similar to what I know. It’s just a little bit different and a little bit more of a grasp on why and the wheres and the hows.”
She recalls an interfaith mixer at the IBU kickoff event that encouraged dialogue.
“We made one small circle and one big circle, and everyone went opposites of each other every three minutes, and there was a different subject every time we changed,” she explains. “It wasn’t really political, but there were some questions that a lot of people would probably be really touchy even talking about. But it’s really good to be able to feel like you have open space to talk about those things and how other people feel. And so there were plenty of things that I didn’t agree with, or the person didn’t agree with what I had to say, but it wasn’t a fighting thing. It was a total ‘agree to disagree’ and agree to put ourselves in the person’s shoes and their thought process.”
This sense of learning from each other and openness continued as Jessica’s new home took shape.
“I learned so much about the Arabic background, about the Jewish background, about the Buddhist background, and so many others,” she says. “It was really nice because they kept showing up for me. It was a way for me to still stay with my feet planted next to them.”
The home dedication, which incorporated blessings and traditions from many of the faith communities involved in the build — as well as the presentation of the first Unity Bench — was powerful for Jessica.
“There were people that I had never even met there from communities that were still showing up for me!” she says. “And that meant a lot to me also….It was beautiful, and I loved it. I loved it. I thought it was amazing.”
During the dedication, Judy Carnick from Temple Shalom presented her with challah bread, and Jessica says, “It was so good! It was delicious. We ate the whole loaf within the first week of moving in!”
She concludes, “I’m blessed that that’s the community who picked to help sponsor me and help fund me and and put their volunteer efforts in.”
