Meet Our Summer Solar Wise Coordinator: Intern Maddie Cox

Forming a relationship with GIPL has become a solid ground in introducing me to the importance and practice of Creation Care. With the mission to partner with religious congregations becoming more sustainable in their practices and use of resources, GIPL offers a great understanding in what it means to engage God’s people in the importance of going green! Being fresh out of college, this is an area of ministry I aspire to follow in my vocational calling. With a family background involved in the National Park Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, I adopted a passion for environmentalism at a young age. Thus, when it came time to consider what I wanted to be ‘when I grow up,’ I favored the idea of sustainable development as a career path and chose to attend Georgia Southern University for their leading, awarded efforts in sustainability. Throughout college, I knew I wanted to learn more about the environment, however, I did not know what type of career path I wanted to follow after graduating. Though I started out pursuing a degree in geography, the limited career options expressed during a meeting with my career specialist had me second guess my confidence in this fixed, narrow career path. My mid-college crisis prompted me to change the course of my studies from geography to something I perceived to be more applicable regardless of the career scene - Communication Studies. I do not regret this switch. In fact, I have thoroughly enjoyed studying the use of language, both verbal and nonverbal, and all its influences while still having time to contemplate my career path and the life God is calling me to live. My path of study has taught me the need to identify the dominant ideologies of racism, classism, and sexism embedded within our society that continue to marginalize groups of people. I am incredibly humbled to grow in awareness of the world around me in a way that shines a light on ignorance, preventing me from adding to the destruction. Understanding this will give me a crucial point of view into the field of sustainability. So, I began to entertain myself with the desire to combine my passion for sustainability with my communications background to foster public awareness and engagement in environmentalism as a profession. My goal is to work with people and help communicate the importance of individual and communal stewardship and implementing sustainable practices. I believe I have much more to learn about sustainability since I have felt the calling to seek it out vocationally.And then I discovered GIPL. I have the honor of working with GIPL this summer and hope to gain a better understanding of the challenges our partners  and collaborators often face so that we can learn how to adapt certain green projects to their needs. This experience will serve as a foundation for my post-summer plans. I have accepted the call to serve for one year as a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In August, I move to Boston to live and serve with a community that is responding to its need for secure, sustainable food for all, during which, I will learn more about how the church is engaging its congregations in sustainable development while relying on God throughout the process. Indeed, God is on the move and I believe I will be able to witness, engage, and rejoice in it by saying yes to GIPL and yes to YAV! Blessings,Maddie CoxMaddie will be with GIPL through mid-August 2018.  She is providing support for the Solarize Atlanta campaign and strategizing around community outreach. She will also assist the GIPL team in a variety of ways to help grow our mission. Welcome to the team, Maddie!