Features Department: 252-6180

1C
August 2, 1997

Churches working to help homeless

Network of Shelter
churches would
provide housing
d lr~ctor
·
By Todd R. Svanoe
Wisconsin State Journal pralses
Madison
ment
joining a national move-
tochurches are
provide tempo-
proposal
rary housing for homeless Noone has to tell Les Strom
families. that traditional welfare didn't
The Interf?Ah HosRit<illtY- work.
.Network. would bring together As director of Transitional
more than a dozen local Housing Inc. and Madison's larg-
churches to share the responsi- est homeless shelter at Grace
bility of accommodating families Episcopal Church, 116 W. Wash-
who have no place to stay. ington Ave., he is intimately ac-
"We're asking 13 Madison quainted with the people it
failed.
congregations to open their But neither is the "one size fits
church doors and convert exist-
all" Wisconsin Works welfare
ing space to overnight housing," program adequate to address the
said the Rev. Harvey Peters, sen- range of needs of the poor, he
ior pastor of Madison's Luther says.
Memorial Church.
That's why Strom is enthusias-
IVf.as:!
ison:s.lnterfai th.Hospi tal- tic about the Interfaith Hospital-
ity Network would be similar to ity Network. "Only the diverse
networks set up in 71 cities na- assets of the community offaith
tionwide that have helped 30,000 will provide the backup help
people since 1988, says New Jer- we'll need in September when W-
sey founder Karen Olson. 2 becomes official.
For one week about every "I think you'll be surprised
three months a church would be- how many people will want to
come an after-hours home to a sponsor this effort," Strom told
homeless family. From 5 p.m. to lay leaders recently. "People in
7 a.m. a family would eat and Madison are concerned about the
c-1a.ar\. 1)+ tho. nhH~nh A ;C>'h;r.~
1"'\.""' .•..• hl'\mCllcl.(~C' "
 ner also would sleep over during
that time.
A social worker, hired by the
network, would be responsible
for screening homeless candi-
dates - no substance abuse, for
example - and supervise a sepa-
rate day site from which the chil-
dren would go to school and
parents would go to work or con-
tinue their search for jobs and
housing.
"This is not just a housing
program," Peters told lay leaders
gathered recently at Lake Edge
United Church of Christ. "The
goal is to move these families as
quickly as possible toward self-
sufficiency. "
Peters, who participated in
the nation's first Hospitality Net-·
work while living in Summit,
N.J., has introduced the model to
Madison churches in four meet-
ings since April.
Volunteers from St. Dunstan's
Episcopal, Mount Olive Lu-
theran, Lake Edge United
Church of Christ and Luther Me- the YWCA, 101 E. Mifflin 81. Families such as Jackson's would be served by the Interfaith Hospitality Network,
morial are leading the effort to
build the network with inter-
ested churches, to secure a day
site and to obtain a van.
A network would serve three
to five families at a time - the
maximum number a van will
transport to and from the day
site. A "buddy church" would
join a host church on a given
week, providing volunteers to set Mount Olive Lutheran Church,
up network-provided cots, supply participating together in our
supper and breakfast, and sleep
overnight.
''I'm fascinated with the
. least 13 churches
model," said Susan Quigley, out-
reach coordinator at Bethel Lu-
theran Church. "I'm especially
excited about how it would en-
gage people in issues of public
policy regarding affordable hous- Interfaith HosRitality Network
ing."
Cheryl Horne, director of
Alesia Jackson, 35, along with her daughter and grandson, await an interview with a social worker this week at
which helps families - the most rapidly growing population of homeless people.
human concerns at Our Lady
Queen of Peace Catholic Church, hand, individuals and congrega-
found herself sitting next to two
members of a neighboring
church at the organizational
meeting.
"I'd like to explore the possi-
bility of a partnership with
neighborhood," she said.
Organizers hope to draw in at
and to have
$39,000budgeted to kick off the
program by Sept. 29.
"Volunteers are at the heart
of the network program," wrote
ill
founder Karen Olson a letter
to the Mad~isonnetwork. "Seeing
the face of homelessness first-
tions are motivated to create
other initiatives."
Jesse Davis, who helps man-
age anEau Claire network estab- like for the families to have their
lished in 1995, confirms this.
After filling in for a week of over-
night shifts, she became attached
to one family in particular, she
says. "Now they know I'll baby-·
sit whenever they need me."
The Eau Claire network
served 54 families in 1996.It has
a full~time director, Davis, and a
part-time staff member. Its an-
nual budget is $66,000,which is
now generated by contributions
and a state grant.
While Davis' experience with
the network has been positive,
Sta1e Journal photo/JOSEPH W. JACKSON III
she says at times she has reserva-
tions about the daily shuffling
the model requires from the host
church to the day site and back.
"I think about what it must be
lives so scheduled out."
Paul Ashe, director of the
meal program at Luke House and
the St. Paul's Catholic Center in
Madison, agrees. "Nobody asks
the poor what they want," he
says. "That's what being poor
means: losing your choices."
But Madison network core
group member Gail Loder of St.
Dunstan's Episcopal sees it dif-
ferently. "To me, it's like getting
up and going to work every day. I
do that and I don't find it very
disruptive. It's better than being
on the streets."
Strom should know.
Transitional Housing has a da-
tabase of 1,500volunteers from 50
churches in Madison who will
serve at the Transitional Housing
homeless shelter this year alone.
Even more serve the meal pro-
gram at Luke House and St.
Paul's Catholic Church, according
to its director, Paul Ashe.
"It's the best-kept secret in
Madison," says Strom. The volun-
teer commitment is so strong that
when a visiting church youth
group from Milwaukee asked to
prepare and serve a meal at the
shelter this summer, the sched-
uled church refused to give up
their night. "Being involved was
that important to them."
In fact, because the Interfaith
Hospitality Network would serve
the nation's most rapidly growing
population of homeless people-
families of mostly women and
children - some expect it to at-
tract a greater number offemale
volunteers.
"It appeals to women because
it's families and it's in our own
church neighborhood," says Su
Scheuerman of Lake Edge United
Church of Christ, 4200 Buckeye
Road.
There will be more opportu-
nity and need for nurturing, she
says. "You can get right in there
and pick up a baby."
But while such volunteerism
may bode well for the network's
future, lay leaders warn against a
Please see DIRECTOR, Page 6C
For information
about how you can
get involved in or to
view a video about the Inter-
faIthR~itality. Networ:!5, call
Laura at 238-4386 or Gail at
238-7738.