New book: The unhoused are just like you and me

Above: Jessica Lovell, director of Depaul USA-New Orleans, enjoys fellowship with a guest of the Rebuild Center, a Catholic collaborative behind St. Joseph Church in New Orleans that offers a variety of daytime services to the homeless. (All photos courtesy of the Rebuild Center; all images used with the permission of those who are pictured)

“The Rebuild Center is more than a day shelter; it is a place to find community. We pride ourselves in our ability to attend to the needs of our guests, to invite them in, to make them feel safe, and to foster a sense that no matter what their situation, they can find a sense of belonging among people who truly care about their wellbeing.” – excerpted  from “I Need Your Hello: Stories of Hope and Compassion from the Rebuild Center in New Orleans”

BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

At the conclusion of a winter-hat distribution for the homeless a few years ago, a man requested a hat but was told there were no more.

Seeing the man’s disappointment and without a moment of hesitation, another homeless man gave the hat he had just received to the empty-handed stranger, knowing full well that temperatures would soon be dipping into the 30s.

Holy moments such as these play out each weekday at the Catholic collaborative known as the Rebuild Center, a daytime haven nestled behind St. Joseph Church in New Orleans that has been quietly providing life-affirming services to the unsheltered since 2007.

Rebuild Center staffer Vicki Judice found herself witnessing so many acts of radical generosity performed by those living on the margins, she began documenting them on her smartphone and decided to invite her fellow staff and volunteers to pen their own accounts of working one-on-one with the center’s homeless guests.

The results of that endeavor have been compiled into a self-published book called “I Need Your Hello: Stories of Hope and Compassion from the Rebuild Center in New Orleans.” Forty-five inspirational testimonies – including some written by former Rebuild Center guests – challenge the “doom-and-gloom” assessment that many people make of men and women who lack stable housing.

The stories reveal that if provided with a safe and loving environment with wrap-around services, it is possible for even the chronically homeless to regain their sense of purpose and get off the streets for good.

Giving from one’s poverty

“Homelessness can be ended!” writes Judice, who compiled the book as a Rebuild Center fundraiser after spending seven years as executive director of the Harry Tompson Center, part of the four-agency collaborative that provides services at the Rebuild Center.

In one of her own essays in the compilation, Judice admits she is frequently asked by friends how she was able to maintain a sense of hope “in the face of so much sadness and suffering” and knowing that the average age of death of someone living on the streets was just 50. Judice said her positive outlook was built on her encounters with the many generous, tenacious and amazingly good-humored guests who were able to overcome serious challenges, take charge of their health, recognize their gifts, find employment and move into stable housing – just by being given time to regroup.

Judice pays tribute to a Rebuild Center guest named Bobby, who was finally able to move into housing after a sudden job loss exhausted his savings and forced him to live in his van for nearly two years.

When Bobby received the keys to his new place, he got on his knees to thank God “for allowing me to endure,” Judice recalls. The newly-housed Bobby, unaware that it was Giving Tuesday, “strode into the center, glowing with a peaceful, positive energy, delivering a bike that he had purchased for one of the other guests who needed one,” Judice adds. “Bobby taught me the meaning of being a True Giver on Giving Tuesday, despite one’s riches or housing status.”

Book contributor Hal Jefferson looked back on his anxiety-riddled years spent sleeping under bridges and in parks – and suffering multiple assaults in the process. Jefferson said he had jobs “but nowhere to call home” until he found genuine care and fellowship at the Rebuild Center, where “slowly, you begin to take responsibility for yourself” and “stay open to every possibility.”

“My (new apartment) is a five-star suite to me,” Jefferson writes. “No more standing in line for everything. Waiting for showers, waiting to eat, wondering if my name will be called to get into the shelters at all.”

God-given gifts rediscovered, honed

The firsthand accounts show that one’s road to recovery can be sparked by simply having one’s talents recognized. A Rebuild Center guest named Juston Winfield, whose creative side was noticed and nurtured by the Rebuild Center’s art program, recalls being welcomed into the center’s “loving arms” in the midst of his four years on the streets. After receiving assistance with his medical, legal and hygiene needs, he was able to transform his art into a source of income; his work was even accepted for exhibit at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

“I would encourage the wealthier class of people not to treat homeless people badly or disrespectfully, because we are the same,” Winfield reflects. “You could be one hospital bill away from homelessness.”

In the case of a center guest named Cecilia, being given access to a piano proved to be the icebreaker that ultimately led her to enter into permanent housing. As Cecilia opened up at the keyboard, Rebuild Center volunteers learned that one of the things keeping her on the streets was her presumption that her pet cat would not be accepted by a landlord.

