By Patricia Nakamura

The problem of homelessness knows no boundaries, geographic, racial, age or gender. Single men, single women, mothers or fathers with children, and entire families find themselves literally out on the streets of cities and small towns, without the funds to purchase even the most basic roof over their heads.

How does the church address the growing and spreading misery?

More and more congregations are participating in programs larger than any one church. Coalitions of urban Episcopal parishes or ecumenical combinations in particular areas stock and staff food pantries and build Habitat for Humanity houses. Individual churches operate thrift shops, selling donated clothing and household items at minimal prices. Often projects initiated by a church grow beyond parish management. Many become independent 501 (c) 3 charitable entities, which are then able to receive funds from secular sources.

What follows are a few examples, from across the country, of outreach to homeless and low-income people.

The Cathedral Church of St. John, in Albuquerque, N.M., in the Diocese of the Rio Grande, is downtown, near the bus station. The city is often a stopping-off place between East and West, said the Rev. Martha Honaker. “I was shocked at the homelessness,” she said, when she arrived a year ago from North Carolina. She works with the cathedral’s outreach center which is staffed by volunteers for four hours each week day. “We’re the only Episcopal church downtown; we do lots of referrals to other agencies,” said Ms. Honaker, who is also a registered nurse. “We offer some financial help, and food vouchers. Transportation is a big problem, and we may share the cost of a bus pass or tickets with St. Martin’s Hospitality Center, begun by the Episcopal Church.”

St. Martin’s provides laundry and showers, mail and messages. Both centers have a computer screening program “to weed out those running from the law, and to verify destinations, relatives, or jobs.”

St. John’s is part of the Homeless Advocacy Coalition, which meets monthly to focus advertising and legislative action on services and needs. “The coalition wants to open a family shelter,” which is lacking now, Ms. Honaker said. “The fairgrounds is used as an emergency shelter, but this is the last year. The cathedral does take overflow on an emergency basis.”

“Outreach has tripled in the last year, and it’s all volunteer, with the canon for pastoral care, mission and outreach, Ann Heard. She is dedicated and compassionate.”

Mention St. Paul’s, K Street, and musicians’ eyes light up. But to street people of Washington, D.C., the name means Saturday and Sunday breakfast. On Friday evenings, volunteers prepare peanut butter and jelly, tuna or cheese sandwiches, and boil 400 eggs. Others set out 400 bags and stuff them with a sandwich, a hard-cooked egg, a banana, napkins, salt and pepper. At about 4:30 Saturday and Sunday mornings, Tina Mallett arrives to brew gallons of coffee.

About 6 a.m., Nancie Majkowski and the other Grate Patrol volunteers load the bags and thermal containers into two vans and head for either the Mall route or the office buildings. “We know where people are — parks, alleys, bridges, overhangs,” Ms. Majkowski said. “Tina knows who likes extra sugar or cream for their coffee. She knows who they are too.”

The vehicles make 35 stops along set routes, and sometimes offer a meal to someone walking down the street or waiting at a bus stop. “We see a few women, maybe six or seven out of 90 people. Children are rare on these routes,” Ms. Mallett said. “The men are mostly loners in groups. Many have addiction or mental problems.” Often the crew wakes people with, “Would you like breakfast? Coffee?”

“We are acknowledging the presence of people who are often invisible,” Ms. Majkowski said. “This is the reason I’m associated with St. Paul’s – the social ministry. I’m so in awe of this operation!”

The Grate Patrol, named for the places homeless people sleep in cold weather, costs about $20,000 yearly, and is one of several programs offering assistance to those who are or recently have been homeless. The money comes from individual donations and the yearly 5K Help the Homeless Walkathon, which benefits nearly 200 agencies.

Many Jubilee Centers are homeless ministries. One such is the George Hunt H.E.L.P. Center in Providence, R.I. Named for the former bishop, the Homeless Ecumenical Leadership Program is staffed by those who were formerly homeless themselves, and mingle easily with the daily guests. “They have their finger on the pulse [of the problems],” said the center director, the Rev. Nancy Miller. She is a deacon assigned to Grace Church, a few blocks away in downtown Providence.

