by Eileen Hanson
That’s what the sign on the door says, “All are welcome”, and we mean it. Each weekday from 4pm-7pm, we open the doors of Bethany House to anyone and everyone. (Other times, the house is open to the people, guests and workers, who live there.)
At first, the idea of having certain “open” hours ran counter to my understanding of hospitality. Most times we are able to offer something to those who come, whether we are “open” or not. But having certain times especially intended for ‘drop-in’ hospitality has proved to be a different kind of blessing for Bethany House.
Several years ago, in conversation with a local coalition of churches and service agencies, Bethany House explicitly opened the invitation to our evening meal to anyone in need. Many involved in that discussion wondered whether Winona might be served by something like a ‘soup kitchen’. We had no idea how many people might welcome a home cooked meal, free of charge. As word of the meal trickled out through churches and human service agencies, we began to see new faces around our table. These days, we are regularly seeing about 20 people for dinner, and some nights swell to nearly 30.
The evening meal and ‘open hospitality’ has become a mainstay of life at Bethany House. While we have gone through periods when we have been unable to offer much in the way of overnight hospitality, with the help of friends in the extended community and a host of dedicated volunteer cooks, the evening meal has carried on.
Our afternoon ‘open’ hospitality sets the rhythm of the day, and shapes our week. Weekday afternoons mean making a fresh pot of coffee, setting out some snacks and putting aside the myriad of projects and chores that might need doing in order to simply be present to welcome whoever might drop by.
Over these years, many in the Winona community have come to know Bethany House as a place they can come not just for food or shelter, but for a variety of needs. Some guests pass through only briefly, maybe to take a shower or get a clean pair of socks. Others visit periodically, when the laundromat is out of the budget, or the grocery money runs out before the next check. We offer what we can in pantry food, diapers and hygiene items to anyone that comes.
Being ‘open’ means we are open to whatever, and whomever, the Spirit brings to our door. By just being present, we are able to attend to needs that might not fit within a particular service agency or mandate. When we open the door at 4 o’clock, we never really know what the day might bring. We, and the many wonderful volunteers that join us throughout the week, might be giving wagon rides to a two year old, or talking through a hard day with an exhausted mom, playing dominos with some of the guys, or searching the basement for deodorant or a bottle of shampoo.
One of the deep insights of the Catholic Worker movement is to not just provide food for the hungry, but to break bread with all who are hungry, to recognize that a meal is so much more than the food. Around our table are gathered those whose needs are clearly visible and those who may not recognize their own need. Around the table most evenings are: live-in workers, college student volunteers coming to help and to learn, overnight guests and many former guests of the houses, individuals struggling with mental illness or addictions, guests who might otherwise eat alone in their apartment, friends and core members of the Winona Catholic Worker community, and families and young couples trying to get a foothold on stability.
Our evening meal is in some ways a relic in current American culture. We eat together around the dining room table (now, around two large tables), sharing family style from the common dish. People often remark that it’s like Thanksgiving, everyday!
Just like Thanksgiving, our table is surrounded by many generations. Families with children in a range of ages are now a regular part of Bethany House. One of the great pleasures is seeing the interactions between the children and the guys at the table. As families and men have become ‘regulars’, children have been blessed to have a whole new set of people looking out for them (and encouraging them to eat their vegetables!), and the guys are blessed to share in the life and vitality that children bring to the house.
While single men remain the focus of our overnight hospitality at Bethany House, children and families are now a big part of the life of this house. It is a blessing, but an unexpected one.
Drop-in hospitality and the evening meal have become a central, and increasingly large part of the work we do. We have not reached the point where the house cannot physically accommodate the evening meal. We are not doing anything like a ‘soup line.’ But, we are seeing more and more of the community’s time and resources going toward providing this evening meal and ‘open’ hospitality.
As the days grow shorter and colder, we know that many will come seeking the warmth of community, hospitality and a meal. We are thinking about how to respond to the new shape of hospitality. Six years ago, it seemed only natural to open our meal to anyone in need. That decision has taken us down a winding road to this new place. We are feeling it is time to step back and look at where we are, and discern, together with you, the work this community is called to do in light of our gifts and resources, as well as the needs before us.
We invite you to join us some evening, to come and see for yourself how the Spirit is moving here. Truly, all are welcome.