As I am writing this, it is early
November. A community member commented after morning prayer about the beauty of
the intricate frost designs on the windshield of a car. The maple tree outside
Bethany House's front door is quickly shedding its foliage, the brilliant
yellow leaves cascading down and covering our front sidewalk with their
magnificence. Yet as I delight in the beauty of this season, we in Minnesota
know all too well what lies ahead. Those without a roof are panicking, knowing
that campsites and vehicles will soon no longer provide adequate shelter from
winter's harsh conditions.
We are so very blessed to have Bethany
House (for single men) and Dan Corcoran House (for families and single women)
in our Winona community. It is always a privilege to be able to welcome a
stranger asking for housing. The hope of both volunteers and guests is kept
alive by our wider support community who keep the houses running.
We are grateful and humbled by your
sacrifices and outpourings of money, food, meals, hours of service in cleaning,
maintaining, fixing, and let's not forget --- washing dishes! We have been
uplifted by the generosity of time and skills given during last summer's work
week. This year we were able to replace the furnace at the Bethany House. We
also completely gutted and reconstructed my bedroom after an unfortunate
plumbing problem from the upstairs bathroom. And the blessings continued this fall with a successful barn
dance/fundraiser and replacements of desperately needed appliances at the Dan
Corcoran House, thanks to the generosity of our extended community.
We have so many reasons to be grateful
here at our houses of hospitality. Perhaps the most significant change in our
community this year has been the addition of four new live-in community
members, which has allowed us to reopen the Dan Corcoran House. We are blessed
with their commitment, energy, hospitality, and compassion.
Yet the needs of those who come to our
doors are overwhelming. One Monday, not so long ago, we received numerous phone
calls from women, families, and men in desperate situations, all in need of
shelter, food, and friendship. One of those calls was about a single mom with
three young children sleeping in a car. And as the temperatures have dropped,
someone who’s been camping nearby told us of his fear of sleeping outside as
winter approaches. Yes, the need exists right here in our community. We are
grateful when we can help, when a bed or room is available.
Recently we have seen a dramatic
increase in numbers for our evening meal. We are grateful to be able to feed so
many --- again, with your generosity.
As always, we try to be good stewards
of the resources given to us and to live a simple, frugal lifestyle. The
thermostats are turned low to reduce heating costs; we worked at a local
vegetable farm this past summer in exchange for fresh produce; we canned and
froze vegetables and fruit this year; we are now making our own laundry
detergent. We recognize all that is given to us as gift and work hard to keep
our expenses low.
Looking ahead to 2012, our anticipated
needs are the usual high cost of heating both houses during the winter months,
a general increase in expenses with both houses now open, a constant need to
replenish our pantry shelves, and stucco repair and painting of the exterior of
Dan Corcoran House. We also hope to replace some windows in the next year.
Peter Maurin desired “to build a
society where is it easier to be good”. That is also our desire for our houses
of hospitality. Can we count on you this year to help make that happen? We
invite your kindness and compassion to enter our homes and the lives of our
guests through your prayers, friendship, presence, and donations. We rely on
God's providence working through you to keep our doors open. We thank you for
allowing us each day to see the loaves and fish multiply to feed the hungry.