The CIRC Circular

Newsletter of the COLUMBIA INTERFAITH RESOURCE CENTER

Vol. 2, Issue 1, Spring 2013

A Room at the Inn Reflection: February 26, 2013

By Janet Schisser As I began to write this reflection, I was sitting in my warm house, hunkered down for the second snow storm in a week. I just spoke with Shannon Stewart, one of our three rotating on-site managers, and he relayed that it was the most difficult night he has had since we opened. Many thoughts were running through my head I sat in my meditation chair with God for a while and what continued to come to the forefront is our mission statement: The Interfaith Room at the Inn Winter Shelter will provide a warm and safe place to sleep during the period January 1 through February 28, adjusted as weather dictates, between the hours of 7:00 pm 7:00 am. A simple statement of purpose, including safety for all who are present. A purpose that falls within our abilities and resources. A purpose that I firmly believe God has given us. And, three nights later, a purpose we had fulfilled. No more, no less. With the weather as it was that night, it was tempting to be disheartened that we would close on Friday morning, March 1st. Spring was definitely not here yet. But, I also firmly believe that: We saved lives in these two months. We offered some cheer and compassionate friendliness to approximately 117 people who have been guests at least one night, including some who were there every night. Participating in this ministry has been a blessing to many/most (hopefully, all) of the 374+ volunteers who have worked with us Pastor Meg and the congregation of Wilkes Blvd United Methodist Church have set a very high standard of what it means to be The Church We are to stay true to our mission statement, and let those more qualified take over working with our guests to help them not be homeless next year I am honored and humbled to have served as Director/ Coordinator of this mission. I am honored and humbled to have served in any capacity with, by far, the most giving, loving, humble servants of God Ive even met. Looking back now in April, I realize how much I needed a way to put everything in perspective, and suspect I am not alone. Therefore, I extend this invitation to all to a discussion of the effect of homeless ministry on us as volunteers, Sunday, April 28, at 3 pm at Wilkes Blvd UMC, facilitated by the Rev. Dennis Swearingen, ordained pastor of Olivet Christian Church (DC). God has blessed our efforts thus far. May God continue to bless and guide all efforts to end homelessness and poverty, both within this community and beyond. (Janet Schisser was this years Room at the Inn Coordinator in Chief. She supervised the overnight managers & volunteers, tracked donations, and coordinated space issues with Wilkes Church and Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen.)

A Message From Your Board Chair

By Rev. Steve Swope It's a week before our next General Membership meeting as I write this, and the late winter weather has given way to spring's warmth and beauty. One of the trees outside my window is already starting to flower, and bulbs down the driveway are in full bloom. It might be easy to imagine that the worst side of Missouri's climate has passed for another year - and it's true (I hope!) that the snow and freezing temperatures are gone. But that doesn't mean weather isn't a concern for our homeless and at-risk neighbors. In fact, the typical storms of spring can be just as dangerous to life and health, and even the heat of summer has its hazardous side. We should celebrate another season of Room at the Inn - 117 individuals served by 374 volunteers and a dedicated group of leaders! Thanks also to the leaders and members of Wilkes Boulevard United Methodist Church for opening their facility! Without their committed efforts, lives would surely have been lost during this brutal winter. Now, how shall we preserve health and life during the rest of the year? The mission of Columbia Interfaith Resource Center isn't only for a season but for all twelve months. So we continue to seek and advocate for an adequate location for the Interfaith Day Center - more space, separate rooms to provide services, plumbing to handle showers and laundry and a better kitchen. What can you do? I know that Room at the Inn takes an enormous amount of energy, and I'm so grateful for those who have spent themselves so generously! But we can't let up now. We need to put that same energy and effort into finding, funding, and fixing up a new Day Center. Your Board of Directors is committed to that task. Will you join us? Your tax-deductible contributions are vital to give us the funding cushion, beyond daily needs, to put a down payment on property.

