For some reason, there are some people in my life that care for my well being. This is a mystery to me, but I find that I can put up with it. Just kidding, Mom.
I get questioned frequently about what I need for myself. I can say with complete certainty and confidence that I need absolutely nothing. This is not a way of telling people off, but rather a way of telling of how we live. Everything that we need is provided for us- a place to sleep, all the food we can eat, cars to use, medical insurance, work to do, clothing to wear, and one hundred dollars per month to play with. I view this as enough, and we are expected to live within those things that are provided to us by Andre House. It is part of our call to live simply and somewhat similarly to the lives of those we serve. I will admit that there are a lot of things that I would like (one hundred dollars goes pretty quickly), but there is nothing that I need.
But there are some things that you can provide for me and for Andre House. The most important thing you can do for us is pray. Pray for the Core Community, for our volunteers, for our benefactors, and for our guests. Pray not only for us, but for those around the country and around the world who do the same work in their own area. There are people that live in poverty and homelessness all over, and they all deserve your prayers.
Along those lines, don’t just focus your efforts on the needy here is Phoenix simply because it is where I find myself. As I said, there are poor and homeless people all over the country and world. A great thing to do is to focus your efforts and attention on the poor and homeless in your own area. It may sound naïve, but you really can help eliminate poverty by helping the poor in your hometown. I have heard one such story- a relative who has started to do just that after hearing about what I am doing, and that is a great thing.
If after all of that you still feel the need to send me something, homemade cookies are always welcome and appreciated. I could use a good backrub too.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Office
Our most frequented service is that of our office. It is the most visited because it is the one place where our guests can get a large number of services.
The big service that we provide to people is the use of a telephone. We offer local, long distance, and international phone calls to anyone who walks in the door. There is usually a waiting list for this, so a lot of the guests just have a seat in the semi air conditioned office and hang out. We use phone cards for the long distance and international phone calls. I’m always amazed at the variety of places that people are from and have family in, and the number of long distance and international phone calls follows suit. We do get a fair amount of international calls, mostly people calling their families in Mexico.
There are a bunch of other things we provide for the guests out of the office. We have cabinets full of toiletry items- shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, tampons, etc. We offer over the counter medications- Tylenol, ibuprofen, Tums, aspirin, multivitamins. We have first aid supplies available to the guests for minor injuries. We give out blankets in the office- a person get a blanket from us every two weeks if they choose. We also give out sleeping bags.
Another popular program lately has been our work boot program. Many times a person cannot get a job without work boots, the employers require them for the work they do. This is where we step in. If a guest can bring us either a pay stub from employment or a letter from an employer stating that they have a job pending the requisition of boots, we will give them a voucher to Payless shoes for work boots.
As you might have guessed, this can be a crazy experience. Sometimes there are seven or eight guests crammed into this small office room, and they all want something different, and they all want it first. Plus, whenever you give one thing to one person, everyone else within earshot wants the same thing (cough drops are the most popular in this realm). It can be an exercise in diplomacy and patience. You might be thinking that I am good at neither of those things. This is true and a hence a good thing that I am not scheduled to be in the office at all. I do it occasionally for other people, but not on a regular basis.
The big service that we provide to people is the use of a telephone. We offer local, long distance, and international phone calls to anyone who walks in the door. There is usually a waiting list for this, so a lot of the guests just have a seat in the semi air conditioned office and hang out. We use phone cards for the long distance and international phone calls. I’m always amazed at the variety of places that people are from and have family in, and the number of long distance and international phone calls follows suit. We do get a fair amount of international calls, mostly people calling their families in Mexico.
There are a bunch of other things we provide for the guests out of the office. We have cabinets full of toiletry items- shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, tampons, etc. We offer over the counter medications- Tylenol, ibuprofen, Tums, aspirin, multivitamins. We have first aid supplies available to the guests for minor injuries. We give out blankets in the office- a person get a blanket from us every two weeks if they choose. We also give out sleeping bags.
Another popular program lately has been our work boot program. Many times a person cannot get a job without work boots, the employers require them for the work they do. This is where we step in. If a guest can bring us either a pay stub from employment or a letter from an employer stating that they have a job pending the requisition of boots, we will give them a voucher to Payless shoes for work boots.
