Project Homeless Connect

The day begins with morning prayer at St Joe’s. We gathered in the library off the kitchen on the third floor; just Mark, Mirabai and me, this morning, as Tom and Caroline were already at the War Memorial setting up for the day.

We prayed as we always pray, for our community, our guests and volunteers, for the President, for everybody’s well-being and safety during the renovations at St Joe’s. I added a prayer about my own anxieties for the day: what will I eat? And will I be warm enough? – and realized those are the same anxieties our guests have, day after day. Today, the homeless people and the comfortable people meet, and boundaries blur. It won’t always be easy to tell us apart. Who’s here to help? And who to be helped? It’s never a clear distinction – more a matter of degree.

After prayer I wait while Mirabai prints and cuts some fliers for our table – a list of meal times that someone could carry in their pocket. Marty and I head over to the War Memorial, where a couple hundred people are already in line. First perk of being server rather than served: we can just walk in. Before we find the St. Joe’s table, on walking into the arena, there’s Debbie Sigrist and her foot clinic, and they need some help. That’s where I’ll spend much of my morning, washing feet, anointing with lotion: the sacrament of foot care.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” the man next to me tells the woman wiping his feet. “How does it feel to wash the feet of the Alpha and the Omega?”

I have no doubt that the Alpha and the Omega is indeed here: the God who made us, loves us and is with us always is here, lined up for coats and pants and help getting IDs and all the myriad things a person needs to function. God is here in the people who have come to help, cutting hair, massaging feet, sitting patiently at tables all day to let folks know what they have to offer. Friends are here – Grace Miller and Rita from House of Mercy – Fran Morse from Dimitri House – this room is full of love. Washing feet I look over at the other volunteers – serving, laughing, talking as they wash, massage and offer comfort to aching tired feet, and tired souls, as well.

One of the men getting his feet washed leads us in song: “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,” we sing,” you make me happy when skies are grey. You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.” A woman tells me how she used to sing that to her late husband’s grandchildren. As I rub her feet she speaks with sadness of her life since he died, the homelessness that resulted from widowhood and a job loss – but her tears are for her husband, and she tells me how they loved each other, how he thought she was perfect. “You get to keep that,” I tell her. “That’s part of you.”

Other volunteers have more stamina than I. Tim and Debbie Sigrist, Terry Riley – they were here washing and massaging feet long before I joined them, and long after. I don’t know how they do it. The last man whose feet I wash is named Jeff. His feet are worn and callused, the tiredest feet I saw, and his skin is dry. “Can I have some lotion on my legs, too?” he asks, and indeed – his skin looks like the desert. So I rub the lotion into his legs and feet, and we listen to the little girl getting her feet washed by Terry beside us – she’s chattering away, perfectly comfortable letting a stranger wash her feet. Lots of children here, today.

Caroline and I leave a little early, We’re both spent, two introverts, all peopled-out. Two hundred people are lined up for coats, and Tom and Tim stay to help. A lot got done, today: people found access to services they needed, people are going home with clothes and haircuts and socks, lots of socks. Mostly I think they’re going home with the love that was in that room, today. I know I am. Helper/Helpee – the distinction is blurry.

Chava Redonnet

October 15, 2009

Project Homeless Connect brought together a variety of services for homeless people in Rochester, NY under one roof – help for veterans, child care, legal assistance, help getting social security and other identification, haircuts, clothing, food vouchers – and foot massages. St Joseph’s House of Hospitality participated.

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