The Porta-Potty Experience that Changed My Life

By Jennifer Reed My Porta-potty experience happened on January 12, 2012 on a bitterly cold day blasted with a mixture of snow, sleet and ice. I was the newest Day Center board member and had attended one of my first task force meetings. I was totally clueless how much work, planning and resources it takes to keep Room at the Inn and the Day Center up and running.and shocked at the very limited financial resources available. I just wanted to help. There was an immediate to wash the accumulation of dirty laundry at Room at the Inn, so I volunteered to

help with laundry. Shannon Stewart, the on-site manager was headed to Room at the Inn to open for the evening. I offered him a ride so I could pick up the dirty laundry. As we walked out of the warm and inviting church into a freezing drizzle that stung as it slapped your face I remembered that I was driving my husbands old work truck. I never liked that truck and really hated driving it, but thought it might be a safer ride in the awful icy road conditions. The truck started right up, but the heater has always been a bit slow. Believe me, I was quick to complain about the old work truck, the slow heater, the stereo .the list goes on. But by the time we arrived at the Room at the Inn, the cab was warm and we had found a good radio station. When we arrived at our destination, Shannon hopped out of the truck to unlock the doors of the building. I was a bit hesitant to get out of the shelter of the warm truck, but my curiosity was sparked by the scene playing out before me. Next to the Room at the Inn building was a Porta-Potty, which I later discovered was the bathroom facility for our guests. Out of the Porta-Potty several people exited, all moving quickly, shivering and rubbing their arms indicating the depth of the cold they were experiencing. I couldnt believe how many people I watched come out of the Porta-Potty, so I began to count. Six people who huddled in that Porta-Potty trying to keep warm, passed by me, six, really? How did they all fit in that Porta-Potty I wondered? As I turned my attention back to the Porta-Potty, I saw a woman, probably in her 60s, just a bit older than me exit the Porta-Potty with her dog. Seven people and a dog huddled in a Porta-Potty, in Columbia, Missouri trying to keep warm. It was a scene, I had never observed nor one I would have ever imagined. It was at that moment I realized the severity of the conditions that the homeless face every day. They dont know where they are going to sleep each night. They dont know when they will eat again and they own only what they can carry on their back. I pondered the insurmountable obstacles that those in poverty and homelessness had to conquer to overcome the entrapment of their dire circumstances when their reality is a struggle just to survive. And me, I was a woman who woke up that morning in a warm bed, in a cozy house, who just minutes prior was complaining about her husbands old pick-up truck, there I was stood in front of a Landscaping Nursery converted Room at the Inn a witness to a Porta-Potty experience that has ever since changed my life. I am but one person with a Porta-Potty experience, sharing in the dream of providing shelter, food and resources for those living in poverty. I know that I cant make this dream a reality without the assistance of others, and I ask, please consider supporting CIRC.

Some Days are Like That,

By Dahne Yeager Sometimes people believe I am beyond reason when it comes to my feelings and actions in regards to my association with the workings and dealings of the Interfaith Day Center and it's 'Mission." See, I have one true and most important purpose: to take whoever comes through my door and requests my aid and help them find the resources to meet their need in the Columbia community. Directing a person in need toward the person or agency or organization that can help them cope with whatever blockade they have encountered is a skill that I have taught myself over the years. When someone comes to me for help or advice, I want to minimize-- if not completely eradicate-- the walls that have been thrown up in front of them to hinder their situation. I strive to point them in the right direction in order to ease their mind and relieve the stress that has manifested in their life to the point that they felt compelled to come to me in the first place. That is MY JOB!!!! No one else out there is in a position to do what we can do at the Day Center.. No one else has access to the resources to see to it that their problems can be remedied, so their basic needs can be met. I like doing this. I like helping people find the answers to those problems many of them can see no reason for happening. They come to me scared and alone and clueless. I try to keep them from leaving that way. It's surprising that I don't see more people placing blame on outside influences. "Well if she hadn't been such a b---...." or "It's not my fault that I had to sell that dope to pay the child support". Most of the people who come to ask me for help really and truly are there due to a combination of lack of financial resources and events beyond their control. What I hear most is. "I lost my job and just couldn't afford to keep the apartment on unemployment" or "We were doing O.K. but the baby got sick" or "We missed a months rent and the landlord just wouldn't work with us." These are the people who break my heart. Some of the people who walk through my door have never had to ask for help and are embarrassed to have to do it. I have to take them back into the kitchen so I can really listen to their story and try to gain some semblance of their trust. They need to feel comfortable with the situation in order to reveal extremely personal problems to a complete stranger. During these conversations I learn about their lives, so that hopefully, I can give them some answers, or at least point them in the direction of someone with an answer for them. Meanwhile, we are constantly sharing the tiny kitchen galley with the odd person wandering back there to wash their hands because someone is in the only

