by Peggy Lynch
The day after Christmas, 2019, a day when many celebrate the birth of a homeless child, a social mediate site for Ann Arbor townies posted this question: “Would you ever open your home to a homeless person?” Forty-eight comments later, administrators closed the post’s comments. My take on these comments is that most people answered “yes,” “no” or “if I knew the homeless person.”
That last answer – “if I knew the homeless person” – goes to heart of what we at Mercy House and the non-profit MISSION do. We seek to build community, both among those experiencing, as well as our wider community, in part by creating opportunities for us to get to know each other. In the spirit of community building, we invite you to one of our many opportunities for getting to know others, including neighbors experiencing homelessness.
For example, for nearly ten years MISSION has hosted a Sunday dinner and meeting for the homeless community. Local faith communities and others provide dinner, and participate in relationship and community building. MISSION’s Sunday dinner provides an opportunity to meet each other, a first step in community building. You are welcome to join us on Sundays.
Additionally, six winters ago, the Mercy House and wider homeless community collaborated with local faith communities such as St. Mary Student Parish, First Baptist, First Congregational and others, as well as the Shelter Association, to launch a democratically self-governed day time warming shelter. Our day shelter has grown, while rotating from church to church throughout the winter. Sherri Wander and Seth Best, long time community leaders, facilitate the winter day time shelter.
Speaking of Sheri Wander, she and others recently celebrated the first anniversary of Peace House Ypsi, another house of hospitality in the traditions of Dorothy Day and Jane Addams, like Mercy House Ann Arbor. Peace House Ypsi builds and extends our community, while working to meet the humanitarian aid needs of its friends and neighbors.
After receiving many emergency shelter requests from families with school age children, we also started a fund, which collaborates with the Ann Arbor Public Schools. The fund pays for short term emergency hotel stays for families with children in the Ann Arbor Public Schools. This fund mitigates the trauma of homeless otherwise experienced by children and their families. The demand for emergency hotel stays is great and we need donations to this fund.
In this time of fear, anger and division, we each have the power and responsibility to choose. We do not have to choose fear, isolation and division. We can choose community, conversation and hospitality. Mercy House and MISSION invite you to get to know your neighbors – those experiencing homelessness and others – and work with us to choose community. You can contact Mercy House on Facebook. You can contact MISSION through MISSIONA2.org.
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