As you might have guessed, this can be a crazy experience. Sometimes there are seven or eight guests crammed into this small office room, and they all want something different, and they all want it first. Plus, whenever you give one thing to one person, everyone else within earshot wants the same thing (cough drops are the most popular in this realm). It can be an exercise in diplomacy and patience. You might be thinking that I am good at neither of those things. This is true and a hence a good thing that I am not scheduled to be in the office at all. I do it occasionally for other people, but not on a regular basis.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Community day
Every Friday, Andre House closes its doors and the staff takes the day to itself. We have Mass together, meetings, and then some sort of activity. In the evening we have more prayer and then have dinner together. This is the only time in any day of the week that the entire staff is present. When I first visited here, I wasn’t quite sure why Andre House denied all services on this one day, but now I realize just why we do. This day off (off from our guests) is crucial to keeping our sanity. Our work days are long and hard; one extra day would push us to the point of exhaustion. On Fridays, we get to spend time with each other doing something fun together.
We take turns planning the activity and today just happens to be my turn. We are heading to someone’s house to have our meetings, then we are going to barbeque and swim in their pool. It will be a nice change of pace for everyone, and I cooked up some stuff to eat. We are having pork kabobs, potato salad, strawberry pretzel salad, raw veggies, fruit salad, and drinks.
Other activities so far have been bowling, a tour of the state capital, going out to eat, bocce ball, and the state fair.
We take turns planning the activity and today just happens to be my turn. We are heading to someone’s house to have our meetings, then we are going to barbeque and swim in their pool. It will be a nice change of pace for everyone, and I cooked up some stuff to eat. We are having pork kabobs, potato salad, strawberry pretzel salad, raw veggies, fruit salad, and drinks.
Other activities so far have been bowling, a tour of the state capital, going out to eat, bocce ball, and the state fair.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Today's reflection
We are surrounded by sin. We live in a world that seemingly embraces evil and forgoes a virtuous life in communion with God out of convenience or indolence. This is of course true in the environment we currently find ourselves, but it is just as true in every other part of the world.
Saint Paul reminds us today that the sin we encounter in our daily lives should be expected. As he says, a single offense brought condemnation to all men. That’s everyone that sits here today, everyone that we encounter today, and everyone we have no interaction with today. We, as human beings, are all subject to and destined for temptation and subsequent sin, and without repentance we are setting ourselves up for condemnation.
The degradation of moral and ethical values in our country is one way in which we see this manifest. Pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry. Faith and spirituality have been driven out of our daily and public lives by the decisions of politicians. Corporate corruption and scandals run rampant. Government organizations only seemingly go half the distance to battle illegal drugs and organized crime. And to quote a movie, one of the most dangerous things facing us is the indifference of good men. I can go on and on with this list, but that is precisely what we must not dwell on.
Saint Paul says, “despite the increase in sin, grace has far surpassed it.” We can spend hours describing the ways in which people fall into sin. We can get caught up in seeing the evil in our lives and the lives of others, but the salvation that has been granted to us is really what matters. How beautiful is this?
Just as one man’s actions condemned us all to eternal punishment in hell, another man’s actions brought each and every one of us eternal glory and salvation in heaven. That’s everyone that sits here today, everyone that we encounter today, and everyone that we have no interaction with today. We, as human beings, are all subject to and destined for deliverance and salvation and we must be sure to do all we can to be worthy of that salvation.
So the challenge we can get out of this is not to dwell on the sinful actions of man, but rather on the guarantee of salvation of man. Work toward that salvation in your own lives and help to bring others to the same.
Saint Paul reminds us today that the sin we encounter in our daily lives should be expected. As he says, a single offense brought condemnation to all men. That’s everyone that sits here today, everyone that we encounter today, and everyone we have no interaction with today. We, as human beings, are all subject to and destined for temptation and subsequent sin, and without repentance we are setting ourselves up for condemnation.
The degradation of moral and ethical values in our country is one way in which we see this manifest. Pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry. Faith and spirituality have been driven out of our daily and public lives by the decisions of politicians. Corporate corruption and scandals run rampant. Government organizations only seemingly go half the distance to battle illegal drugs and organized crime. And to quote a movie, one of the most dangerous things facing us is the indifference of good men. I can go on and on with this list, but that is precisely what we must not dwell on.
Saint Paul says, “despite the increase in sin, grace has far surpassed it.” We can spend hours describing the ways in which people fall into sin. We can get caught up in seeing the evil in our lives and the lives of others, but the salvation that has been granted to us is really what matters. How beautiful is this?
