Learn more about future Beloveds below! Please hold them in prayer as they prepare to venture forth to Tucson! For more information on Beloved in the Desert, click here.

Maddie (she/her or they/them)

Hi! I grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana— geaux Saints! Because of New Orleans, I love good food, good times, and good people. I firmly believe that there is always a reason to celebrate, and Southern hospitality is one of my most important values.

I attended the University of Notre Dame, which was a wonderful experience, but I’m very excited to be back in warm weather. I majored in Notre Dame’s Great Books program so I would be happy to chat with anyone about books, philosophy, or history— or the problems with narrativizing or canonizing history in Great Books programs (either works)! In any case, my favorite book is Moby Dick.

I worked as a summer camp counselor in Nashville for several years so I have a “second home” there; I love kids, the outdoors, and ice-breaker games. Part of being a summer camp counselor means that I am a Fleetwood Mac fan, as well as the Chicks, Joni Mitchell, and the Eagles. I also love to hike, camp, swim, and run— this summer, I hiked a short part of the Appalachian Trail. I’m a huge board game person, an INFP, and an enneagram 4w5. I studied abroad in Jerusalem at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute and researched queer theory, religion, conflict, and peacebuilding during my time in undergrad.

This year, I am very much looking forward to getting to know the people and place of Tucson. This is the furthest west I’ve ever been, and I have heard wonderful things about the city. Personally, I am looking forward to re-embracing the joy and excitement of change and the unknown, especially after the hard year everyone had. I hope that this year will give me time to reflect and re-set in a new place and learn with a new community, and I hope to bring whatever gifts I can to allow others to do the same. I want to re-invigorate my own adventurous spirit and help others do the same while we build trust in community together!

Claire (She/Her/Hers)

Hi, I’m Claire. I was born in China and adopted by a white American family when I was 2. I consider myself to be a Chinese adoptee and/or transracial/transnational adoptee. I am proud of my identity and have formed close bonds with other Asian adoptees. I grew up in Bucyrus, Ohio which is a small rural, predominantly white town. My family farms corn, wheat, and soybeans. I was not very active on the farm growing up but have been learning more about it with being home for the past year. I have 3 older siblings whom I am very close to.

From 2016-2020, I attended the College of Wooster. My major was in Political Science while my minor was in Chinese. I am interested in working for a non-profit or governmental organization doing advocacy and public policy work. In college I developed a passion for learning languages and would like to learn as many languages as I can. For now, I want to continue working on Mandarin and I have started re-learning Spanish after I studied some of it in High School.

For hobbies, I like to journal and write poetry. I also like to swim, ride my bike, hike, and dance. I’ve been cooking and baking more during the Pandemic, and I have come to really enjoy those activities as well. For this service year I am looking forward to being in a new environment and meeting new people. I have really missed being in community since the Pandemic started. I’m looking forward to all the new things I will discover about the world and myself and hope to grow in every aspect of my life (spiritually, professionally, mentally, etc.). I can’t wait to see what this year has in store and to meet all of you!

Lake (they/them)

Hi there! My name is Lake and I use they/them pronouns. I am new to living in Arizona and the city of Tucson. I am originally from Maine (aka unceded Wabanaki confederacy lands) and have spent much of my life there. I come from a Quaker and Methodist background. Most recently, I have found a strong sense of community amongst Quakers, especially the Young Adult Friends community in New England. I am looking forward to learning more about the Episcopal traditions this year, as well as bringing a bit of the silent worship traditions from Quakerism. I feel I am sort of a perpetual traveler, though I am looking forward to being more planted for the year! I love traveling around North America by train, bus and boat and I enjoy staying in hostels! I hope to do more of this once our people and our society are more recovered from the pandemic.

I graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 2018. Mount Holyoke is a small liberal arts college in Western Massachusetts. I studied Design, Art, and Performing Arts. Mount Holyoke is a historically women’s college, but nowadays, it’s a school for women, LGBTQ+ folks, and gender minorities. I am happy I chose that school because of how open-minded and supportive it was for me in my process of discovering my identity. I am grateful for experiences I had while in college, like study abroad, as well as for opportunities to practice critical thinking.

It’s important to me that we create distinct cultural spaces where we can each find belonging, support and resources. I have a specific interest in Design + Wellness in society, public transportation infrastructure, and creating more awareness and conversations around racial and gender inequities. I am non-binary, genderfluid and queer, so I am working and thinking about these issues from that perspective. As far as my hobbies, I enjoy time spent outdoors, particularly swimming, tennis, hiking, dance, and meditation. I am interested in herbalism and homeopathic remedies. I enjoy philosophical discussions and reading poetry by religious mystics such as Rumi, Hafiz, Mirabai, St. Teresa of Ávila and others. One thing I have been meditating on lately is how change starts from within.

I am excited about living in a community with the other Beloved fellows, and to meeting new people from different backgrounds and from many walks of life. I am looking forward to practicing humbleness and listening as well as sharing my perspectives. I would like to meet God through other people, as well as tuning into the wisdom of the Spirit, and the Universe through time spent in silent reflection and meditation. I hope that this year I can better understand my gifts and skills, and use them confidently in a way that allows me to serve others.

Em (They/Them)

Hello! I’m Em (they/them), and I’m a recent graduate from the University of Michigan with a major in psychology and a minor in Community Action/Social Change.

I’m incredibly grateful to be part of this year’s Beloved cohort, as someone who’s felt a recent calling back to both the Episcopal church and to social work. I’m hoping to get my MSW after this and go from there, but for now I’m looking forward to an amazing year-ish of service and long overdue self-reflection! This opportunity truly couldn’t have come at a better time.

Other fun stuff about me: I’m a lifelong Michigander with a love-hate relationship to winter, I love giving unsolicited but validating fashion advice, and my ultimate goal in life is to try every single variety of tea on Earth. If you see me, say hi, because I’ll probably be too shy to do it first sometimes!

Welcoming Beloveds