Another week and seems that so much has happened. I have made contact with Caritas of Austin. It is a non-profit organization for the poor. I’m asking them questions and it seems like they have a lot of good answers. They definitely have a lot more time and experience than I do. I met Jo Kathleen who is head of a housing initiative for poor and homeless. She was great to talk to and very knowledgeable. She told me that they provide housing for chronic homelessness, which is anyone who has been homeless for more than a year and has a disability. That is Terry. I was so excited. I could wait to bring Terry the good news that we could get him off the street and into a warm bed. However, when I mentioned Caritas he wasn’t as excited. For whatever reason, all of them have a bad opinion about Caritas. I need to bring this up with Jo. My guys tell me that Caritas really isn’t interested in helping. Whether that is true or not (I’m inclined to think that it is partially true, I have a bad opinion of social workers myself) is not the point. The point is that for whatever reason Caritas, much like the modern church, has a bad reputation which hinders their ability to care for the poor. In my opinion the onus of responsibility is on Caritas, and the church, to push past the reputation and prove through action that they are here to help. This is what I intend to bring up with Jo tomorrow.
On another note, I took the guys a loaf of bread and some sandwich meat. Lisa and I also got Terry some thick warm socks and a new pair of shoes. Well, it turns out the shoes are too small, but he was so touched by the gesture. We began to talk about the gospel, and that was good for both of us. I was so moved by is optimism about how God continues to bless him. My guess is, I’m going to learn a lot about God from Terry. Perhaps more than I will from my books. Ha.
No comments:
Post a Comment