The ALT Year Toledo 2015-16 cohort, from left: Elisabeth Coats (Minnesota), Krystal Nelson (Michigan), Elizabeth Clark (Ohio), Jari Knowlton Simard (Massachusetts), Amber Kalina (Minnesota) and Trevor Poteet (California).
their ALT Year in Toledo, Ohio, along with four other young adults. The group shared meals, devotions and space in a downtown apartment, gathered in what Graber describes as “intentional community.” Each month the “ALT-ers” (as they are called)
studied such themes as freedom, vocation, social justice and resurrection. Each week looked different, but most Sundays they would worship at local ELCA congregations; Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays were for Bible study followed by a folk-school learning session with local leaders or organizations; and Wednesdays were often dedicated to volunteering. Coats volunteered at Glenwood Lutheran
Church’s Giving Store in Toledo, Ohio. That’s where she shadowed a social worker and met Wendell, a client who shopped for clothes, which were free, each week. “He taught me to be in the moment,” she said. “Being able to engage with [Wendell] was really special.” Kalina volunteered at Redeemer Lutheran
Church in a program that offered homework help and art enrichment to youth. She brought her guitar and played music for them and helped with crafts. “I heard a lot in Toledo that the church was dying,” she said. “But I had never seen the church more alive than when I’d been there.” For Coats, her gap year helped her learn to trust
others and participate in intentional community. Reflecting on her experience, she said, “I think I just became someone who was able to ask for help a little bit more. ALT Year helped shape and form me to be more vulnerable.” Both Coats and Kalina agree that their ALT year
has had a great impact on the way they understand their callings. Coats is pursuing her masters of social work at Washington University, St. Louis, this fall and Kalina will work with ALT Year before attending seminary in fall 2017.
For Ian Kruk, who participated in ALT Year
after finishing high school, the experience had a tremendous impact on his personality. Before his gap year, Kruk was introverted and closed off. “Living with seven people isn’t easy when you’re introverted,” he said. “I became more upbeat, more outgoing and less closed off.” Graber added, “[Ian’s] family would see pictures
of him and say, ‘He’s smiling, he’s smiling all the time,’ There was a visible transformation while he was in ALT Year.” Part of the year that resonated with Kruk was
“being able to actively live my faith.” He now works at a vape shop near his hometown and is an active member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Florham Park, N.J. He says he sees his work at the shop as a way to connect with people and make their lives “a little bit better, even for 10 to 15 minutes each day.” Gap years have been critiqued as options only
for elite, privileged young adults. Knowing this, Graber said he has worked hard to make ALT Year affordable, but he said he’s looking for more support from across the church. The cost is $5,000 for the year, and participants are encouraged to raise money and apply for scholarships. “It’s valuable to engage and to invest in young
adults like this because they bring a lot back to us,” said Graber of ALT Year. “And probably the biggest overall story in this is just the recognition of this. They’re seeing their lives and their work as a form of ministry to the people they are engaging.”
Learn more about ALT Year at
altyear.org.
Strybis is a content editor of Living Lutheran and a member of Resurrection Lutheran Church, Chicago.
MISSION & MINISTRY •
LIVINGLUTHERAN.ORG 31
Photos courtesy of ALT Year
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