Blog

April 27, 2010

Gratefully Ousted

Filed under: Park Slope, Volunteer Opportunity — admin @ 7:31 am

Gratefully ousted.

There’s really no other way to describe it. After nearly four years of visiting the Helping Hands food pantry every month, to answer questions about food stamps, housing and anything else under the sun we might be asked, I’ve been ousted by two Brooklyn Jubilee volunteers.

Last month, when I appeared at the pantry to serve with the Brooklyn Jubilee volunteers, both Marcey and Katie asked me, “Why are you here?”

I was not off-put by their declaration of my dispensability. I was thrilled! What followed was a thoughtful, and exciting discussion about their commitment to serve the patrons of the Helping Hands food pantry every month, and to work closely with me and Jackie (our Volunteer Coordinator) as they become Site Leaders in Park Slope.

The program model has always envisioned committed volunteers taking over leadership of established sites where we serve, freeing program staff for the challenging work of breaking new ground elsewhere in Brooklyn.  And yet, it is understandably very difficult for most people to make the time to volunteer in any capacity, let alone to make the profound commitment to lead some portion of any ministry on a volunteer basis. What a great joy it is to see their faithfulness to serve their neighbors! And what a blessing to me to have a Saturday off!

Please be praying for Marcey and Katie as they  weave this new commitment into the fabric of their very full lives and busy legal careers, for their sustained joy and enthusiasm in this ministry.

~Sandhya

April 16, 2010

Brooklyn’s Homeless

Filed under: Affordable Housing, Client Stories, Homelessness, Park Slope — Tags: , , — admin @ 7:56 am

To the residents of Park Slope, being named the #1 neighborhood in the city may not have come as any big surprise.  What may surprise many is knowing that there are homeless people living in the Slope every day.

I met a couple of gentlemen recently who are active members of Old First Reformed Church, but have no stable home to sleep in each night. They’ve been waiting for Section 8 housing to come through for over  a year now, and their efforts to connect to city services (with lots of loving help from the Old First pastor Meeter and other members) have so far been unsuccessful.  I spoke with them, talked to them about some of the options they may not have considered, like public housing, so they put in a public housing application, but that could also be many years of waiting, even for two homeless gentlemen.

Part of the problem is the city policy of distinguishing between “street homeless” and people like these two fellows I met, who manage to keep off the streets each night but have no permanent place to stay. For example, one fellow in the Slope raises enough money each day panhandling so he can buy a bed night by night in a rooming house. It’s not his apartment. He can’t stay there during the day or keep things. He just has a place to sleep at night. If he’s not found on the street, city “outreach teams” won’t assist him. His only other option is to take himself to central intake in mid-town Manhattan, to enter the “Wheel” of the city shelter system.

Many homeless persons fear the shelter system (not unreasonably) for safety concerns. It’s also an exhausting process, requiring them to  shuttle around the city from central intake to a remote shelter placement and back, often in the wee hours of the morning.

This week, Reverend Meeter, Brian Steadman, members of Old First, and I met with city council members Brad Lander and Steve Levin to talk about our concerns for the needs of the homeless in general, and for the two homeless gentlemen attending Old First in particular. The council members were kind and empathetic, and promised to look into our concerns. Stay tuned…

~Sandhya

Starting Again

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 7:26 am

After a long hiatus from blogging, I’m (Sandhya) trying to get back to posting regularly. Inhibited by the need to present neat stories, with a beginning, middle, and triumphant end, I just didn’t post at all. Community service is messy, and the stories do not end neatly. Encouraged by my friend Michelle to write the stories as they unfold, I will start again. The stories will hopefully reveal more of the day-to-day struggle, both the victories and losses, for a tiny non-profit attempting to serve God by serving our community.

~Sandhya