bathroom, or to ask whether the mail is in yet, or to beg me for a cigarette. But we have so little space, it cant be helped. Yeah, I get frustrated and sometimes I'm sure it seems that I go off on tangents of one sort or another but remember: this is my job. I love it. I NEED to help these people. It's why the Day Center is here. We are here for the guys who sit around all day, or spend hours with their head down on the table because its just not that easy to sleep in the camps. Were here for the folks who dont have anywhere else to go during the day, because the

shelters are closed until after supper. Were here for the folks waiting to get into treatment, or just getting out of jail, or just trying to figure out how to be homeless in Columbia. And we are here for those desperate souls who come in to ask for help, and once we give it, go back out into the world. Folks we may see for a little while, and then maybe never again. So, I'll take the "Chair Warmers" right along with the ones who leave the place with a lead from the job board, or a list of agencies, or referral slips that will get medicine for their child, or the name of a landlord who is sympathetic in today's economy. I guess what I'm trying to say is if you stop by the Day Center and it seems that I'm just tearing my hair out and screaming about this or that, that underneath it all my focus has not diminished. I know what I'm supposed to do and I'm really trying to do it. Thats this job, being your Resource Center Manager. Thank you for hearing me out. I'll try to keep the complaints to a minimum.

Columbia Interfaith Resource Center Needs

We are in need of the following items, if you would like to make an in-kind donation to our Day Center: Socks-cotton high ankle/ crew; Double edge razors; Bug spray; Suntan lotion; laundry detergent, tea, Duffel bags; Paper plates/Bowls; 33 gallon trash bags or city bag vouchers; Small group to do periodic deep cleaning A facility to move to by fall.

Success after Life on the Street: The Story of Susan

By Ruth ONeill She was a doctors daughter with 4 years of college. Shed been married, had a son, worked in a local bank for several years. She lived on a small farm north of town where she kept and worked with her beloved horses. Then came a car accident, then a protracted divorce proceeding in which each side alleged the other was mentally unfit. Eventually, she was granted primary physical custody of her teen-aged son, sharing legal custody with her ex-husband in a relationship that continues to be acrimonious. She lost the job at the bank, and subsequent jobs didnt pay as well. She took a clerical position at a local hospital, but was laid off after about a year. After that, the only jobs were temp jobs that grew shorter and fewer, with long periods of unemployment in between. Her son graduated, went to college, and grew more distant. Isolated, and often out of work, she couldnt keep up with expenses. Her horses went to live with friends who could better care for them. Her farm went in to foreclosure and she became homeless. She couldnt afford the insurance on her truck so when the tags expired she couldnt get them renewed.

Susan spent some time in sheltered living at the Lois Bryant House. She frequented the Day Center, checking the job board, checking in with people and finding a sense of community there. She eventually landed a long term temporary job in a large chain store. After a few months, she got an apartment close to work, and even obtained a plot in one of the community gardens last summer. She keeps in touch and last month told us that her temp job has become permanent. Now that shes getting back on her feet, Susan still finds time to drop by the Day Center occasionally to check up on the folks she met during her time of homelessness, and sometimes to drop off a donation. In the summer, it might be some fresh veggies from her garden, other times, she may drop by with cookies or snacks to share with the guests at the center. The Columbia Interfaith Resource Center is a place where homeless, near-homeless and at-risk persons are provided support and resources in a loving and dignified manner, to not only comfort and sustain them in a moment of need but also to provide services which will help move them toward a safe, sustainable and selfsufficient life. Not every story has a happy ending, but when we know we have been a part of a persons journey back from homelessness, we can all be glad.

COLUMBIA INTERFAITH RESOURCE CENTER PO Box 272 Columbia 65205