Making a Difference

“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away .” – James 4:14

Every day at Hope House we have opportunities to make a difference in someone else’s life. Sometimes a profound and lasting difference, more often we just make another human being’s day a little better or brighter. A smile, a kind word, and friendship offered in a genuine manner—these are little things that can let someone know they are valued and important to us. A respectful conversation, remembering someone’s name and welcoming them back indicate they are considered part of our Hope House family.

I think this is why the volunteers at Hope House are so special, why they are so dedicated and why I am so particular about who volunteers there. This ministry is unique. Do we think we are earning our way to heaven? No, we consider our service the outward evidence of our deeply held faith. One of our early volunteers was a kind young man named Daniel Bartle. He came to us from his high school classroom twice a week for a year or so. He smiled, he laughed, and he made our days sunny and entertaining. You should have seen him trying to hang up baby clothing on little tiny hangers! He was a special volunteer who made a difference during his time with us.

Dan’s life was exceptional—he worked hard at getting into the Naval Academy at Annapolis, he was a congressional page and he was valedictorian of his high school class. When he graduated from Annapolis, he became a Marine officer and continued his education by learning how to fly helicopters. Dan was a man of honor and devotion to duty, dedicated to making a difference in this world, and he did. Anyone who knew him remembers him with much love and respect. Captain Daniel Bartle passed away when his helicopter went down in Afghanistan last week. Dan touched many lives in this world during his short time with us. We can learn from his passing that now is the time to reach out and make a difference. Don’t wait, look around you and see who you can “touch” today.

In honor of Dan, make a difference today.

All things important

Money, money, money! We never have enough of it, of course, for Hope House needs. It feels like a constant struggle to make ends meet in our mission of serving the poor of our community—both with goods and with the small amounts of money offered by Assumption Financial Assistance. I dislike focusing on the budget line items, the spreadsheets and the grant requests because it seems so much like the least of our mission.

But in truth, at Hope House we are stewards of all that is given to us by those who donate and those who fund us in any way. It’s a balancing act at all times to make sure our focus is where it needs to be. Part of my job description is to deal with budgets and grants, so at this time of year, I often start with a resolution that I am going to do a better job at it this year.

So meetings are already set up and the ball is rolling, but I also need to stop and think and pray about the other areas I need to focus on:

1. Volunteers---I need to make sure their needs are being met, that they are feeling as valued as they are. I always worry I am not offering enough positive feedback.

2. Clients---I need to make sure they are receiving the best of me at all times. No perfunctory greetings, I need to offer warmth and compassion always!

3. Donors---are they being offered the warmest thank you I can give? Sometimes it seems that they creep in the back door, drop things off and are gone before I have a chance to say thanks.

4. Community---am I attending as many community opportunities as I should to keep Hope House current and on the radar in our area? Does the community understand who we are and what our mission is?

The bottom line for all who work with Hope House is that we treat each other and all our clients with all the love and compassion we would reserve for Jesus Christ himself—for we are serving the Body of Christ each and every day.

Try putting that in a spreadsheet.

A Happy New Year

Today was our first day open in 2012. A new year, new challenges, maybe a perfect time to say thank you:

Thank you to all those who donate items or money to Hope House or Assumption Financial Assistance. Without you, we quite simply would not have anything to give to those who come to us in need. God bless you each and every day.

Thank you to those who pray for us, talk about us to others, and say nice things to those of us who work here. Your support is crucial!

Thank you to our clients—for being so patient, so thankful and so friendly and helpful to each other. It is not easy to be poor—the endless hours of standing in line, the bus rides with tired, cranky children, the long walks when you don’t have a bus ticket or a car---we wish we could make more things in your life easier.

Most of all, thank you to the dedicated and caring volunteers who staff Hope House. We have over 50 active volunteers on our list, performing many of these duties with love and compassion:

1. Sorting clothing and hanging it up.

2. Keeping shelves stocked and clean.

3. Carrying heavy boxes of hygiene items in and out of the shed.

4. Packing food bags.

5. Making lunches for the Street Outreach.

6. Taking bags of non-usable donations to Goodwill.

7. Vacuuming and taking out the trash.

8. Breaking down our cardboard for recycling.

9. Making cookies for the Street Outreach lunches.

10. Decorating Hope House for the holidays.

11. Doing intake interviews with our clients.

12. Checking clients out and bagging their “purchases”.

13. Helping clients find just what they need.

14. Listening to the needs of those seeking financial assistance, and finding solutions.

15. Offering hugs and prayers to those who need them.

16. Keeping the chaos of Angel Tree gifts under control at Christmas.

Our volunteers come from all ages and walks of life. We have teenagers, young mothers, former clients and retired persons from both Assumption parish and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church working at Hope House. What they all have in common is the right mind set for this job—the firm conviction that we are serving the Body of Christ as He would have us serve them. This is not a casual volunteer job—it is a calling of sorts, and we are a little picky about who serves here.

We have been closed since right before Christmas, but each time I stopped by Hope House to drop something off or check on things, there was always at least one volunteer in there, working on some project during our closed time. Dedication with a capital D!

So, in this New Year, may we be needed less, but be more helpful; and may you all continue to support us in whatever way you can!