Chez Hope, Etc.

Etc.
Minnesota left yesterday, pretty much in a multi-car parade. It is unusual to have the Sager Brown Campus populated by the UMC (United Methodist Church) short term volunteers from one state. I will miss them as most stayed two weeks and they had become friends by the time they left. A big (30+) group from Tennessee, a smaller group from Iowa and some others come in tomorrow and it will be back to relying on name tags again. Another adventure awaits.
Monday of last week was MLK Day. Baldwin, like most other towns in the state, had a people's march with a church service afterwards. A good number of USB (UMCOR Sager Brown) volunteers walked with the local ROTC leading the way, from one Baptist church to another. The music at the service was stirring, as you might guess, beginning with "Lift Every Voice and Sing" and ending with "We Shall Overcome".
A few of us went to Shucks in Abbeville for seafood dinner (great crab cakes!) on Wednesday (USB afternoon off from work to allow sightseeing and eating in the area). Last night we went to Landry's in New Iberia for 'Gerald Thibodeaux and Cajun Accent' zydeco music (wonderful--accordion and all!) and buffet last night. The salads/salad bars here are chopped, usually white, iceberg lettuce, tomato slices and shredded carrots; their hearts just aren't really in it. The other food, on the other hand, mostly fried...Oh, my! I had the best fried chicken yesterday that I have ever tasted.
Last week, our Vespers Service was mostly song. The tenors, baritones and basses were amazing! One of the MN volunteers is fluent in American Sign Language and taught a choir to
sign "Jesus Loves Me".
This week we will do a monthly distribution of 650-700 boxes of food to local seniors on Wednesday morning. Apparently the Campus becomes a zoo. I can hardly wait.

Chez Hope
This House of Hope is an interesting and colorful place. The area domestic violence shelter for women and children used to be housed in what is now the administration building on the USB Campus, but is now run out of a historic hotel next door in Franklin. It was quite the destination in the late 1800s and early 1900s. So much so that movie star Greta Garbo stayed there and caused quite a stir in the neighborhood when she was caught skinny-dipping in the hotel pool with a female companion. Her picture still hangs over the front desk. Chez Hope, like most non-profits these days, is run on a shoestring budget. It begs for and receives donations, mostly from the community, to supplement a meager grant from the state. USB short term volunteers tour on Wednesday mornings (Thursday this week, because of food distribution) and work in My Sister's Closet, a second hand clothing center for residents, since many of them escape with only the clothes on their backs. The front, all-purpose, meeting room is decorated for Mardi Gras. The Christmas tree, like most in the area, has been transformed into a vision of purple and gold, with beads, masks and netting covering it's branches. The Director loves hats, so there are bright, unique, donated hats everywhere. There are quilts for an upcoming raffle and t-shirts that say "Hands are Not for Hitting" for sale, an ongoing fundraiser. There are offices, an intake room, children's play room, kitchen and pantry with three freezers downstairs. Upstairs there are three emergency apartments with more in an adjacent building out back. The Shelter can accommodate thirty people, with support facilities close by. Sometimes Chez Hope is empty in the morning and full by midnight. As well as the apartments and My Sister's Closet in the adjacent building, there is a children's and teen center, full of bright-colored toys, games and craft projects and materials. Miss Ida is the children's advocate who staffs and watches over the children's program. She has a bright smile and contagious enthusiasm. Last week, USB volunteers found a brand new, donated air hockey game with broken legs lying unusable in the teen center. Some of our men and women devised a way to fix the legs, drove over to Chez Hope with the repaired parts, assembled and installed it. By nightfall, Miss Ida called to say the kids had already played their first games. USB: Serving the world and serving the community, a dynamite combination, aptly illustrated at Chez Hope.