Meet Jerica Arents, IPS Alum, 8th Day’s First Mary Elsbernd, OSF Award Recipient

Jerica is a graduate of Loyola’s Master of Social Justice program and co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence, a campaign to end the U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Jerica also works with Witness Against Torture, a grassroots campaign to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, and recently spent a month in Afghanistan, learning about the effects of U.S. policies of war on ordinary Afghan people. She is interested in using alternative choices and integrated nonviolent resistance to create more sustainable communities for our neighbors and the Earth. She has worked in interfaith circles on issues of worker’s rights, juvenile justice and racial reconciliation.

Jerica lives at the White Rose Catholic Worker in West Rogers Park. The White Rose Catholic Worker was formed in 2008 when Jerica and two fellow graduate students of the Institute of Pastoral Studies decided to launch an experiment living out the Gospel call to nonviolence with folks on the margins. In less than two years, the community has more than doubled in size. Along with housing two or three people who are suffering from homelessness, the White Rose tends a sizable urban garden, shares its space with eight chickens and has three open meals every week. The White Rose is spending this year experimenting with farming an acre of land south of Chicago in Monee, IL. They often invite groups of students into their home for social justice teach-ins and nonviolence trainings. Two Fridays a month, the White Rose hosts “Roundtable Discussions” where people are welcome to bring their thoughts on an issue, learn and share for clarification of thought.

Jerica has written numerous published articles, such as: “‘Come and See’: A Reflection from Afghanistan”, which appeared in Sojourners; “Drones on trial, and a judge listens”, which appeared in National Catholic Reporter; “Drones on Trial: Narrowing the Gap Between Law and Justice”, which appeared in Common Dreams; and co-authored “Making Friends in High Places”, which appeared in The Humanist.