The sun beats down unforgivingly on Andre House on a hot afternoon in downtown Phoenix. Inside, the working poor and those experiencing homelessness quietly congregate seeking relief from the soaring thermometer and the mean city streets.
One man stands in line, holding a small cup of foamy shaving cream as he waits for a shower and a set of clean clothing. Others sit quietly at long tables. In the back corner of the room, Mark Poulin, a retired psychiatric nurse practitioner, sets up for a Christ in Our Neighborhood faith-sharing group.
Poulin began volunteering at Andre House two years ago after hearing a homily in which a visiting priest spoke movingly about the work of the organization. These days, he puts in three-and-a-half hour days three or four days a week.
He and other volunteers chop vegetables, clean trays and wash huge pots and pans among other responsibilities.
Poulin says he himself has benefitted from time spent among the guests, many of whom battle mental illness, drug addiction and chronic homelessness.
“I’m more and more grateful for what I have and less concerned about what I don’t have,” Poulin says.
Established in 1984 by two Holy Cross priests, Andre House serves the poor and frequently those without shelter or resources, serving thousands of meals, providing showers, clean clothes, laundry facilities and more. John Delaney, executive director, says guests hail from all states in life but share in the circumstance of having fallen on hard times. Some have graduate degrees and others are high school dropouts. Delaney ticked off reasons as to why they seek help at Andre House:
“They were living paycheck to paycheck and lost their job. They had a roommate that couldn’t pay their half of the rent and so they were forced to go out onto the street. Some of them are victims of domestic violence. There’s a bunch of other reasons, too.”
For one thing, downtown Phoenix’s rebirth has featured lots of upscale housing. Rent for an apartment in the area can start at a steep $2,000 a month, hardly achievable for those who struggle to pay for basic necessities or don’t have transportation.
One night, when the weather was a bit cooler, Delaney stood outside distributing blankets. He had only a few left and told the crowd it was all he had. As he gave away the last of the supply, a woman said, “Oh, man! I’m not going to get a blanket and it’s going to be cold.”
The guest who had just received the last blanket turned to the woman and said, “Here, you can have this one. You need it more than I do.”
Both guests were going to be sleeping on the street that night, Delaney noted. “But for her to give up that blanket for somebody else — that’s an experience of the love of God really working in people’s lives.”
Michael Murphy, director of mission advancement and volunteers for Andre House, said the work being done by the organization’s 1,800 volunteers is a gift of self.
“Our guests, for the most part, are marginalized in society. They are not welcome anywhere,” Murphy said.
At Andre House, they find hospitality. “It inspires them to exercise the virtues because they see virtues being lived and practiced in an environment and in a setting where humanity is welcome, people are welcome, compassion and caring and the virtues are welcome.
“It’s a laboratory of charity and love.”
Andre House serves an evening meal six nights a week to anywhere from 350 to 700 guests. In the last fiscal year, that amounted to a whopping 165,000 meals or so. Preparing, serving and cleaning up those evening meals requires 30 volunteers a day. But it isn’t just about the logistics and mechanics.
“They are the frontline of helping unwanted people feel wanted, unwelcome people feel welcome and unloved people feel loved,” Murphy said.
Guests are able to choose clean clothing and shoes and also have access to laundry facilities on Mondays and Tuesdays. Lockers to store belongings are also available. Hygiene kits and backpacks are distributed to those who request them.
The human dignity of guests is honored when staff and volunteers enlist their help with tasks but the real dynamic that’s going on is the effect that the guests are having on volunteers and staff. Those who are served at Andre House illustrate humility and a simplicity of life through their need for help from others.
“It’s a trust and a humility that we don’t practice because we often are deluded into believing that we are sustainable through all these material things that we have,” Murphy said. “And there’s no such structures to delude our guests. They’re relying on us with a childlike hope and expectation.”
Once a week, guests are invited to attend Mass at Andre House. A handful generally do. Others take part in weekly adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Father Andrew Fritz, CSC, said he has had wonderful and unexpected experiences of faith alongside guests. He’s able to walk around the dining room and get to know them by name.
Sometimes, they give him a pat answer when he asks how they’re doing. Other times, he said, they really open up.
“One guy I talked with was mentioning how he’s been reading the Bible recently and learning things he never knew before,” Father Fritz said. The man didn’t know that Jesus healed 10 lepers but only one returned to give thanks.
“You really get to break open the Gospel with them and oftentimes they will give insights,” Father Fritz said. And in spite of tremendous challenges, guests have “eyes of faith and are ready and willing to see God in action.”
One day, Father Fritz invited a woman to join him for adoration.
“I’m kneeling in front of the Blessed Sacrament and she’s behind me,” Father Fritz said. He turned on some praise and worship music.
“Just one song and this quiet moment of prayer after,” Father Fritz said. “And she just is sobbing.”
Father Fritz prayed with the woman.
“It was just a really beautiful moment, one of many that I’ve had with guests so far since I’ve been there.”
Success stories
Delaney noted that among the thousands of people who receive assistance from Andre House there have been numerous success stories.
One guest had been out on the streets for some time and was recently able to get a job. “I ran into him when I was going to get dinner, and he was just so proud to state that he had a job and that he was working and had an apartment and was just really keeping himself off of the street. It was just a blessing to see him.”
Murphy said guests often say they want to give back. There’s a growth in human character as a person moves from the one being helped to the person helping.
“It is not uncommon for our guests to become volunteers, and in some cases for volunteers to become employees.”
Delaney remembers a woman who came to Andre House to volunteer on Christmas Day last year.
“She said, ‘I was out here on the street experiencing homelessness and now I’m healthy. I’m so grateful for how you treated me and how you treat everybody else here.’”
The woman said she wished she had money to give to Andre House but that she would give back by volunteering her time.
“We want to show the guests that God loves them, that He exists and that they can come to a relationship with God. And you could see that in this woman,” added Delaney.
“She was so happy about the way she had been treated here, like a human being, a fellow believer.”
