Written by Monica Mackie, Development Coordinator
After serving as a FOCUS Missionary at UIC for two years, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to serve Newman as the new Development Coordinator, especially during this exciting time of new beginnings. Specifically, we have been hard at work, renovating our chapel to create a beautiful place to pray, and we are gearing up to launch Cor Coffee as school starts this fall. While these might seem like two independent projects, they are very much interrelated. Statistics are often thrown around again and again of how many people are leaving the faith in college. There are countless students who will come to campus this fall, completely disconnected from their one real purpose: a relationship with God. Cor Coffee is the way we can reach those who would otherwise never set foot in a Catholic church. By creating a welcoming atmosphere of radical hospitality, we hope to spark interest in students who come to study here and cultivate a desire for something more than the mundane monotony the world currently offers them. Cor coffee is different because our hospitality flows from a relationship with Jesus Christ, who is present in the beautiful chapel just down the hall from the coffee shop. But we know we can’t start by just bringing them to that chapel. Instead, we begin with a good cup of coffee, friendly and intentional conversation, and a place that starts to feel like home. I can’t wait to share more with you as these developments unfold and we continue to reach more souls at UIC.