Our Community Responds to a Crisis--a Flood in the Karpos/Soup Kitchen Facilities at St. Mary's Painesville

About one week ago, Kathy Philipps was at John Carroll University, where she teaches Theology. She got an urgent call saying that a pipe broke in an old facility above the Karpos supply room at St. Mary's in Painesville, Ohio. The Karpos Ministry, co-founded by Kathy Philipps and Greg Stovicek, feeds the homeless and hungry at St. Mary's every Wednesday and Thursday. It has done this for almost 6 years now, often feeding 100-150 per day. This has been done in perfect spring and summer weather and in the bitterest of cold rain storms, blizzards, and below zero weather.

The broken pipe was on an upper level, an unused part of the Fr. Hanso Center. But the water seeped through the ceiling, causing thousands of dollars of damage to the building, all the food preparation supplies, equipment, and machines, and to much of the food.

The call went out to the many Karpos volunteers and even to the homeless and hungry people Karpos feeds. These folks rallied and worked together to get the Karpos Ministry going again. It was an absolutely remarkable effort, sometimes involving 15-20 people. Many worked 9-10 hours a day for several days to get things back together. It was an example of the "Beloved Community," spoken of by Martin Luther King Jr. Rich and poor, privileged and homeless, all working side by side. Really, it was a kind of miracle.

It would be impossible to name all the helpers, but some that come to mind: Kathy Philipps, Kathy Flora, Linda Coughlin, Cheryl Rice, Brian Rice, Ken Fitzsimmons, Chuck Hillier, Bea, Don, Kelly, Dan Philipps, Pam--many, many others. A remarkable effort! Thank You so much!

The clean-up

Community Wrapped in Community Wrapped in Community

I wonder if Robin Williams, for one night about a week ago, felt completely alone, completely abandoned, as when Jesus on the cross "shouted in a loud voice, saying 'Eli Eli lama sabachthani?' which is, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'" We cannot know this for sure. We can not even know for sure things right in front of our face.

One thing I do know, as well as a human being is able, is that I am loved and enveloped in many communities, almost swaddled in love as a newborn baby. My first community was my family, initially my mother, father, and grandparents, Cora and Connie Coughlin. And I had lots of aunts and uncles and cousins. I joke that we didn't have friends growing up--we had family, relatives. This family expanded as Denny, Mary Ellen, Kevin, and Jim were born. And it keeps expanding!

Family is still very central to me, now with Linda, Julia, Carolan, and Emily, and my two sons-in-law, Ed and Brian, and my grandchildren, Colin and Robby. We have a  big family, and it still is the bedrock of my security.

I have several other families, and these have been more "dynamic" over the years, with people flowing in and out. One of the first important ones for me was my Notre Dame classmates, especially the 35 other guys I studied abroad with in 1967-68 (in Salzburg and Innsbruck, Austria). Many of these fellows remain very close friends, with some others a bit more distant.

Another fantastic warm and loving community -- the peace activists I met when I moved to Cincinnati from Euclid in the winter of 1971. These people were Peacemakers, Catholic Workers, Quakers, and other like-minded living in and around Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Some were around my age, give or take, like Chris Cotter, Kenny Przybylski, Chuck Matthei, Jack Shereda, Peggy Scherer, Anne and Clare Weinkam, Greg Haas, Joan Levy, Bonnie Tompkins, Henry Scott, Andy Meyer, Joel Stevens, Dick Crowley, Richard Gale, John Luginbill (and others), and some were "elders" like Ernest and Marion Bromley, Maurice McCrackin (Mac), Bill Wahler--and several more. Some of my Peacemaker friends have died--Chuck Matthei, Ernest, Marion, Mac, Kenny, Jack, Bill. But I remain close friends with many, despite living far away from them.

Another layer of community consists of my colleagues at Lakeland Community College. Many of these are professors and fellow members of our union, the Lakeland Faculty Association. But there are also plenty of staffers, administrators, and part-timers that I consider part of my work community.

And then there is one of the most wonderful, sustaining communities I belong to, at my church, St. Mary's in Painesville, Ohio, especially the people I work with in the Karpos Ministry to feed the hungry and homeless--Linda, Kathy and Dan Philipps, Pam, Judy, Ken Fitzsimmons, Chuck Hillier, Jim, Bernice, Karen, Jeff, Kathy Flora, and many others. We have found a common focus for our interests in social justice and we have found a common and important task. It is almost exhilarating to work together with these folks every week. This is a model of the Beloved Community that Martin Luther King and Maurice McCrackin spoke of!

There are other communities I prize--my Irish-Gaelic classmates, my Irish traditional music friends, and many others.

