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Culpepper's bakery and cafe, where I am a cook

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I can see many things standing at the corner of College Square plaza where my job is. A tow truck driver pulling in, a middle aged man pushing two air conditioners in a shopping cart, my coworker getting into our friend's car. To the left of the bakery where I work is a shelter for housing insecure women. The other shops in the plaza include an Asian bodywork studio, liquor store, Chinese food restaurant, Berkshire bank ATM, family dental clinic, cricket wireless store, a pawn shop, a family dollar, and a Wendy’s. Across the street is St. Matthew's episcopal church, a barber shop, and a used car dealership. In the distance I can see a vacant furniture store, and the highway. Atop the hill behind the plaza tower the spires and steeples of Holy Cross College, giving our plaza its name College Square. It’s 2pm, and most people are coming and going from the liquor store and family dental clinic.

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Wendy's, the most popular establishment in the plaza

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I don’t have the keenest sense of smell as a result of abusing my nose with drugs in my youth, but the greasy aroma of deep fryers and burgers coming from the Wendy’s drive through window is unavoidable. I worked a stint as a delivery driver during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result will always associate that smell with being unwell. No matter what variety of foods I delivered, the overpowering aroma of fast food would stay in my car for days. I don’t think it smells nourishing, and I don’t believe the food is nourishing. Nonetheless, it is by far the busiest of the establishments in College Square plaza.

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I walk across the plaza to the family dollar on the other side. I hold the door open for a young woman accompanying three young children, the one in the stroller is holding a bag with a box of jolly rancher popsicles on top. I wonder if the young woman is the mother or another sibling, it is hard for me to tell. She says thank you to me for holding the door, and by her furrowed facial expression and somewhat urgent tone I get the impression she is not entirely well. I am greeted in the store by a friendly clerk, no older than eighteen. I walk the aisles a bit, aware that a lot of people do their grocery shopping here. It occurs to me that not here, or anywhere else in the plaza is it possible to get any fresh vegetables, outside of the lettuce and tomato served on sandwiches at Wendy’s or the diner where I work. Everything is highly processed, and high in sugar at all of the establishments.

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Signs I find amusing as the plaza tends to fill with all things listed

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As I take my walkabout the plaza, I mostly hear the steady hum of traffic, interrupted by occasional aggressive honking or a loud motorcycle. I start to wonder just how toxic this level of exhaust is to me in this density of traffic. A middle aged man and woman approach two middle aged men on small bicycles, and I can distantly hear them speaking Spanish which I don’t understand. None of them look particularly well. They are all either underweight, or overweight, and both the man and woman walking do so with a degree of impairment. All four of them give the impression of being intoxicated on drugs and or alcohol, which is not uncommon for people who spend time in the plaza.

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I was more inclined to feel things in my hands once I encountered some nature

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I cross the street from the plaza towards the highway and have the unexpected pleasure of enjoying a patch of wildflowers and greenery I have never taken the time to enjoy in the past. I can identify the golden rod, some kind of aster, and queen Ann’s lace. There is a bumble bee pollinating the asters, and I take a moment to enjoy watching the bee go from flower to flower in search of nectar, and I wonder if the bee is aware of how essential it is in the process of pollination and in turn the success of the plant from which it’s eating. My moment of contemplation is interrupted by a honk directly behind me. I feel the stiff stalk of the golden rod and soft buds. Just beyond the flowers is a women's shelter that she has been living in for about the last 6 months. A lot of people live on the street and in the woods around the plaza and the highway.

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I enjoy walking around the Holy Cross campus, and while the land appears to be healthier I must say I feel more at home in the plaza than on the campus. The campus is mostly quiet due to it being the summer. I pass some jovial construction workers who all appear fit and in good health, one makes eye contact with me. I pass someone who appears to be some kind of campus administrator, she avoids eye contact with me. I observed a similarity in the form of this bronze statue, and the woman who lives on the street near the plaza. I think the woman who lives on the street is more beautiful than the statue.

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Despite having previously worked on this campus, I never came across the hand of Jesus statue that stands in front of the library. It’s so interesting that this is just up the hill from the plaza and so different from any aesthetics found below. I think it speaks to how resources are being used on the campus in comparison to the plaza where the closest thing to public art were the no loitering signs.

