Unhoused find warm welcome at Fr. Harry Tompson Center

Above: A guest at the Father Harry Tompson Center uses one of the hub’s vital services – large sinks at which the unhoused can shave and brush their teeth. Showers also are available to guests every weekday morning. (Photos by Beth Donze and courtesy of the Harry Tompson Center; all were taken with the permission of guests)

By BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

Jesuit Father Harry Tompson, the late pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in New Orleans, was known for welcoming all who came to his doorstep in search of respite from life on the streets of downtown New Orleans.

Today, 20 years after Father Tompson’s death, that same spirit of active and loving hospitality animates the day shelter established in his name in 2004. The Harry Tompson Center (HTC), part of the four-agency “Rebuild Center” anti-homelessness collaborative nestled behind St. Joseph Church on Tulane Avenue, has been continuing to dispense individualized, life-affirming services to those moving through homelessness, even as the pandemic has made meeting those needs more challenging.

“Instead of (telling the unhoused), ‘You can’t be here panhandling my parishioners,’ Father Harry would say, ‘Why don’t you come in for a juice and a donut?’” said Paisleigh Kelley, communications director, of the center’s founder. “That’s really how we started – it was Father Harry just recognizing a need and saying, ‘You belong here just as much as anybody else does!’”

Provides myriad of services 

Although the pandemic currently prevents the HTC from assisting its pre-pandemic ranks of roughly 250 daily guests, it has gradually been building back its four main pillars of outreach since reopening, post lockdown, in May 2020 – hygiene, hospitality, health and housing.

On the hygiene front, the nonprofit currently provides “first-come, first-served” showers every weekday morning to about 80 individuals at its main location at the Rebuild Center (1803 Gravier St.) and at its satellite location at the VA Community Resource and Referral Center (1530 Gravier St.). The VA site also operates a drop-off laundry service for the unhoused that handles about 50 loads a week. 

Guests have access to restroom facilities and hygiene supplies, such as shampoo, razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste and other personal-care items. The shower stalls, which are completely sanitized between each use, are equipped with a fresh bath towel, washcloth and socks.

“We have our water basins where people can shave, brush their teeth and wash their hands, which we know is so important,” said center director Emily Wain, noting that the daytime haven has provided more than 8,200 showers and over 5,600 hygiene kits since the onset of the pandemic.

Keeping guests connected

Last October, the HTC was able to end its coronavirus-forced relocation to the church parking lot and reopen its large, semi-enclosed courtyard – a plant-decked, “indoor-outdoor” space in which a dozen people at a time can find shelter and warmth, while safely spaced apart, as they await showers, charge their phones in provided electrical outlets and meet with case managers. A small room off the courtyard contains a landline on which guests can make phone calls.

“We have 10 to 12 people a day for the phone,” Wain said. “We give (each caller) about 20 minutes, and then folks who need more time – whether they’re trying to get a hold of Social Security or (contact another service provider) – set up appointments to come back in the afternoon.

“In the midst of craziness, we want to be a space where people feel welcomed and respected,” the director added. “Being that space again for them has been so critical – a space that they know and trust, a safe space for them to come during the day and just be. Obviously, COVID has made that a lot more challenging.”

The center’s mission of showing dignity to the unhoused is evident in a new responsibility it has shouldered since March 2020 – maintaining and stocking nine port-o-lets and two handwashing stations installed by the city outside the HTC’s main location. To fill another gap, the center began distributing clothing, shoes and other supplies on Thursdays, Wain said.

Helping people get off the streets

The HTC also has continued its ministry of helping the unhoused find stable shelter, with three case managers meeting with guests individually in designated outdoor spaces to conduct case management and resource referral. Wain reports that the HTC helped 94 people transition to permanent housing in calendar year 2020, while an additional 20 guests have been guided to stable housing in the first quarter of 2021.

“We’ve also had amazing donor support from the community in terms of in-kind donations – lots of blankets, coats, hats and scarves that we were able to give to our guests,” she said.

