Serving Up a Better Life
Volunteers at the Siena/Francis Shelter Provide More Than Just a Meal
Patty Cunningham arrived at the Siena/Francis House on Feb. 25, 2006. A kind-hearted Omaha police officer had found Patty sleeping in the laundry room of an apartment complex.
Alone and hopeless, Patty confessed to a staff member that she was â??sick and tired of being sick and tiredâ? of her life of addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Patty was given food, clothing and shelter and was admitted into the Miracles Treatment Center – the Siena/Francis House’s long-term, residential addiction recovery program. Thanks to shelters like the Siena/Francis House, homeless individuals like Patty can receive help and motivation to live a better life.
In 1975, the Siena/Francis House opened its doors to the homeless in the Omaha and Council Bluffs area. The Siena/Francis House is Nebraska’s largest shelter, providing food, education, counseling and clothing to homeless men, women and children. Working to end the homeless cycle, the house creates an environment to help motivate people to change their lives.
Regional Service Manager Joe Matthews and Clinical Information Management Applications Specialist Teresa Otto started volunteering at the Siena/Francis House when their church, Omaha Church of Christ, began serving meals. Once a month, the church gathers volunteers to help purchase, cook and serve dinner for the homeless.
When volunteering, Joe and Teresa arrive as early in the afternoon as possible to start preparing the meal. The group works together to prepare each dish for more than a few hundred people. “It’s always a good feeling when you reach out and help your fellow man,” Joe said.
As dinnertime approaches, volunteers scatter to each table filling napkins, water jugs and breadbaskets. One hundred and twenty people fill the room and patiently wait for their opportunity to eat. Four dinner shifts are offered each night to feed as many as possible.
A 23-year-old single mother and her two children, a 60-year old laid off construction worker; people of all ages and races gather in hopes of getting back on their feet. At the end of the night the volunteers have served more than 500 people.
Each volunteer that comes to serve a meal realizes that it is much more than just passing a plate. Volunteers are giving the homeless an opportunity to move forward with their lives. “Each person we serve needs food, but in the bigger picture they need help to change their lives. By showing them compassion and kindness, we help support that change,” Teresa said.
Not only does volunteering help others, it can make a difference in your own life. â??I like that it has made me think of â??serving and sacrificingâ? in a different way,â? Teresa said.
Joe also agrees. “Just knowing that I did a little something that might make the world a little better place for someone else is what I like about volunteering,” he said.
According to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 22 percent of the Nebraska population is homeless. Nebraska ranks 12th in the nation in terms of homeless residents.
Nationally the number of homeless families has increased by 9 percent from 2008. No doubt the economic crisis has affected more families across the nation who are now homeless.
To help the growing number of homeless people, they rely on volunteers to keep their doors open. Mike Saklar, Executive Director of the Siena/Francis House, canâ??t emphasize enough the importance of volunteers. â??In these tough economic times our numbers have increased dramatically and the volunteer help we receive is critically important to the success of our programs,â? he said.
Donations and dedications from volunteers like Joe and Teresa give shelters the support to continue to change lives. In every way volunteers provide purpose and meaning in the lives of people who struggle for survival.
Patti Cunningham, who has been sober now more than three years, was named the first female Day Services Center Assistant Manager and was offered a professional staff position at the Siena/Francis House. Patti helps women recover from the same struggles she once faced.
Asked what she is most thankful for, Patty states that she is grateful for her sobriety and especially for having a chance to be part of her four kidsâ?? lives and the lives of her siblings. â??Really, though, everything that is good in my life right now is because of the Siena/Francis House. Thatâ??s what Iâ??m truly grateful for,â? she said.
