The Don Bosco Interviews

In the fall of 2023, for the second time in as many years, I moved to a new city with zero job prospects. It had worked out for me the first time, when I relocated to a small North Carolina town following my college graduation: find a place, sign the lease, and use the fear of eviction as a motivator to find a job by the end of the month. So, when I decided to move to Kansas City, Missouri (not to be confused with Kansas City, Kansas, the dilapidated namesake across the river) I followed the same script. In my 9-5 full-time scanning of Indeed.com, I came across a posting from the AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) branch; the folks at the regional AmeriCorps office would place me at a local nonprofit, the historic senior/community/education center and meals-on-wheels distributor that was conveniently located in the shadow of my home, a former ice packing facility converted into lofts. As the Marketing and Development Assistant within the Don Bosco Centers, one of my roles was to create a story bank on senior clients and staff members. Here are some of those profiles. Unfortunately, the accompanying images have been lost to the cloud.

Bertha

Bertha was born near Marshall, MO, in a town of around 300 in her youth. At 10 years old, Bertha’s family moved to Kansas City. By the time she was 15, Bertha had her first job at Children’s Mercy Hospital. After school, she would walk from 19th Street to the hospital downtown, where she would watch and care for the patients there. It was from there that Bertha began a career in nursing, leading to her becoming an LPN. However, her career was put on pause following her marriage and the birth of her five children. Despite this, Bertha never settled. After purchasing a camper (an arduous task, Bertha remembers, as seemingly no one wanted to sell to a black couple at the time) she and her husband traveled all over: trips to DC, Detroit, California, Florida, and many other places. Two of her children would eventually relocate to Germany, which Bertha has visited on multiple occasions. In 2022, Bertha began coming to the Don Bosco Centers to find activities and enjoyment for herself. “You take too much interest in other people, you need to put it on yourself,” she says. “I just like coming down here.”

Joann

Joann was born in Northeast Kansas City, and you can still find her here today. Born in the Columbus Park neighborhood in 1951, she would attend various Catholic Schools throughout her youth. At 16, Joann began working at Tiger Records – a now defunct shop owned by mobster Tiger Cardarella. She would remain there for sixteen years until the store closed following Cardarella’s death. In 2015, Joann was diagnosed with acute leukemia. Yielding no success in finding a DNA match for a bone marrow transplant, the outlook looked grim. “I should’ve been dead,” Joann remarks. She did, however, end up finding someone with a 50% DNA match: her daughter. The transplant and following treatment were a success. Joann has been cancer free since 2016. Joann began attending the Don Bosco Senior Center in 2018. A self-proclaimed “northeast person,” Joann lives next door to the center in Columbus Park. She comes to the center to grab lunch and participate in activities such as tai chi, drumming, and karaoke. “My life has always been for my daughter, for my family,” Joann says. “But now it’s my time.”

Carlos

If you’ve ever found yourself in the Don Bosco pool room between the hours of 9am and 2pm, it's likely that you’ve met Carlos Leon. And, if you’ve found yourself in that room with Carlos, it’s even more likely he’s offered you some food. An avid griller, fisher, gardener, and deal-hunter, not a day goes by that Carlos comes empty handed; Smoked chicken, pork loin, jerky, summer sausage, ribs, tacos, burritos (often including cactus) are the usual arsenal of treats he offers. Born in Kansas City’s west side, Carlos joined the army in 1972 as a mechanic. A member of 63 Bravo, he would provide support for the elite 82nd Airborne Scouts. After his time in the army, Carlos and his wife Rebecca had two kids and settled in Kansas City. Carlos would spend the next 30+ years working as a mechanic for Shaw Electric and Bayer. Carlos started coming to the Don Bosco Senior Center in 2015 at the recommendation of his wife, Rebecca, who told him, “You know – they have pool tables there.” He has been coming for the better part of the past nine years since, bringing his personal pool cue and snacks for the friends he plays with. “It’s a lot of fun here,” he says.

Lucy

“We might be old,” Lucy remarks, laughing. “But we’re not dead.”