Just as one man’s actions condemned us all to eternal punishment in hell, another man’s actions brought each and every one of us eternal glory and salvation in heaven. That’s everyone that sits here today, everyone that we encounter today, and everyone that we have no interaction with today. We, as human beings, are all subject to and destined for deliverance and salvation and we must be sure to do all we can to be worthy of that salvation.
So the challenge we can get out of this is not to dwell on the sinful actions of man, but rather on the guarantee of salvation of man. Work toward that salvation in your own lives and help to bring others to the same.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
"You trying to get something?"
The time sure is flying for me out here. In another week it will be three months since I left home.
So I sometimes sit down and prewrite some of these blog posts but I'm always looking for inspiration for something new to write about, something out of the ordinary. Today I got a bit of such inspiration.
There really is no good reason for a clean cut, semi well dressed white guy like myself to be walking down into "the Zone." The Zone is the popular nickname for the area where we work. It is a hotbed for drugs and where a lot of free services are offered to the homeless. Anyway, I decided I was going to walk to work this morning. I was almost at work when a guy who I have never seen before comes to me and asks, "you trying to get something?” I hadn’t thought too much about this happening but this morning I found myself being asked if I wanted to buy some drugs from this dude. So I opened my wallet to make sure I had enough money… just kidding.
I was a little shocked at first, but then I decided that I should do my best to make this guy feel terrible about the life he leads. I initially said no, then asked him, “just what exactly were you trying to sell me?” He says back, “I wasn’t trying to sell you nothing. I was just seeing if you needed something. You know- a hello, a goodbye, something like that.” I kid you not, that’s exactly what he said to me. I told him at this point that he led a really sad and disgusting life. He then saw someone who I would say is a regular customer of his and walked away from me. I continued walking and told him as we parted that I would pray for him.
So I sometimes sit down and prewrite some of these blog posts but I'm always looking for inspiration for something new to write about, something out of the ordinary. Today I got a bit of such inspiration.
There really is no good reason for a clean cut, semi well dressed white guy like myself to be walking down into "the Zone." The Zone is the popular nickname for the area where we work. It is a hotbed for drugs and where a lot of free services are offered to the homeless. Anyway, I decided I was going to walk to work this morning. I was almost at work when a guy who I have never seen before comes to me and asks, "you trying to get something?” I hadn’t thought too much about this happening but this morning I found myself being asked if I wanted to buy some drugs from this dude. So I opened my wallet to make sure I had enough money… just kidding.
I was a little shocked at first, but then I decided that I should do my best to make this guy feel terrible about the life he leads. I initially said no, then asked him, “just what exactly were you trying to sell me?” He says back, “I wasn’t trying to sell you nothing. I was just seeing if you needed something. You know- a hello, a goodbye, something like that.” I kid you not, that’s exactly what he said to me. I told him at this point that he led a really sad and disgusting life. He then saw someone who I would say is a regular customer of his and walked away from me. I continued walking and told him as we parted that I would pray for him.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Can you imagine?
So it probably isn't any mystery to anyone that I think a lot about the given situations that present themselves during any given day. Today I encountered an interesting one. There was a man who came to us during the two hours we were operating in the clothes closet. He wasn't one of the thirty that we originally took, but we were finishing up quickly and were able to have him come inside to "shop." I took his ID and went to put his information in our records. The one piece of information we write down is peoples' birthdays. This particular gentleman, Willard, was born in 1930. And so I got to thinking, "can I imagine myself as a 77 year old homeless man?" Living in the area I work can be rough and one wouldn't think an elderly person could survive for a long period of time. It’s sure not where I want to be at that age.
But their are some neat situations in which other people care for the elderly here. A few weeks ago while working the showers, a very old man came in to shower. He could barely walk and probably wouldn't have been able to clean himself well. It turns out that there are a few people that have adopted this guy as their "Pops" and one of these people came in and bathed him. That was probably the most selfless act I have seen in my time here. Even though we are surrounded by evil every day, there are shining examples of God’s presence.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Free spiritual thought for the day
This was taken from a book called "All Saints" that we frequently read from. This is, however, I have heard anything from it worth writing home about.
In a maxim [Saint Theresa of Avila] left for her Sisters she wrote, “Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life, which is short and has to be lived by you alone; and that there is only one glory, which is eternal. If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.”
In a maxim [Saint Theresa of Avila] left for her Sisters she wrote, “Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life, which is short and has to be lived by you alone; and that there is only one glory, which is eternal. If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.”
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