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As I cross the threshold into the campus and take in the health of the trees, grass, buildings, and roads, I’m left contemplating the relationships between access to wealth and access to health. I can’t help but wonder about the health implications of being a person born into the standard of shopping at family dollar in comparison to someone born into the opportunity to go to a college like Holy Cross and the ultimate effects of said experiences on health outcomes of the individuals.

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I enjoy this world between worlds. The river flows beneath while trucks boom on the highway above. I encounter two men, probably slightly older than me, likely in their late 30s or early 40s. I greet them and they both look down and ignore me. The one closer to me did not look very well. He had sad longing eyes, unkempt facial hair, dirty clothes and a dirty backpack. It is my impression that potentially any one of these qualities alone may not be associated with being unwell, but a significant enough accumulation of them tends to give me the impression of unwellness.

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St Ignacius of Loyola, St Francis Xavier, and St. Peter Faber, the founders of the jesuit order

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It is disappointing how little Holy Cross does for the people in need just down at the bottom of the hill from its campus. The history of the jesuit order is steeped in charity and serving those in need, yet the college no longer has a reputation for doing much charity work in the community. I think Holy Cross could do a lot more to provide food for its community, based on its opulent campus of modern buildings and old bronze statues which seem to serve few people who are genuinely in need, and rather caters to the desires of people who want for nothing.

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Black line shows the route I walked. It is approximately 1/2 mile.

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Seeing the map really highlights how varied South Worcester is within a really confined area. Just west of my starting point you can see that there is a community fridge on the map at St. Matthew's church. This community fridge is a great example of small scale effective approach to community health as discussed in Matthew Gwynfryn Thomas

article. I see the fridge used often, and I believe it is popular because it is a private way for people in need to get assistance. They don't have to go into a food pantry, or make their struggles known to the public in any way, they simply walk up and can feed themselves something.

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While I still believe Holy Cross could be more active in its direct geographical community of South Worcester, I respect that they are offering tuition free education to students accepted whose parents make under $100k. The article states that they provided $76.5 million in financial aid during the 2023-2024 academic year which is respectable.

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Holy Cross in Worcester offers free college tuition to students with family income under $100K

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The College of the Holy Cross announced Wednesday that students whose families have a total income of $100,000 or less and reasonable assets will receive a full tuition grant, school officials said in a statement.

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The strength of the aroma of these blossoms caught me off guard and stopped me in my tracks. On my second day walking about my work community I added one more short block to my route. I was in my own head, contemplating a recent rejection in my personal life, and the smell of these blossoms hit me. It got me thinking about mow much my own state of mind influences my experience of the world around me. For example, if I feel unwell, everything around me looks unwell. On my first day of walking about I had worked in the morning and was looking at everything with a highly critical eye. My second day of walking about I felt much more centered, and was able to feel more optimistic about things. I was also imporessed with how effectively the strong aroma got me out of my head. I was experiencing some mild emotional distress, but at first scent all of that melted away and the world started to look a lot more beautiful. I enjoyed being able to see Holy Cross from this new prospective too, the campus is peaking over the blossoms.

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After my first day of walking about I looked at the google maps prospective of my route and saw that I had totally forgotten about this community fridge just across the street. We have these fridges all over Worcester, I think it’s s a really amazing way of providing direct aid to people in need and is a great example of the kind of neigobliness talked about in the article by Matthew Gwynfryn Thomas.

It is a great example of one of the many grassroot efforts needed for healthy communities to function on addition to larger systemic approaches.

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Unfortunately the fridge was totally empty when I came by. I had to circle the block to, because the first time I came around someone was looking through it and it makes me sad to think they went home hungry. I have spent my whole life working in the foodservice industry, and it saddens me to think about all the waste that exists and then seeing this community fridge totally empty. Doing this walk-about inspired me to get more involved in my community and I am planning to spend some time making sure this fridge gets some food in it from time to time.

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This is a great website used for keeping the community informed on what's happening with the public fridges around town.

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Article on the neighborliness of community fridges

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Article on the neighborliness of community fridges

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Great article highlighting the value of direct aid models and how integral community support is to community health.

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Worcester’s community fridges
spotlighted in new documentary

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A new documentary focuses on the work of Worcester Community Fridges, with a screening set for Nov. 20 at The White Room.

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While I have may have some criticisms about Worcester and some of the institutions that reside in it, I have always felt a strong sense of community here. There are lots of peer led programs for addiction treatment, soup kitchens, community gardens, and all kinds of programs fostering togetherness. While there are still people who need help and progress to be made, I consider Worcester to be a healthy community and am proud to be part of it.