The Welcome Ministry Newsletter November 2004

Welcome Ministry Helps Three People Find Housing

Below are some examples of Welcome Ministry October 2004 successes in helping needy people who come to the door of Old First. The three stories are typical of director Megan Rohrer’s work with our homeless and low-income neighbors.

Barbara, 18, a guest of the Welcome Center for over three years, decided on her birthday that she was tired of being controlled by her drug addiction and that she wanted to move off of the streets. Long estranged from her family, Barbara did not know how to begin the road to recovery. After counseling Barbara and encouraging her to make healthy life decisions, Megan helped her contact her parents. She also counseled Barbara’s parents to help them try to safely support Barbara. Megan facilitated an acceptable arrangement that worked for Barbara and her parents. Barbara’s parents agreed to pay for Barbara to stay in an SRO room to “get sober.” She is building trust with her family by sending them receipts to show that she is making good choices. Soon, Barbara plans to move home with her parents, attend support groups and re-enroll in school.

Ed, 56, was disabled, mute and homeless. After Megan helped Ed apply for and receive Social Security benefits, he was able to save enough money to afford his own apartment and open a bank account. Megan made several phone calls to Ed’s family to let them know about his progress. Later, it was agreed that Ed would move to the city where his parents live. Megan helped Ed find an apartment near his parent’s home, buy a train ticket and prepare for the trip (how much money to take, how to pack, and be sure he had enough paper to communicate with people). On the day of his departure Megan took Ed to the train station, made sure he got on the train and called his family to confirm that they would pick him up.

Shirley, 66, a low-income senior came to the Welcome Center when she moved to San Francisco and could not find any housing that she could afford. Shirley had stayed in a shelter the night before and she refused to go back. Before coming to the Welcome Center, Shirley had been to three agencies that informed her that the waiting list for housing was over three years long. Megan told Shirley about organizations that focused on working with seniors and let her know that if she told them that she was currently living in a shelter, she would be moved to the top of the list some buildings that Megan knew about. Megan called the buildings and got Shirley an appointment. Shirley came back later and told Megan she was able to get into housing within there days.

The Non-Rummage Sale

Instead of having a large event this fall, the Welcome Ministry has decided to host another Non-Event. Instead of hosting a bingo party, we request that our supporters and volunteers support the Welcome Ministry by helping us not have a rummage sale. The time we save not sorting through donations and pricing items, we will use to work on grant writing and to focus on community issues. For those of you who would like to support the work of the Welcome Ministry and would also like not to come to our rummage sale. I hope that you will consider making a donation to the Welcome Ministry. For those who live in the San Francisco area and would like to do some fall cleaning to get rid of their junk for our non-rummage sale, please donate your items to the Community Thrift Store on 623 Valencia (415-861-4910) in the name of the Welcome Ministry #197. The profit from the sale of your donated items will be given to the Welcome Ministry. The Thrift Store will pick up large furniture items and boxes and bags (in excess of 20) Sunday through Thursday. You may bring donations to the Thrift Store anytime of the year and they will give you a receipt so you can deduct your donations from your taxes (at the door or with pick-up). If you have questions or comments about the rummage sale that we will not be having, contact: megan@oldfirst.org

Neighborhood Homelessness Forums:

If you would like to read the full minutes of the Neighborhood Homelessness Forums, check out the minutes posted on our website: http://welcomeministry.blogspot.com/

In the last month I have meet with 6 city officials including: the Mayors Office on Neighborhood Issues, the Department of Public Works, the Department of Health and Human Service, and Supervisor Aaron Peskin. I listened to more than 80 neighbors’ comments and concerns about the homeless in our community. I met with the board of directors of the Welcome Ministry and the Session of Old First Presbyterian Church. I met with the members of Old First at a Congregational Meeting. I met with more than 7 colleagues who work with the homeless and hungry to share comments ideas about how we can work together to work on the issues of homelessness in our area. I preached 4 sermons. I slept on the street in front of the church every night for a week with some Welcome Ministry Volunteers.

At the same time that I have been listening to the comments and concerns of our homeless and hungry friends and I have discovered that some of their needs are remarkably similar.

Needs of the Housed	Needs of the Homeless
*Not to see the homeless	*Not to appear homeless (be able to shower, store sleeping stuff during the day, change clothing, to have somewhere to go, etc)
*Not have people defecate/urinate on the sidewalks and on their property	*To have a bathroom, so they do not have to defecate/urinate on the sidewalks or on other people’s property
*To have quite streets at night	*To have quite streets at night
*To have clean sidewalks and neighborhoods	*To have clean sidewalks and neighborhoods
*To get the homeless into permanent supportive housing	*Some homeless what to get into permanent supportive housing
*Not to see illegal activities on the street	*Some homeless want to be able to get into detox, to be able to afford methadone, to not have to be a sex worker to get basic goods and services. Some homeless are angry about illegal activities and try to stop them in their neighborhood.

The neighbors are reminding us at the homelessness forum that these problems are not going away, in fact they are worsening. Old First needs to show its neighbors that we care about all of our neighbors (housed and unhoused).

The Welcome Ministry is committed to the following actions:

1. Posting the following policy on our front door:

Homeless Neighbors

“Please do not sleep on the sidewalk or in the doorways next to

Old First Church or the Old First Garage.

Please help keep the sidewalks clean and free of debris.”

2. Organize a neighborhood cleaning group to clean the sidewalks twice a month in front of the buildings of neighbors who feel they are affected by ministry of Old First. The Department of Public Works (DPW) will help us by steam cleaning the streets and providing us with tools.
3. Call the police when we see illegal activity in front of the church.
4. Continue to help our homeless friends become self-sustaining individuals through the work of the Welcome Ministry.
5. Seek to find a place for our homeless and hungry friends to use a bathroom (possibly in a drop-in center) and store carts.
6. Work to help our homeless friends get into supportive housing.
7. Continue to listen to the thoughts and concerns our neighbors (housed and unhoused).

For more information see: www.oldfirst.org/welcomeministry

under resources click “neighbors.”

Joyous News from the Director

I am excited to announce that I will be getting married on July 4^th in San Francisco to Sage Serene Currie. Sage is currently a student with me at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley and will be ordained in the Swedenborgen Church the weekend after our wedding. Friends, volunteers and homeless guests of the Welcome Ministry are welcome to join us on July 4^th for our wedding.