These communities sustain me, and I hope I that I can do a small part to sustain, nourish, and love my friends in these communities. Let them never, not for an hour, feel unloved and unappreciated. This is my prayer.

Why Are There So Many Hungry and Homeless in America?

Every Thursday I serve food at the Karpos Meal for the Hungry and Homeless at St. Mary's Church in Painesville, Ohio. My contribution of time and effort are minimal and don't compare to the contributions of many of the others working on this meal--Kathy Philipps, Dan Phillipps, Kathy Flora, Jeffrey, Wayne, Chuck Hillier, Rose, Jan, Pam, Karen, Kennedy (Ken) Fitzsimmons, Joan-the-Great-Piemaker, Linda, Patrick, Jim, Bea, Debby, and many others. But at least I do something.

I am astonished at the number of hungry people (some of whom are homeless, even in the winter) in Painesville, Ohio. Right smack in the middle of the United States of America, the richest and most powerful large country in the history of the world. What is wrong with the way we organize our society that this could happen?

This past week I read an interesting article in The New Yorker by James P. Carroll on Pope Francis and his exhortations and efforts for the poor. Carroll mentioned a quote by a modern-day saint, Dom Helder Camara, who was an archbishop in Recife, Brazil. Helder Camara said,

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.” 
― Hélder Câmara, Dom Helder Camara: Essential Writings

Why do so many poor in America's breadbasket have no food or shelter?

Feeding the Hungry--at St. Mary's in Painesville, Ohio

Every Thursday evening Linda and I go to St. Mary's Church in Painesville, Ohio, and serve a meal to the hungry. The meal is prepared, from scratch, by many volunteers associated with Karpos Ministry, led by Kathy Philipps and her husband Dan. St. Mary's lends us their kitchen and refrigeration facilities in the Fr. Hanzo Center. My guess is that about 15 people are involved in meal preparation, serving, and clean up. I don't know the names of every volunteer. Besides Kathy and Dan Philipps, there is Wayne, Jan, Joan, Rose, Pam, Jeff, Ken Fitzsimmons, Kathy Flora, Chuck Hillier, and many more (I'll try to get all the names one of these days). Chuck does one of the hardest jobs, washing up the pots and pans.

The food is delicious, as good or better than a family homemade meal. Kathy is very concerned that the meals be nutritious, and she uses her considerable powers of persuasion to get everyone to eat their veggies. The meal is topped off with a dessert. These are always good and often spectacular. My favorites are the fruit pies made by hand by an expert, the former owner of the restaurant on Burton Square, near Northern Ohio's Amish country.

The closest thing to St. Mary's meal that I have ever seen were the meals prepared at the Catholic Worker House in Davenport, Iowa, under the watchful eyes of Margaret Quigley Garvey. I lived and worked there in the summer of 1976, and we spent much of every afternoon preparing a delicious supper for the hungry.

Jesus said, "Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty." We try to do our little part every Wednesday and Thursday evening, around 5 to 6 PM, at St. Mary's in Painesville, Ohio.

A Perfect Holy Thursday: Karpos Food Ministry in Painesville, Ohio

I didn't spend Holy Thursday in church. I spent it just outside the church, in a parking lot at St. Mary's in Painesville, Ohio, where about 10 folks from Karpos Ministry cooked and served meals to the hungry and homeless. Linda and I have been doing this for a little over a month, every Thursday evening. The Karpos Ministry crew also serves a meal on Wednesday evening. A nearby church, St. James Episcopal, also serves two meals per week. Kathy Philipps is in charge of Karpos, but is helped by many other people. I'm just getting to know the names, so I will leave some key people out: there's Dan Philipps, Rose, Josey and her two grandsons (high school students). There's Mrs. Pulling, former Burton restaurateur, who brings homemade pies every week (this past week featured delicious blackberry pies--there could be none better). There's Chuck Hillier, dishwasher extraordinaire (in my mind, the toughest job). There's Ken-the-Canadian (Kennedy Fitzsimmons). There are dishwashers, floor sweepers and washers, those who cook the food, those who serve it--so many people involved. And of course there's St. Mary's Parish itself and the pastor Fr. Steve Vellenga and associate pastor Fr. Mark Riley. They allow use of the kitchen, the building, and provide all the utility support.

Some Thursdays as many as 100 people gather for the dinner. They receive a homemade, nutritious dinner, one that doesn't have the feel of institutional food. And it is shared in a spirit of community.

Jesus told us to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty. On Wednesday and Thursday evenings, we in Karpos Ministry do that at St. Mary's Church in Painesville, Ohio. This was our church, our Eucharist this past Holy Thursday.