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Dear Resurrection House Family

If you are reading this, you most likely have what the United States Postal Service calls a “permanent address” where this very newsletter was mailed or forwarded, and you probably enjoy daily at least a modicum of what are commonly call creature comforts – a nice television, Wi-Fi, plenty of food in the refrigerator, and air-conditioning, for example. (This is all probably still true, even if you had some storm damage and were recently forced into a temporary setting.)

I have been recently reflecting on what we really mean when we use the word “home.” Home is way more than just where we lay our heads at night; home is a powerful metaphor indicative of deeper things. When someone says, “I can’t wait to get home,” he or she is talking about way more than just slipping into comfy clothes and watching Netflix. She means that home is defined by calm, comfort, and peace. “A home is a man’s castle” is an old English idiom that means we expect to feel most ourselves and most secure within the four walls of our own house. Winston Churchill went further, saying, “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” (I am convinced Churchill must also have been thinking about how discombobulated I feel the first night on a trip staying in a hotel while trying to find
the bathroom in the dark!)

Imagine, however, you had no home whatsoever. Where would you find security, comfort, and peace if you
were homeless?

For many in our own beloved community, Resurrection House is, quite literally, their only construct of home, literal and metaphorical. The persons whom we serve, by the way, aren’t dropouts from Mars or Venus; they are fellow human beings just like you and me. They were created in, and still bear, the image of Almighty God. And Resurrection House is where they get a home-cooked meal, see the only friendly faces of the day, take a shower, do laundry and more.

As you look after and care about your own home after the storms, will you please, please consider looking after Resurrection House, too? It is not a cliché to say we cannot do this holy work without you. Would you consider digging deep this year-end, if you can, and make a first-time or another gift to Resurrection House?

Let me put all this on exceedingly personal terms. Where would you turn if you suddenly found yourself homeless? Resurrection House, of course.

Your servant,
(The Reverend) Charleston D. Wilson
Board President, Resurrection House

The Art of Giving Back

On Tuesday mornings Adrienne Watts usually welcomes clients as a volunteer. Now, her artwork greets everyone daily. A professional artist, she generously donated several of her paintings for
Resurrection House’s client dayroom.

Adrienne began her creative endeavors as a part-time watercolor artist, specializing in portraits and still lifes. Since retiring from her successful career in fi nance and real estate, she decided to try her hand at a new genre and medium.

“Because I was always drawn to abstract paintings in galleries and museums, I decided to try that style,” she says. “Th is decision required a switch from watercolor to acrylic paint, from working on paper to working on larger canvas and wood substrates and learning to handle new art materials.”

All her paintings at Resurrection House represent her abstract style. She donated them after the client dayroom’s makeover this summer.

“The soft yellow walls were a perfect match for several small square paintings I’d made over the last year and had in my inventory,” Adrienne says. “The largest painting, 4 ft. x 6 ft., was one I had in process and completed with the intention of complementing the interior and other smaller pieces I was donating.”

Her artwork is often on display at local galleries, and she also sells her pieces online. But she was pleased to give her pieces to Resurrection House.

“I did this because I think Resurrection House provides a great service to our community and it gives me happiness to share my artwork with the staff and clients,” Adrienne says. “It’s my hope that the peaceful intention behind and nature of the work contributes to the safe, comfortable feeling clients experience when they are within the walls of Resurrection House.”

A Cut Above

Did you know that Resurrection House off ers barbering services once a week? Jerry Shuster has been helping our clients look their best for more than a decade.

Although he’s been a licensed barber since 1970, Jerry primarily cut family members’ hair until he began volunteering his services at Resurrection House. “I stayed busy with it, but not as a career,” he says.

Instead, Jerry spent 31 years as a police offi cer in Youngstown, Ohio. When he retired and moved to Sarasota, his neighbors who were also volunteers told him about Resurrection House. Th e previous barber had recently left, and they knew he had a barbering background. After visiting Resurrection House, Jerry decided to become a regular volunteer. Th at was over 13 years ago.

Since then, Jerry has become a popular person among our clients. He usually has a long signup list of clients every week, where he averages about 18 haircuts during his 3.5-hour shift.

Over the years he’s been at Resurrection House, Jerry has given many clients makeovers. “I like to call them transformations,” he says. When clients look in the mirror, “I think they’re even surprised themselves what they see.”

Jerry enjoys giving back by using his barbering skills. “It’s rewarding to be wanted and appreciated,” he says.

He encourages other barbers and beauticians to consider volunteering at Resurrection House.

Meet Gayla Jones

If you have been to Resurrection House this summer, you probably have met our new office manager, Gayla Jones. She started with us in May, and she’s readily embracing her role.

“These past three months have been amazing,” she said.

Gayla’s career path began in government, first working with the Hallandale Beach police department for 22 years, and then acting as the clerk of courts supervisor for Sarasota County.

