Moment for Mission Archive

Jon: This morning Sheila and I are here to share some personal reflections on what we did this past Friday night. We served as overnight hosts for the Men¹s Shelter, right here in the comfortably appointed basement directly under the sanctuary. For both of us, this was our first experience serving in an overnight shelter, and the first thing that I should say is a huge thank you to Dermonte for setting us up and leading us through the process so smoothly.

According to the Coalition for the Homeless, in New York City there are 36,930 adults and children sleeping each night in shelters and welfare hotels. Over this year, that represents the highest level of homelessness in New York City¹s history. The Rutgers shelter only serves single men, and out of the 6,444 men who bathe, sleep and eat dinner and breakfast each night in some type of shelter, our church building has space for 10. We actually only ended up with 7 guests on Friday.

This sounds like such a drop in the bucket. But I¹ve been thinking about it from a different point of view. I grew up in Auburn, Alabama, which is a little college town between Montgomery and Atlanta, and in Auburn we might have had between zero and 5 people visibly living on the streets on any given day. (This is from my admittedly limited perspective as a kid.) So when I think about it that way, Sheila and I were able to welcome the equivalent to the entire homeless population of both Auburn AND Opelika, Alabama, last Friday.

They¹re a diverse group of men, some of whom are here regularly, and they expressed a heartfelt appreciation for what we do here. At least one of the guys is about the age I was when I got my first apartment, and from what I gathered talking to him, he¹s bright, sweet, and trying to get his act together. He just had a need that we were able to meet, if only for a little while.

Sheila: When Jon and I agreed to do this Moment for Mission, we were both enthusiastic, but when we sat down to write, we found that we couldn't settle on a single approach, a single voice. He has given you some of the statistics, more of which can be found on the Coalition for the Homeless web site. I couldn¹t get past my initial thought, which was to give you the top ten reasons why you too should volunteer at the shelter. So, with the same spirit of levity as the Letterman show (but unfortunately without the staff of talented writers) here are my Top Ten Reasons to Volunteer at the Rutgers Shelter:

#10
Unless you are a professional chef, it is the biggest stove you will ever get a chance to cook dinner on in your life.

#9
If you have young children (that you¹ve left at home with a relative) it¹s really just a nice quiet night out with your partner.

#8
Despite what he may tell you, Dermonte really does deserve to sleep in his own home on a Friday or Sunday night, at least once in a while.

#7
The roll-a-way beds are surprisingly comfortable.

#6
The cell phone reception is just fine.

#5
The window glass in the Blue Room is surprisingly soundproof. (I only heard Jon snoring.)

#4
In real estate terms, there is more marble in the private Blue Room bathroom suite than in mine at home.

#3
With the 5:30 wake-up call on Saturday morning, this feels like a three-day weekend!

#2
Now that I¹ve done it, I won¹t suffer those nasty pangs of guilt when Dr. Shafer asks for volunteers.

And the Number One reason why I worked at the Rutgers Shelter: I really wanted to. Seriously, it is so easy to do and there was no real reason not to do it. So after the second time that Dr. Shafer implored us to volunteer from the pulpit, I finally did what I had been meaning to do: I spoke to Dermonte that week to get a little orientation and see what was really involved, I recruited my father to come stay with the kids, and I signed up for a night. Now that we¹ve done it, I see that my reservations - maybe some of the same reservations you may have - were really not fear of the experience, but fear of the unknown.