New DOOR Miami director works from the “sweet spot”

Delia Caderno says she’s working out of her “sweet spot.”

As the new DOOR director for Miami, Caderno gets to use her background skills every day.

“DOOR is all the things that I love and love to do,” she said. “Community, people, the word of God, ministering, the neighborhoods, showing people around, supporting them in their faith walk, cooking, entertaining—I get to do it all.”

DOOR, a partnership program of Mennonite Mission Network and Presbyterian Church USA, invites program participants to “see the face of God in the city” – whether it’s for a weeklong mission trip or a yearlong service opportunity through a DOOR program called Dwell.

It took Caderno awhile to come to DOOR. The past two times that the Miami coordinators were looking for a city director, Caderno didn’t apply.

“I didn’t feel God was calling me at the time,” she said about the job. But that didn’t mean that she didn’t get involved with DOOR in other ways.

Caderno, who has worked with the Christian Reformed Church in Miami, has a background in community organizing and ministry in urban areas. These interests led her to interaction with DOOR.

It was through Heidi Aspinwall, DOOR’s national director for volunteers and Miami’s Dwell director, that Caderno learned about the program. From there, the agency she previously directed hosted a Dwell participant, and she personally mentored several Dwellers.

After a recent sabbatical of prayer and reflection, Caderno knew it was time to look again at the now-open DOOR position.

In her new role, she coordinates DOOR activities in Miami, helping volunteer groups and individuals do meaningful and reflective mission.

Caderno served in Chicago as a community organizer and most recently as an international trainer and coach in Asset-Based Community Development. In addition to her new position with DOOR, she stills serves on the board of the Christian Community Development Association. Caderno explained that her past work in community organizing has helped her learn how to bring people together, something that’s very important in her work with DOOR.

“The teaching part of DOOR is to help participants see the face of God in the city and then to ask people, ‘What do we do together?’” Caderno said. “We’re teachers and learners together—it’s a journey.”

“Delia has such a deep passion for God’s presence in the city,” Aspinwall said. “Participants respond to Delia’s warm hospitality and passion for the city.”