After four years there, she decided to make a change. “I can help more in the nonprofit realm,” she thought.

Gayla spent the next few years working at an at-risk facility for young males. That led her to taking a position as director of Drug Free Manatee. While there, she learned about Turning Points, a day center for
the homeless in Bradenton.

That’s when she realized she wanted to work with the homeless, and she found her next opportunity, as
office manager here at Resurrection House.

Gayla’s day-to-day job entails making sure all the administrative duties in the office are operating smoothly. She’s not one to stay tucked away in a back office though. She likes to come out on the floor and get to know our clients’ stories, and she enjoys helping wherever she’s needed.

Gayla likes to be hands-on especially in the kitchen where she enjoys serving. “I love the grateful responses you get from the clients when all you’re doing is handing them their plate.”

Gayla recalled a time when a client asked for her by name only to thank her simply for helping him locate
his lost cell phone. “Imagine the impact I could make after I’ve been here for a while,” she wondered.

She wants everyone to discover the scope of what we do for the local homeless community. “It’s important to me that those living on the streets can come to our door and we can help them. Everybody needs a chance, I’m just trying to do my part.”

Making a House a Home

In 2021, the City of Sarasota’s Homeless Outreach Team (H.O.T.) approached Resurrection House about helping those on the streets make a smoother transition into housing. After a lot of conversation back and forth, the “Floor No More” program was launched. This program helps ease both anxiety and financial burdens by providing homeless individuals with daily living essentials for their new house at move-in.

“It was the missing piece for people moving in,” said Dede Jones, Coordinator of Homeless Response for the City of Sarasota.

Resurrection House’s role in the “Floor No More” program is to purchase and provide these household items at move-in, which can be a huge undertaking. Over the past year, Resurrection House has partnered with a local women’s ministry, called Soul Sisters, who does the shopping and delivery of these items to the newly housed person.

“I absolutely love that these in-need people are getting off the street and we get to sprinkle them with extra love by buying all the things they need to get started,” said Anne Ayres, one of the Soul Sister volunteers.

These household items are hand-selected by the H.O.T. case managers and are unique to each client’s housing situation.

Thanks to the Soul Sister volunteers who gather extra details like color preferences, the individual can feel right at home immediately. “The Soul Sister crew has put more of a personal touch to it,” Dede said.

Anne finds every client and move-in is unique and special. She remembers one soon-to-be resident who was so grateful, that he even gave things back that he knew he couldn’t use, so that the next person could benefit from them.

“Our ministry is grateful to help out in this small way knowing what a big impact housing can have in helping someone get back on their feet” Anne said.

Servant Leadership

Resurrection House couldn’t accomplish everything we do for our clients without partners like Grace Community Church in Lakewood Ranch.

James Brost, a long-time Resurrection House volunteer and member of Grace Community Church, is heading up the church’s involvement with Resurrection House. James shared he was called into this role after being inspired one Sunday by his pastor’s sermon about the importance of caring for others. “That sparked a real passion in me,” James said. “I have a heart to help people who are less fortunate.”

Initially, James reached out to Grace’s outreach director, Michael Cason, about building a volunteer work force at the church to help Resurrection House return to serving our clients five days a week.

From there, Grace officially recognized Resurrection House as one of its community partners, meaning the church pledges to commit their time, talent, and treasure to select nonprofit organizations in the area.
James also started an outreach ministry within Grace where people can sign up to specifically serve Resurrection House.

So far this year, members of the outreach ministry have not only continued to volunteer on a weekly basis, but they also painted several areas within Resurrection House, which hadn’t been touched up in years. Grace supplied all the supplies and the people to do the work.

“We have some other projects already planned throughout the rest of the year,” James said. “Plus, we’re
actively looking at other ways we can make a difference.”

The ministry plans to paint more areas of the building, as well as coordinate a backpack drive in December.

Thank you, Grace Community Church, for your commitment to Resurrection House and our mission!

A Compassionate Community

In my role as Interim Executive Director at Resurrection House I often get asked, “What makes Resurrection House so special?” While I think there could be many responses to that question, the one thing that truly makes us unique is the community that supports us. Our community has been by our side the entire 34 years we have been serving Sarasota’s homeless population. They make our mission possible.

The recent holiday season was a great example of the amazing outpouring of community support. The donations of clothing, blankets, toiletries, and other items seemed to be unending. The more items we brought into our center, the more donations kept showing up at our door. The generosity was incredible.

Financial donations from individuals, businesses, foundations and religious groups also continue to fuel our ability to serve our homeless clients’ needs. Since our inception, Resurrection House has not accepted funding from the city, county, state, or federal government. Monetary gifts of all sizes continue to be instrumental in funding critical services for our clients such as showers, laundry, food, clothing, and medical treatment to name a few. We are so grateful for our generous donors.

