Lara Rusch ~ 29
transformative for themselves and others, particularly in relation to the supportive context
of their religious institutions.
Looking back at his last two years of participation in MOSES, Alejandro Garcia
marveled at how a self-described “shy person” who “never communicated very well”
became the chair of the Ste. Anne’s core team. Garcia explained that he first learned of
MOSES when an organizer was recruiting people from Ste. Anne’s to discuss the Detroit-
Windsor bridge encroaching on the historic church’s neighborhood.
In January of 2005 when someone gave me a call and said, “St. Anne’s is having
a problem with Ambassador Bridge,” I said, “Okay. No thanks.” Click. And the
person gave me a call again. He was persistent, needless to say, so again I said,
“No thanks,” and hung up the phone again. The third time, I said, “This young
man is not gonna leave me alone until I attend a meeting,” so I attended a
meeting, and the young man became Juan [MOSES staff organizer].
He was persistent, and plus I never did anything like this in my life. Normally I’m
just a couch potato. Literally come home, sit on the couch, put on the tube, and
watch T.V., so it’s turned my life around, literally. I don’t remember exactly what
occurred the first meeting, and then the second month, they decided to have an
election of officers, and I became the chairperson of the St. Anne’s core group,
and I was literally shocked.
Interviewer: Why were you shocked?
Well, because I was in a cocoon. I didn’t know much of anything. I was just
amazed that they would go ahead and vote me in.
As a newcomer to community organizing, Garcia learned about the political problem (in
the case, the expansion of the bridge into the neighborhood) and options for addressing it,
in the process of trying to have an impact with others from his congregation. Support
from the priest, the core team, and more than a little nudging from the professional
organizer, all encouraged Garcia to take a leadership role that maximized his
Convention