The pandemic has proved to be something of a mixed bag in regard to the local homelessness problem, Wain said. During last spring’s lockdown, a big push by UNITY for the Homeless, in alliance with state and local government, moved 600 people off the streets and into hotels, many of whom were able to transition into long-term housing, either independently or with their families.

Unfortunately, new groups of unhoused have emerged over the last year, among them: those who lost jobs and had no savings to fall back on; those who came to New Orleans assuming they could stay with relatives or friends, only to find those households had closed ranks for health reasons; and those who stayed in local hotels after Hurricane Laura and are still in limbo.

Wain said the HTC’s six full-time and two part-time staffers, as well as two full-time volunteers from Americorps and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, are assisted by a mental health counselor who volunteers at the Rebuild Center location twice a week to direct guests to services and talk them through the inevitable tensions created by life on the streets.

“You see people go from being absolutely on edge to being able to walk out of here calmly and well and happy – not just from (the counselor’s) services, but from all of our staff being very patient and understanding of what our guests are facing. We can’t even imagine (their struggles),” Wain said.

On-site COVID testing now on tap

On-site medical care – a vital piece of the HTC’s array of services – has yet to resume, although Wain anticipates its return once its cadre of volunteer doctors and nurses are fully vaccinated and can carve out time to resume doing everything from taking guests’ vital signs to treating common maladies such as skin rashes, insect bites and colds. Wain said her staff tries to fill the gap by connecting guests with primary care and other health providers and helping them arrange telehealth appointments.

On a positive health note, the center became a COVID-19 testing site, in partnership with the nonprofit CORE New Orleans, on March 31 and will continue to provide that service on alternate Wednesdays.

“Also, we really are trying to work every avenue that we can to be a vaccine distribution site,” Wain said. “I feel (the center) would be an ideal spot for multiple reasons. Not only are we a space that people know and trust, we have the space to distribute (the vaccine), and an area where people can wait.”

Until then, the HTC continues helping guests schedule their vaccination appointments.

Continuing priest’s legacy

On April 5, the center launched a yearlong tribute marking the 20th anniversary of the death of Father Tompson, who also served as principal and president of Jesuit High School and founded The Good Shepherd Nativity School. The Father Tompson Legacy Campaign hopes to raise funds traditionally generated by the HTC’s annual spring gala, which was canceled due to the pandemic. That event typically provides a quarter of the center’s annual operating budget, with the remainder coming from government grants, foundation grants and private donations.

The campaign also is asking the public to submit personal stories and photos of Father Tompson – for sharing throughout the year on a web page debuting April 5 at https://www.harrytompsoncenter.org/father-harry-tompson-life-legacy.

“What we’re hoping to do is not only commemorate Father Tompson’s life and legacy, but marry it with our mission – to show that the things that people loved most about him were these little moments, these little kindnesses, where he would give (the unhoused) a wink and a nudge and know their names, make eye contact. He was somebody who invited people in.” Kelley said.

“We feel like Father Harry would be really proud of what we are doing (at the HTC today),” Wain said. “So much of what he did was making people feel special. We (also) want everyone who walks through our doors to feel loved and cared for.”

Stories and photos related to Father Tompson can be sent to Paisleigh Kelley at [email protected]. The campaign welcomes donations to www.harrytompsoncenter.org/donate. Checks can also be made payable to The Father Harry Tompson Center and mailed to its office at 130 Baronne St., New Orleans, LA, 70112.

The Rebuild Center collaborative providing an umbrella of daytime services to the hungry and unhoused also includes: Depaul USA-NOLA (long-term housing solutions); Lantern Light Ministry (morning snack; lunch; grocery distribution to neighborhood residents; mail service; birth certificate, ID, Medicaid assistance and other services); and St. Joseph Church (the Rebuild Center’s home base, which provides its grounds and assists with the food bank).

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