“The piano was the opening, the door for Cecilia to reveal more about herself and her needs,” writes contributor Gina Fulton. “God opens the door. I (as a volunteer) have to make a choice. Am I going to keep the door open or close it?”

There, but for the grace of God, go I

The book reminds readers that anyone can be one addiction, one job loss or one familial upheaval away from homelessness.

A graduate of a local Catholic high school, who arrived at the center without shoes and in need of a shower, was “the last person I thought I would see utilizing services we provide to those without homes,” writes volunteer Liam Fitzgerald. “If he  ended up on the streets, this really could happen to anyone.”

In the case of Miles, being detained, handcuffed and jailed by police simply for being in the area of a murder began his downward spiral, while Eileen, forced onto the streets by domestic violence, would continually change her sleeping location – from Duncan Plaza to City Park to the downtown library – to maintain her sense of safety. All the while, Eileen used the Rebuild Center’s shower and laundry services to maintain a neat appearance, telling volunteers it was the only thing that helped her hold onto a sense of “normalcy” – and to ultimately find work and move into permanent housing.

“(Eileen) always believed that the best was yet to come and clung to that hope,” writes contributor Kevin Wilson.

Wrap-around services from four agencies at one location

The book’s easy-to-read, stand-alone stories were culled from those who have worked or have been assisted by one or more of the Rebuild Center’s four non-profit service-providers. Those four ministries – along with a summary of their services – are:

• Depaul USA-NOLA, which focuses on long-term housing solutions for the homeless through short- and longer-term rental assistance, case management and follow up that helps guests locate resources which support their continuing housing stability and wellness.

• Lantern Light, Inc., which provides birth certificate, ID and prescription assistance, notary services, SNAP (Food Stamp) and Medicaid applications assistance, employment assistance, case management, art opportunities, a morning snack and lunch each weekday, a food bank and a mail center that gives the homeless an “address” from which which they can send and receive mail.

• The Harry Tompson Center, which provides on-site hygiene facilities (showers, sinks, restrooms, laundry access, toiletries, socks, shoes, belts, winter coats), phone services, medical and mental health care, case management, housing assistance and legal services.

• St. Joseph Church, the Rebuild Center’s geographical home base, which provides its grounds at no charge and involves parishioners in the center’s mission.

In addition to being an inspirational read for individuals, Judice said the book is tailor-made for book clubs, religious education groups, social justice ministries and high school religion classes. Study guides accommodating both individual and group reflection will be available at the book’s Sept. 21 launch (see event details at the end of this article).

Volunteers often receive more than they give

Because they spend so much of their energy simply trying to survive, those on the margins have much to teach the housed about not “sweating the small stuff,” many of the co-authors argue.

Daughter of Charity Sister Suzanne Anglim recalls being humbled when she learned that a cracked statue of the Blessed Mother – a source of dismay in her mind – was actually helping one Rebuild Center guest cope with his struggles.

“She’s broken and I’m broken,” the guest told Sister Suzanne, pointing to the statue. “And when I need to, I sit with her, and that brings me comfort. That brings me strength.”

Then there is Victor, known for lifting the spirits of his fellow homeless guests with his  “corny, sometimes incomprehensible” jokes, and a large man nicknamed “Tiny,” who holds all his possessions on his back like Santa Claus and tells everyone that he uses his water jugs as barbells to stay fit.

Another homeless guest was overheard proclaiming: “I’m too blessed to be depressed.” 

“I believe that if more people got to know those living on the margins of society, they would see them more as brothers and sisters,” writes Daughter of Charity Sister Kathleen Driscoll. “They are loving. They are welcoming. They are helpful. They are really good people who have just had some bad luck in their lives.”

The public is invited to a Book Launch with light refreshments Sept. 21 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. inside the courtyard of the Rebuild Center. Security and parking will be available in the parking lot of St. Joseph Church, 1802 Tulane Avenue, at the center’s back entrance. At the event, books will be available at the discounted price of $20 and many of the authors will be on hand to sign copies and conduct readings. One of the authors in attendance will be Presentation Sister Vera Butler, the co-founder and former director of Lantern Light, Inc., who is traveling from Texas for the event.

For more information or to RSVP, contact Paisleigh Kelley at [email protected] or call her at (504) 273-5547, ext. 153. Books can also be purchased on Lulu.com for $22.50, with $10 donated to the Rebuild Center for every book purchased. The book is also available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble; however, only $1 per copy purchased at those outlets will be directed to the Rebuild Center.

[email protected]

Pictured below: Vicki Judice, now retired after serving as executive director of the Harry Tompson Center from 2013-20, was the driving force behind the new compilation “I Need Your Hello: Stories of Hope and Compassion from the Rebuild Center in New Orleans.” She is pictured in the Rebuild Center’s sheltered, plant-filled courtyard.