Sometimes God just reaches down and slaps me upside the head. Now, if this statement makes you wince, stick with me and trust that I know what I’m talking about! He’s not making me wait until I see Him in the afterlife to keep me in line, He just keeps teaching me here on earth as I go along my very imperfect, human way.

So what prompted this slap, you may ask? Well, here, to my shame, is my story. Keep in mind that the first thing we do at Hope House before we open every day is pray for kindness, patience and compassion to shine from each of us (this is where I got in trouble).

So the story starts earlier last week, when “Tommy” came in to Hope House looking for help paying his rent to some friends who were letting him crash at their house. Tommy is a regular client, is usually homeless and often slightly inebriated when he visits us. Let’s just say he is one of our more challenging clients. When we explained we don’t help pay rent, he became very upset and yelled about how no one cares about him, etc., etc…….then he left after getting a bag of food.

The very next day, Tommy stopped in to let loose with a loud verbal outburst about how it is our fault he is homeless, and he hates the Catholic Church and us especially. After yelling this at me, he left the room and then came back in to ask for some clothing, which we of course gave him.

Flash forward to a busy Friday afternoon—lots of people at Hope House for assistance, so many that they were spilled out onto the lawn waiting their turns. We were doing double intake duties to keep up, so when I came out and saw Tommy’s name was next, I just sighed. It had been a long week with Tommy, and I was not in the mood for him at all. I called his name, looked around—no Tommy. Someone said he might be outside, so I went out and called again—no Tommy. I came back inside, smiling in relief that I didn’t have to deal with him again. Just then, someone said “there’s Tommy out there with his bike”. So I again went outside, hoping he was heading out and didn’t want to come in again. When I called out to him, I asked him if he still needed to check in. he immediately said yes and almost ran into the building, with me and my poor attitude following. Upon getting into the privacy of the intake room, Tommy told me he didn’t need anything, he just came by to tell me he was sorry for his behavior all week.

SLAP!! That sound you hear is God asking me if I really mean what I say when I pray each day, or am I just being a Pharisee. You see, it didn’t matter if I let Tommy or anyone else know how much I did not want to help him—what mattered was my inner impatience and lack of compassion for this fellow human being. What mattered was my commitment to Christ to treat each and every one of the parts of His body as I would treat Him.  This is the whole focus of Hope House, and it is what makes us special.

SLAP! That’s God saying “don’t make me stop this car!”

Rest in Peace, Don

It is with great sadness that I tell you all of the loss of another valued volunteer from Hope House. Don Anderson was confined to a wheelchair after 2 strokes left him partially paralyzed and with limited speech abilities. Don’s mind, however, was wonderfully active and curious and he loved being around people from all walks of life.

Don became our client several years ago, wheeling through the neighborhood in his motorized wheelchair on his way to visit us. We noticed he often came in asking for nothing but a cup of coffee and some cookies (Don LOVED his cookies!). So one day, I told him he was welcome anytime, and he didn’t need to be there to receive services. After that, he became a regular every Tuesday and sometimes more often. We made him an official volunteer about a year and a half ago, complete with his own nametag, which he prized.

Every Tuesday morning I would arrive at Hope House to find Don sitting in his chair by the back door ramp, usually smoking one last cigarette before coming in to work. He then would join me inside to get everything ready for opening: setting out the full coffee carafes, putting the cookie basket on the desk, refilling any sugar, creamer, stirrers, etc. that needed it. He would then motor around putting things on the shelves for me as I sorted them.

When we opened our doors, Don was the official greeter, making sure everyone knew to sign in and to help themselves to coffee and cookies. He loved to sit and watch the children play; listen to the men talking and the mothers sharing resources. If it got too crowded and noisy, he would leave a little early, but usually Don was there for the morning—reveling in his “job”.

Don’s wife, Dianne, stopped by today to tell me about his death. She thanked us for offering him a place to feel useful and needed in his final days. She said he loved to come to Hope House, and loved the people he worked with there.

We loved him, too—rest with God, sweet man.

Some needs are more than basic....

This week was a meeting week for me—lots of time spent explaining what Hope House does and how we do it. Somewhere in the middle of explaining it all to others, it became clearer to me. So here is my explanation of what we are, as well as my “ah-ha!” moment.

First, do you realize that Hope House is a social service agency unto itself? A very successful one at that—although we are always trying to work our way out of a job! So, in explaining that we are a “Basic Needs Provider” in our community, it became necessary to explain what a basic need is. In 1943, Abraham Maslow defined a pyramidal structure of human needs, with the most basic on the bottom of the pyramid. Hope House meets these needs from the bottom level:

1.      Food

      2.      Clothing
      3.      Hygienic assistance

Simple, right? It is simple looking at it that way; however, Hope House meets needs way further up the pyramid than this. From the safety level, we meet the need of resources. One more level up, we offer friendship and sense of belonging to a family community. Finally, at Hope House we offer respect, we encourage confidence and achievement and we attempt to boost self-esteem.

So back to my moment—who is to say which human need is the most important? Does it truly matter where on the pyramid you are working at any given time? Or is your most pressing need your most basic need today?

Within the first year of opening Hope House, we had a young homeless man arrive needing some food and clothing. The next time he came in, we remembered his name and greeted him with a smile. Within a couple of weeks, Michael was stopping by every day, usually just poking his head in and looking at us. When I asked him why he was doing this without receiving services, his response was: “I just need to hear someone say my name once in a while so that I know I am still here.”

Basic needs aren’t always tangible items.