The Jubilee recognition means funds are available from Episcopal Relief and Development, and makes the center part of the network with other dioceses and programs. “We learn from one another,” Deacon Miller said.

“Deacons find their own ministry. The founder was my mentor, Deacon Ida Johnson. We walked the streets looking for a storefront. We’re in the center of downtown where the need is greatest.” It’s a grassroots response. The homeless are represented on the board, and when Deacon Miller speaks to supporting parishes and organizations, “I take a staff person along. It’s their story.”

The George Hunt Center is a place for homeless people to go during the weekdays, when the shelters are closed. It provides seasonal clothing, weekly hygiene kits, coffee and juice, and a place where the individual can rest and talk. Most important, said Deacon Miller, it offers community and safety and one-to-one relationships.

A mentoring program, assistance with transportation and job hunting are all aimed at “breaking the cycle, saving one person at a time.”

Supporting entire families “while they acquire the resources they need to stabilize their lives and move toward self-sufficiency” is the mission of Shelter Care Ministries, an outreach of Emmanuel Church in Rockford, Ill. Families placed in one of the program’s 14 apartments work with case managers on goals in education, employment, health, budgeting and parenting. The Emergency Housing Program houses them, rent and utilities paid, for up to 180 days. The Transitional Program has six apartments, in which tenants pay up to 30 percent of their income (and they must save another 30 percent) for as long as two years. As a result of the intensive mentoring and management, “ninety percent of our families were placed in stable housing last year,” said executive director Jered Pruitt. “The program is tailored to each family’s needs. We want to provide life changes, not just shelter.”

Seventeen area churches support Shelter Care with funds and volunteers. Mr. Pruitt said church families often decorate the apartments and “adopt” tenant families. The first building purchased, Cressy-Joy Place, is anticipating a $225,000 renovation. When refurbished, all four apartments will be used for transitional families. “That’s sort of a reward, sort of graduating,” Mr. Pruitt said. “They’ve completed the basic skills, and get to move out of emergency housing and into a really nice place, on their way back into real life.”

Rockford is a city of 140,000. Shelter Care statistics show a definite increase in homelessness, especially for women and children. In 2000, the program provided 19,659 shelter nights (lodging for one person for one night); in 2001, it was 21,980. Rockford’s yearly “homeless count” totaled, in 2000, 609 people. In 2001, it was 855. Shelter Care Ministries has reversed the downward spiral for some of them.

Hungry folks who visit the food pantry of St. George’s Church in Arlington, Va., don’t descend into basement catacombs. Instead they enter through the “west” door of the lovely little chapel which houses the congregation of Iglesia San Jose. They find themselves facing the altar, with its brilliant banners lighting up the black and white space. Many stop, kneel and pray, said volunteer Joanne Droppers, before turning to the pantry shelves along the back wall.

Five days a week, at lunchtime, some 30 volunteers each month give out non-perishable food, personal-care items, and Gideon Bibles — “People ask for those.” The daily average number of visitors hovers around 34 over several years. In November 2000 there was an increase to almost 38, or 831 meals.

“Some of the people are homeless, some are disabled, or day workers, people between paychecks,” Ms. Droppers said. “Some brand new homeless appear stunned. We give them a P-38, too. Many take their boxes to the park to eat, or go to the 7-11 for hot water for soup.”

St. George’s has a budget line for the purchase of food. Donations come from individuals and businesses. “Sometimes a volunteer brings fresh-baked cookies,” a homey touch. The pantry is just one of many social ministries fulfilling its mission “to reach beyond the church’s congregation,” but perhaps the most direct for the parish whose informal logo shows St. George trouncing the dragon while mounted on a bicycle instead of a horse. The setting of the pantry within the church building is important. Ms. Droppers said, “It makes guests aware we’re religious.”

(From The Living Church, March 17, 2002)