A lifelong East KC resident, Lucy began coming to the Don Bosco Centers in 2015 with her mother after her father had passed. Within a year, Lucy was diagnosed with leukemia. “Yeah, that was a rough year,” she says. Luckily, the bad year eventually ended: Lucy had a successful bone marrow transplant and has been in remission for the past 8 years. She now comes to the center with her brother David, spending most of her days with him following his kidney transplant. Lucy, a self-proclaimed “butterfly,” flies around the Don Bosco Senior Center sharing smiles and conversation with those around her. “They don’t want to be bored at home, so they come here,” she says. “We come to keep our mind going, to keep moving.” Lucy added that she is appreciative of the Harvesters food pantries that Don Bosco hosts and the produce deliveries she receives.

Mary Jo

On any given day, when you walk into the Don Bosco Senior Center there’s a good chance that the first face you see is Mary Jo’s. Most mornings, she mans the check-in counter where clients stop before receiving their utensils and entering the cafeteria. On the mornings that she isn’t in the front at check-in, she’s in the back of the center helping prepare the lunch bags for Meals on Wheels recipients. A Columbus Park native, Mary Jo attended the Holy Rosary and Cardinal Glennon schools before receiving a degree in elementary education from UMKC. After spending time teaching preschool, she shifted to working retail at the (now closed) downtown Macy’s, Dillard's, and Sears. In 2010, Mary Jo began volunteering at Don Bosco once a week, packaging meals. “I think [the meals] are pretty important,” she remarks. “It might be the only meal some of these people get.” Over the years after her retirement, Mary Jo spent more days of her week volunteering. “Don Bosco has helped me as much as I’m helping them,” she says. “It gave me a purpose; Something to do and somewhere to go.”

Rebecca

Once she walks through the doors of the Don Bosco Senior Center, it’s rare for Rebecca Leon to be on her own. Born in Kansas City, Kansas, Rebecca worked in banking. In 1975, she met her husband Carlos, at a Christmas party while he was on leave from the army. When their first of three children was born, Rebecca elected to stay home and care for them, until her youngest daughter graduated from high school in 2000. Originally seeking a part-time gig, she ended up working full-time at the Children’s Choice daycare on Independence. The location has since closed and Rebecca has retired, but her passion for teaching children has not faded; She has a Sunday school class full of preschoolers that she meets with every week. “I like the amazement of the preschoolers that come to my class,” She remarks. For fun, between trips to Branson, MO and visits to see her grandchildren, Rebecca comes to Don Bosco to socialize and craft. One of her favorite activities is watching the educational videos presented by Denise, the Senior Center Activities Coordinator, in which different locations and cultures around the world are discussed.

Jenette (Nettie)

Jenette has worn many hats in her life so far: painter, yoga instructor, math teacher, writer, and world-traveler, to name a few; Now, she’s found another calling: adult educator at the Don Bosco School of English. This past year, Jenette taught Level 3 English classes out of MCC’s Penn Valley location. Her class -- composed of students from Central America, Haiti, Sudan, Africa, and Vietnam – has spent their Monday and Wednesday mornings practicing their conversational and listening skills. “The goal is making space for mistakes,” she says. “I want to increase confidence and allow them to represent themselves better.” In addition to language learning, Jenette also implements cultural lessons into class, teaching students about common U.S. norms and practices, as well as backgrounds on protests and holidays. Recounting one of her favorite memories, Jenette tells of an ecstatic student telling her how she was able to take her daughter to the doctor without the need for a translator. Although Jenette's first experience teaching adults, she already feels at home with it: “[My favorite part is] how invested every student is.”

Isabel

When Isabel first came to the United States in 2007, she had no shortage of aspirations. However, her first goal was apparent: learn English. The mother of two had been a math teacher in her home country of Colombia before she moved to America to be with her husband. “I asked around and was told about Don Bosco,” she recalls. “I remember that you could start it immediately.” Isabel had English grammar knowledge from schooling in Colombia, but classes from Don Bosco allowed her to practice her listening and speaking skills. “You see how everyone is just trying to learn a new language,” she says. “Most of them speak their native language at home and don’t have the opportunity to practice [English] conversations. But when they come [to class], they can do it.” After receiving her degree in Business Administration from UMKC, Isabel returned to the school of English – this time, as a secretary; Eventually, she became an adult educator and administrator. “My favorite part now is meeting new people,” she says. “New cultures, new languages, new cultures, all the time.”