Like so many non-profit organizations, the impact of COVID took a toll on our volunteer workforce. Before the pandemic, we had over 150 volunteers serving each week at Resurrection House. When I became a staff member in July, we had around 60 dedicated volunteers, which reduced the number of days we were open from five to three days a week. Over the past couple of months, through the support of our church partners and a growing “word of mouth” network, more and more individuals have found their way to Resurrection House to volunteer. We now have over 100 volunteers, and that number continues to grow. This recent surge has allowed us to expand our operating hours back to five days a week. However, we still need more volunteers. If you are interested in serving at Resurrection House, please reach out to us. We would love for you to join our volunteer team.

Thank you to all who continue to make Resurrection House that oasis in the sea of uncertainty for those experiencing homelessness. I think Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said it the best, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” The Resurrection House is the perfect place to start helping those around you.

All the best,
Mason Ayres
Interim Executive Director

Introducing Volunteer Coordinator – Peter Sperduti

Some of you may already know Peter Sperduti. He’s been a volunteer at Resurrection House since May 2022, but recently he’s become our Volunteer Coordinator.

A former firefighter, Peter started helping the homeless in the 1990s and has continued with his ministry by conducting Bible studies in shelters and feeding people on the streets.

“I’ve seen miracles happen while doing that,” he says.

Peter explains “it takes a lot of baby steps in ministering to the homeless but it’s rewarding in the end. I love seeing bridges restored for those who have had them broken.” He’s seen parents reconnect with their children and people go from homeless to housed.

“Seeing them being put back together really motivates me,” says Peter. Becoming a volunteer with Resurrection House and making a difference in people’s lives doesn’t require special skills.

“You don’t need to have any previous experience,” he explains. “You just need a heart for the homeless.”

Peter recommends exploring all the volunteer opportunities at Resurrection House – from helping with laundry to greeting clients. “It helps you gain an appreciation that serving here is a true team effort,” he says.

Blanketing Our Clients with Warmth

Every winter for the past 19 years, Notre Dame Club of Greater Sarasota has given Resurrection House hundreds of blankets as part of their Warm Wishes program.

The partnership began when University of Notre Dame students participated in a summer service learning program in Sarasota that included volunteering with Resurrection House.

“Once we realized what a great organization it was, we wanted to help out,” says Chris Kernan, who ran the Warm Wishes program from its inception. He recently turned it over to Pat Forshee, a member of the Notre Dame Club’s board of directors.

The alumni organization’s local chapter, which has more than 200 members, began their work by collecting clothing and canned goods as well as blankets but found the most success with the latter. “We want to help the homeless stay warm in the winter,” Chris says. Their first year, they donated around 100 blankets, and last year the number ran to about 800. The Warm Wishes program supports both Resurrection House and Stillpoint Mission in Bradenton.

Chris says while they gladly accept new and lightly used blankets from their members, most of the donations are monetary, enabling them to purchase brand-new blankets for the best price.

The blankets are delivered in December and given to Resurrection House clients as needed throughout the year.

“We are grateful to Notre Dame Club of Greater Sarasota for their generosity and caring of the homeless in our community!” says Mason Ayres, Interim Executive Director at Resurrection House.

I Love Old Movies

There is no better 1947 movie to watch in the last quarter of the year than “The Bishop’s Wife” starring Cary Grant, David Nivin, and Loretta Young (The 1990’s remake with Whitney Houston pales in comparison). Without spoiling it for you, the film is about a suave, handsome angel (Cary Grant, naturally) who comes down from heaven to rescue the Episcopal Bishop of New York (Nivin) and his wife (Young) from a spiritual dry spell resulting from their obsession with the mechanics and fundraising associated with building a grand new cathedral.

Eventually, the bishop listens to the angel and remembers again what’s really important – on Christmas Eve no less. The bishop stands re-converted, if you will, in his vast new cathedral pulpit, discards his long dull sermon, and says only these words to thousands gathered on the Upper East Side:

Tonight I want to tell you the story of an empty stocking.

Once upon a midnight clear, there was a child’s cry, a blazing star hung over a stable, and wise men came with birthday gifts. We haven’t forgotten that night down the centuries. We celebrate it with stars on Christmas trees, with the sound of bells, and with gifts.

But especially with gifts. You give me a book, I give you a tie. Aunt Martha has always wanted an orange squeezer and Uncle Henry can do with a new pipe. For we forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled, all that is, except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child born in a manger.

Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched-out hand of tolerance. All the shining gifts that make peace on earth.

At Resurrection House we are completing another year serving our homeless sisters and brothers in Sarasota. Can we count on you to fill our stocking as we approach the end of the year, helping us to be an even larger stretched-out hand of loving kindness to God’s children that desperately need to experience a little peace on earth?

With every blessing and good wish, I am:
Yours in the Lord’s service,
(The Rev.) Charleston D. Wilson
Board President, Resurrection House

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