CRANSTON — When the Breadlines volunteers arrive at Harrington Hall at dusk, they are greeted by the temporary shelter’s residents like they were old friends. Several men come outside to help the volunteers carry food and beverages. For many of these homeless individuals, it will be their first meal of the day.
Once the volunteers begin to serve, some men jump up from their cots and patiently wait in line for food, while others ask about warm socks and toiletries. One young man, Jose, quietly thanked the volunteers in halting English and took a cup of spaghetti and meatballs and a slice of cake and found a seat in the crowded auditorium.
“I don’t have a place, and I’m looking for a job, said the 21 year-old man, a native of Guatemala who has lived in the United States for a year-and-a-half. He added that he has few friends in the area — none of whom can offer financial support — and his family is in New Jersey.
Jose travels to Providence every morning by bus with the other homeless men, and spends each day looking for work, but he said
he’s had difficulty because of his limited English proficiency. He checks his e-mail at the public library, where he likes to pass the time doing pencil sketches, before heading back to the shelter at night.
“I like to draw,” he noted. “I don’t do drugs. When I have money, I go buy food. When the church groups don’t come, we have no food.”
Mikeal Powell, a parishioner of Sacred Heart Church, Pawtucket, and a professor of design at
Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, said that volunteering in the Breadlines program is personally rewarding.
“It’s a lot of work, but it completes the week,” he admitted. “?I get a benefit — a good tired — from doing it.”
Fellow volunteer Steve Perry, a member of St. Luke Church, Barrington, agreed.
“I get much more out of it than these people possibly do,” he said.
While the shelter residents ate,
they were serenaded by Breadlines volunteer Mark Hamel, also a member of Sacred Heart Parish.
“I love to sing,” he said, laughing, after he belted out an Irish ballad in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.
“I found out about this program after my brother Jack died, and I wanted to keep his memory alive,” Hamel said. “When these people say ‘thank you,’ it comes from their heart. You can’t explain it. You have to be here.”
Hamel, a nurse employed by the Visiting Nurse Association of Rhode Island, stated that by volunteering, he is putting his faith into practice.
“This is the best thing I can do in my life,” he continued. “It’s my way of giving back because I feel very blessed in my life. To me, it’s living the Gospel.”
Anne Pari, one of the Breadlines organizers, added that without the support of parishes and school groups which donate food or clothing, or raise funds to purchase essentials, the outreach program could not survive, and the more than 150 men and women who depend on Breadlines every other Friday night would go hungry.
“We rely on donations,” she said, adding that Our Lady of Loreto Parish, East Providence, held a successful “And You Kept Me Warm” clothing drive this past winter in which parishioners donated blankets, jackets, coats, warm clothing and toiletries. During Advent, students at St. Margaret School, East Providence raised $2,234 to benefit Breadlines.
According to Carleen McCoy, coordinator of the school’s Extended Day Program, students in the program wrote letters to sports celebrities seeking autographed memorabilia, and sought donations from local merchants, restaurants, parents and parishioners. Raffles were held for 12 school days prior to Christmas break.
Two school-wide dress-down days were also held, and a group of students sold decorated Christmas wreaths after Masses one weekend.
Pari visited St. Margaret’s and spoke about the plight of the homeless, and told the students about the people who Breadlines nourishes, both physically and emotionally, in Providence and Cranston. The students also read books about homelessness as they completed their Advent project.
“It’s amazing what Anne and the volunteers do,” McCoy said, noting that she tells her students that anyone could lose their job and quickly become homeless.
While some volunteers serve regularly, others like Karen Previte, a founder of Breadlines and a member of Mary, Mother of Mankind Parish, North Providence, help out when they can find time in their busy schedule.
To volunteer with Breadlines or for more information, call Pari at 437-1557.
