Introducing Re/Generation 2020 Part 1: Chicago
Call To Action is thrilled to announce the members of the 2020 Re/Generation cohort! We received dozens of applications from visionary and faith-filled young adults around the country. The bios of these young people give us hope for the future of our church, and we think you'll feel the same way.
For the first time this year, we opened Re/Generation to local teams of Re/Generators who will work on projects together as part of our National Campaign. With this new structure, we were thrilled to be able to accept over twenty young people into the program! We will be introducing the entire cohort in a series of e-blasts over the next few weeks.
The six Re/Generators below make up two teams that are based in Chicago, IL. Claire, Lindsey, Kascha, and Mac are one team interested in direct action. They are active in CTA Chicago, a local chapter re-formed by 2019 Re/Generator Dominic Surya and mentor Lissa Romell as a Re/Generation project. Maria Alejandra and Sarah, on the other hand, have formed a second team interested in education.
Welcome to the Re/Generation family, Claire, Lindsey, Maria Alejandra, Kascha, Mac, and Sarah!
Claire DesHotels
Claire is a Master of Divinity student at Loyola University Chicago and works as a retreat facilitator at the Brother David Darst Center, leading social justice immersion retreats for high school and college students. Prior to living in Chicago, Claire worked as a case manager in a Twin Cities shelter for families following a year of service with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Boston. A Minnesota native and avid coffee drinker, Claire seeks to live a Catholic faith that embodies justice, healing, and Spirit. She finds wisdom in the feminine and believes in cultivating communities where all are seen, known, and beloved.
Lindsey Myers
Lindsey is truly grateful to have found CTA and Re/Gen. She is a curious soul who loves exploring ideas but also believes deeply in the unity of thought and action. Her undergraduate degree in theology (and philosophy) and later conversion to Catholicism opened her to the church's call to know and be with those experiencing oppression. This led her to working with folks experiencing homelessness in JVC and a Catholic Worker in Phoenix, AZ. Consequently, such work prompted deeper questions and movement surrounding fighting systemic oppression and the Gospel's call to liberation.
She completes her Master's in Social Justice at Loyola University Chicago through the JVC Magis program in July. While she currently works in ministry with folks with developmental disabilities, her studies have amplified her interests in the intersections between liberation theology, liturgy/spirituality, anti-racism work, and community organizing. Lindsey loves sunshine, the smell of fresh soil, and all things cheese.
Maria Alejandra Salazar
Maria Alejandra Salazar is a budding artist, writing at the intersection of faith, social justice, and ancestral connection. She draws on her experience in community organizing and advocacy around immigrant rights. A 1.5-generation, formerly undocumented immigrant, she was born in Lima, Peru and raised in Skokie, IL. Brought up Roman Catholic, she is in the process of discerning her own faith identity.
She earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and a Master of Divinity at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, where her thesis focused on community organizers and burn out. Maria Alejandra is passionate about theologies that center lived experience as sites of liberation and transformative healing. Currently, she resides in Chicago and works in philanthropy.
Kascha Sanor
Kascha Sanor is trying to be a good plant mom. It’s not easy in Chicago, but the sun is coming. Kascha is also a full time graduate student at Loyola University pursuing a Masters of Divinity and Social Justice dual degree. Currently, she is a hospice and palliative care chaplain. Kascha graduated from Aquinas College in 2016, where she worked in Campus Ministry prioritizing interfaith engagement and facilitating service-learning opportunities. She then moved to Los Angeles as a Jesuit Volunteer and was deeply impacted by her time leading wellness and art groups for folks experiencing homelessness.
Currently, Kascha is a member of CTA Chicago, an organizer of CTA's People's History of Vatican II, and a local Nuns & Nones facilitator. Kascha's catholic identity is continually formed in communities of women religious and the Catholic Worker. She is sustained by living room liturgies and Mary Oliver poetry.
Mac Svolos
Mac Svolos lives in Chicago, where he is a student at Loyola University Chicago's Institute of Pastoral Studies. Previously, he attended Creighton University in Omaha and volunteered at Jerusalem Farm in Kansas City. His life has been shaped by the Farm's four cornerstones of prayer, community, simplicity, and service. He is passionate about working for full inclusion of women and queer people in church spaces. Mac loves biking along Lake Michigan, dance parties, and sitting on porches.
Sarah Tarkany
Sarah Tarkany was born in Charleston, SC. In 2011, she moved to Chicago to earn her MFA in Poetry at Columbia College Chicago and now teaches writing, Women’s Studies & Gender Studies, and poetry at Loyola University and elsewhere. In 2018, she completed the joint MA program in Theology and WSGS at Loyola. Her research interests include queer theologies and theopoetics, feminist/queer pedagogies, and baking the perfect pie. Her poetry can be found in Columbia Poetry Review, Court Green, and |tap| lit, which nominated her for Best of the Net in 2017. She lives in Chicago with the artist Jacob Victorine and two best cats.
