For me SAFE HARBOR did not just start last year and end, then start up again this year and now that our week is done it is over. Marian asked me to be involved just for one evening last year to serve dinner or just come visit, I kept putting her off and saying no, she kept bugging me and telling me it was something she knew I would be good at. I didn’t think I could do it for two reasons, One, I really didn’t want to, I was just thinking "Ooohhhh Marian not something else" and the 2nd was that I had a cousin in GR who was homeless and stayed in the shelters during the winter months and it felt a little too close to the heart. Well, Jerry went to the shelter in the evening; he was very inebriated, went to the wrong door of the shelter and couldn’t get in. He fell asleep in his wheel chair and he died of exposure that night. That day I showed up at Church to help Marian…and came back every night. I knew it was something that was meant for me to do, I have a great need in me to help people and this was it, and I love every single minute of it. I met people and heard some of their stories, some of them previous owners of large companies, and because of illness or tragedy in their family lost everything because of money and the system not working in helping them out. People that never fathomed in their life that they themselves would be in the position of being homeless and in need of someone else’s help. Last winter I got to know every single one of those people by name and face. And over the summer I saw a couple of them here and there, but I constantly wondered where they were, how they were eating, if they were sleeping somewhere out of the elements. This fall when we started putting things together again for SAFE HARBOR, I learned that Norm’s family had taken him in this fall in Midland, Hobo Don went to Marquette where he knew someone, and those of you who served last year I am sure remember Louie, he just got out of jail for stiffing a pizza guy, because he was hungry, but is now clean and with help has disability coming in and also has an apartment of his own. I also learned that two of the women, Eddie and Kat, who I got to know very well both died this summer. One from an illness another who just couldn’t do this any more. And this year, on November 10th when we opened our doors again to the homeless people of our community I saw all those same faces and names that I knew, and unfortunately many new ones. Monday morning I woke up and could not speak, I know, Joy for everyone who knows me, I heard it all week long. But every night I would come in, look around, and wish there was more I could do, wish I had the means to buy them all warm clothes or give them there own place to stay. We had a woman from another church who bought new cots for everyone to sleep on this year, and new blankets because last year we ran out. When we ran low on blankets on Monday night I called Rich Tomey, who works for good will, and told him we might already need more blankets, he said the Super 8 motel just brought in bags of them and he would drop them off, I said "thank you so much Rich" he said " It’s not me, it’s God" He came back again that night because he had a lady buy a garbage bag full of ski gloves and asked him to bring it to the safe harbor location , again I thanked him and he said "It’s not me, it’s God". Wednesday he came and asked to get every ones shoe size because another Lady had called and said if we could get everyone’s shoe size, she could get new winter boots for everyone. I thanked Rich and he said, "It’s not me, it’s God" Thursday my voice was sort of coming back to me, Betty came up to me and said, "I am glad you are getting your voice back, I’ve been praying for you". Liz came up to me and said " I am glad you are getting your voice back, I’ve been praying for you". Doug came up to me and said, "Too bad your voice is coming back, but I have been praying for you", then Dan said it, and another one, all evening I heard this. On Friday, Rich came in with boxes of winter boots and extra ones, just in case. I started to thank him, but stopped myself, and said "I know, God did it". Before I left that night Betty and Liz called Julie and I over and gave us a card, it Thanked all of us for what we had provided that week for them, and it was signed by everyone of them, and it said "God Bless You". That night as I lay in my own bed, with my own blankets, in my own home, I thought to myself "it‘s God". And I thought about all these people who have virtually nothing, who had been praying all week for God to Bless ME. And of course, I cried.
Jennifer B.
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