By Susan Fortunato I am standing outside a homeless shelter with a crowd of about 50 shelter guests, staff, and a few elected officials. With me are Brother Thomas Steffensen of the Society of St. Francis; Pharoah, a poet and former resident of the shelter; and Christa Hines, executive director of Hudson River Housing. We lead the prayers. Pharoah has a salt-and-pepper … [Read more...] about Blessing the Homeless
homelessness
$2.4 Million in Initiatives from Trinity Wall Street
By Leonard Freeman Trinity Church Wall Street in New York is sometimes kiddingly referred to as “the Anglican Province of Lower Manhattan.” A 1705 land grant from Britain’s Queen Anne turned out to be most of what we now know as lower Manhattan. On the strength of some of the most expensive real estate on earth, the church has grown an $8 billion endowment and an extensive … [Read more...] about $2.4 Million in Initiatives from Trinity Wall Street
Church Program Reaches At-Risk Youth in COVID Crisis
By Leonard Freeman Being a homeless or “marginally-housed” LGBTQ youth on the streets of New York can be a difficult road in any circumstance, but “the coming of the COVID-19 pandemic has turned difficult into disastrous,” says Jill Twohig, program manager for the Arts and Acceptance project at the Church of St. Luke-in-the-Fields in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. Arts … [Read more...] about Church Program Reaches At-Risk Youth in COVID Crisis
ETHICS: Homelessness
“Citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph 2:19). By Simon Cuff Homelessness, for probably most of us, is something we see rather than experience. Or, rather, homelessness is something we try not to see as we pretend to ignore the person obviously sleeping on the streets, or to have not heard their request for money or something to eat. Even the … [Read more...] about ETHICS: Homelessness
They Made Me An Artist
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald BOSTON – Street artist Dennis Boylet hasn’t had an easy winter. Since mid-December, he’s slept every night at a Boston shelter and spent days walking the streets, often with nowhere to hunker down and ply his craft as a painter. Even so, “Sidewalk Dennis” has had a place to paint, pray and enjoy two meals in a group every Wednesday at Emmanuel … [Read more...] about They Made Me An Artist
Wisconsin State of the State Address Honors Homeless Shelter-Founding Priest
By Mark Michael Wisconsin’s governor Tony Evers used his January 22 State of the State address to honor the Rev. Dave Mowers for his role in establishing a homeless shelter in the small town where he serves. The 35-year old Mowers, who has served three years as rector of Trinity Church, Baraboo, says a contentious struggle that eventually led to widespread community support … [Read more...] about Wisconsin State of the State Address Honors Homeless Shelter-Founding Priest
The Man Who Paid for a Baptism
By Steve Schlossberg Many years ago, when I was a postulant of the Diocese of Quincy and a middler at Nashotah House, I did my quarterly duty and preached at my sponsoring parish. I did not know the church; I had gone to seminary without a bishop, and the parish picked me up, just as the diocese had picked me up, as an ecclesiastical vagrant. I showed up that first Sunday as … [Read more...] about The Man Who Paid for a Baptism
Houston Churches Offer Dignity
Carol Barnwell reports for the Diocese of Texas: The 1960 Hope Center, a ministry for the homeless founded in August 2016 by St. Dunstan’s, Houston, now has more than 30 area churches that help support the day center. It is one of the only agencies serving homeless men and women in the area. “Forty people were living in the woods across the street from the church and we … [Read more...] about Houston Churches Offer Dignity