Help Those Who Are Suffering
January 12, 2010
Mary is a bag lady. I know it’s impolite to stare, but one day at Bosco I noticed her shuffling along in the serving line wearing an oversized, dirty trench coat and an old pair of men’s shoes that were at least three times larger than her feet.
Mary used to wait tables but now she lives on a small disability check that she augments by collecting cans. If she picks up 32 cans, or one pound, she’ll make 43 cents. Hunched over from the weight of two large plastic bags on her back and two long sticks, she walks to Bosco for a good meal, but first, she hides her bags and sticks next to the dumpster. She tells Sister Margaret that she uses the sticks to pick up cans, “so I won’t get my hands dirty.”
This poor woman needed help. I asked Sister Margaret to check out Mary’s living conditions, so when she came to pick up hot lunches for senior shut-ins, Sister pulled Mary aside. “Please come and see me at my office tomorrow,” she asked. Mary told me later she thought she was in some kind of trouble. Much of Mary’s life has been filled with trouble. As a bag lady, she is largely invisible. She has been forced into a physical world where instead of “home and family” she must survive in constant fear.
The next day, Mary came to Sr. Margaret’s office wearing the same dirty clothes. It was Friday when Docs-On-A-Bus sets up a free clinic for the poor at the Edmundite Catholic Center. Young doctors and nurses from United Way and the University of Alabama Medical School provide health checks for people like Mary, impoverished older women on the streets who are 10 times more likely to die prematurely from illness or homicide.
Winter in Selma means cold, damp days that penetrate your bones. Sr. Margaret gave Mary a nice, warm comforter and then called me over so that I could meet the lady in the size 12 shoes. Later, I drove her home to see where she lived. On the way to her rental we passed one of the neighborhood churches. “That be my church but I don’t goes no more,” she said. Members of the church had been uncomfortable sitting next to someone who hadn’t taken a bath in a long, long time. I soon found out why. Mary lived in a dark, two room board shack and slept on a dirty, rat-infested couch.
Mary had no heat because she couldn’t pay her utility bill. She didn’t have water either for the same reason. Her landlord refused to fix a leak in the bathroom and water sprayed out all over. She had to fill a pail with water at a neighbor’s and used the water to flush the toilet. In her kitchen I could see daylight coming through a large crack and on a back wall, rain was leaking down to the floor. In one corner, Mary had boxes of moldy clothing she had dug out of the trash, clothes that were even worse than what she was wearing.
I couldn’t walk away without helping her. We went to a local department store and you should have seen folks turn and look at us as we walked into the “ladies department” to shop for a hooded winter coat, warm sweatshirts and sweatpants. We also found wool socks and a pair of sneakers that fit.
Mary also told me the only full meal she eats every day is at Bosco. “I like the food. It’s good and hot,” she said. It made my heart glad to know that our Bosco Food Kitchen provides Mary a place to go for a nutritious meal. Her living conditions were so awful, I don’t think she could have survived as long as she did without eating solid, healthy lunches. Your gift of $22.56 will provide 12 meals to help feed hungry families with small children and older people like Mary who rely on Bosco.
This past year the Edmundite Missions served over 80,000 meals at Bosco which was an 8% increase over the previous year. To purchase and prepare all these meals during the year is extremely difficult especially with rising food prices. I have several overdue bills on my desk – but more importantly I must help Mary and those who are suffering now.
Sister Margaret arranged for Mary’s gas and water to be turned back on which cost $283. We discovered that her worn-out heater was beyond repair and had to purchase a replacement unit for $358. With Mary’s heat and running water back on, she can now wash clothes, take a warm bath and flush the toilet. It brought tears to my eyes the first time I saw her at Bosco with fresh washed hair and wearing clean clothes and shoes. With help to regain her dignity and pride in herself, Mary is no longer “a sister of the road.”
Your continued compassionate support allows us to save lives and comfort the downhearted. Our Lord Jesus Christ calls upon us to lift up the faces of the suffering poor so they can see His Light.
May your New Year be filled with Blessings,
Rev. Richard Myhalyk, S.S.E.
