SUMMER
greetings from all of us who serve the rural homeless through
Good Works Inc.—A community of HOPE !!
HOT
TIME, SUMMER IN THE CITY In addition to
our daily work helping the rural homeless through the Emergency
Shelter, Hannah House and our Friday Night Life outreach, the
summer months have provided us with an opportunity to host youth
and adult work camps from all around the Midwest. So far, this
summer, we have received more than 80 people. These folks come
and stay at our Luhrig property and assist with repairs and
projects at the Emergency Shelter, Hannah House and in the
neighborhood. Last spring, we worked with an OU class to survey
many of our neighbors in order to learn who had physical
household needs that we could assist with. It has been a joy and
privilege to direct many of these volunteers towards assisting
our neighbors in need this summer. It all gives new meaning to
the phrase...good works!
WAVES Many of you
have asked us if we see more homeless people during the colder
months of the year, or if there is any pattern to when people
come for help. In reality, no. People do come to Good Works
however, in waves. We will have a week of recovering alcoholic
men in their later 40s, a month where we have several single
parents with children under the age of three, several days where
we have unrelated travelers with similar stories. It is almost
mystical.
TRUE
STORIES
Rachel and her children
came to us as a result of a series of circumstances which
collided in her life and caused her to become homeless.
Rachel had a good work history and was first time
homeless. Something happened to pull the rug out from her
feet. Living in the shelter was very difficult for
Rachel’s children. We were able to enroll the kids
in the City’s day-recreation program and the free
pool passes helped a lot. Nevertheless, the emotional and
spiritual emptiness in their lives caused them to get
themselves into trouble. Imitating the behaviors of their
father, the young children soon became unruly and abusive
towards their mother. Control was lost. Everyone was at
wits' end.
Julie came back to
Southeast Ohio from another city because of the abusive
relationship she had experienced some time ago. She
really worked at doing something to stabilize herself and
quickly got a job (with the help of our staff). But soon,
the men who hang out in the neighborhood came around and
one persuaded her to leave with him. We grieve when we
see vulnerable and recovering people being taken
advantage of by others. Julie’s leaving was abrupt.
We knew she had not yet begun to work on the issues which
caused her to become homeless.
Brian is back with us
again. He has stayed on an off with us for the past 10
years. He is in a rut and we grieve for him as well.
Moving from place to place, friend to friend, failed
venture after failed venture, Brian is addicted to denial
as a way of life. He seems to have so little motivation
to change the destructive patterns which have kept him
unstable. We grieve because we love him.
Janet came to us with a
3 month old baby. She had stayed at Good Works several
years ago while she was coming out of her teenage years.
This time, her ‘travel life’ and instability
caused her to become homeless.
Roger had called us on
several occasions but had never come to stay here. His
calls usually came in the middle of the night and he was
usually drunk. Each time, we urged Roger to get help and
tried to persuade him where to go first. Roger continued
to call and continued to not show up for shelter.
CONFESSIONS Since I began
working at Good Works I’ve gone through different stages of
attitudes toward the residents I meet with. Lately I’m in
the frustrated stage. I catch myself looking down upon the very
people I should have compassion on. My patience wears thin when I
encourage a man to meet with his employer to talk about why his
hours have been cut and he replies that I’m dumping on him.
When I meet with residents to discuss proper work ethics and soon
afterwards they quit their job because they had a conflict with
their manager, I want to scream. I think, “What’s wrong
with these people, don’t they care about themselves?”
The other day in the midst of my judgement, God said, “How
can they care about themselves when no one else does?” It
was nothing of my own doing to be born into a family who
encouraged me, loved me unconditionally, and told me I could do
or be anything, and gave me money to experiment. Is my job here
to find residents work? Is it to motivate them to improve their
job performance? Am I to listen to them, love them, have
compassion? How do I juggle these things? This is what I’m
brainstorming. —Angie Pyle
— Angie worked on our outreach
until last June as a job/vocational counselor. She continues to
volunteer with us.
RESULTS
Rick stopped in
yesterday to say hi. His wife had brought us groceries
last week when she went shopping for her family. Rich and
his wife are both going to Hocking College and, although
still struggling at times, are progressing well. They
stayed at Good Works last fall for several months.
Stewart made the Deans
list at Hocking College. He will graduate this next
spring. He and his family stayed here for several months
in 1995.
Sharon is flowering. She
continues to maintain the employment she found when she
came to Good Works. Her face reflects a woman who is
making healthy choices and who has a new sense of
direction. It is contagious.
Brent is also in the
same job he found when he stayed with us. He is working
hard at keeping it too. He struggles. We have all noticed
his progress both in attitude and action. We want to
continue to help him make good choices for his life.
HAVE
YOU CONSIDERED? William came to us this summer at the age of 76. A
resident? No. William came to serve as a volunteer. His joy and
gentleness are a true inspiration to all of us. He comes once a
week and gives us all a strong dose of reality. I suspect we are
gaining much more from him then he realizes. Have you ever
thought that you need to serve others in order to a remain
healthy and balanced person? Have you wondered whether you might
make a short term, entry level comittment to “test out”
your desire to get involved with the needs of others? Then why
not consider a once a week involvement with Good Works ? Our
week-night volunteer opportunity (from 5:00 pm until 9:00 pm once
a week) runs for 10 weeks. It is something to consider. For more
information, call Mike Teagarden at 594-3339 and then come by for
an application, a short tour and talk by one of our staff. As
much as the poor or homeless need our help, equally
so—equally so—we need to help them.
In addition to
our daily work helping the rural homeless through the Emergency
Shelter, Hannah House and our Friday Night Life outreach, the
summer months have provided us with an opportunity to host youth
and adult work camps from all around the Midwest. So far, this
summer, we have received more than 80 people. These folks come
and stay at our Luhrig property and assist with repairs and
projects at the Emergency Shelter, Hannah House and in the
neighborhood. Last spring, we worked with an OU class to survey
many of our neighbors in order to learn who had physical
household needs that we could assist with. It has been a joy and
privilege to direct many of these volunteers towards assisting
our neighbors in need this summer. It all gives new meaning to
the phrase...good works!