Faith in action

Friday, May. 01, 2015

If you want to see Catholicism in action, go to the Weigand Day Center in Salt Lake City. Spend some time with the staff and the homeless of Salt Lake City, because this is where our teaching that Christ is in everyone and we must treat each person as a brother or sister in Christ is truly lived. 

You will find Christ in Jamie, a wheelchair-bound woman, her face bearing tell-tale signs of her addiction, who receives medical assistance for severe disabilities, but has nowhere to live. Or in the 19-year-old woman whose relative serves as her pimp, selling her body for food, drugs, or whatever else they may need to get through the days. And in Susan, who helps people sign up for food stamps, Medicaid and other assistance programs that can help them transition out of homelessness; or Bob and Kathy, who welcome the homeless visitors, check them in and answer their questions.

Weigand doesn’t receive the accolades (or money) given to the nearby homeless shelter. It doesn’t attract the same number of volunteers as the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen.  But it serves 500 to 600 people per day in multiple ways and at their highest and lowest moments.  At Weigand, individuals can store their belongings, do laundry, take a shower, get a haircut.  They may use computers to connect with far-flung family, search for jobs, take a class or complete an online degree (which has been done).  They can also receive medical care, obtain a birth certificate, find clothes for a job interview, and resolve legal issues.  In short, they can spend at least a few moments feeling like valued human beings.

As I toured the center with the amazing Gina Lopez, I witnessed the Holy Spirit at work.  Gina genuinely cares for the people who mill about the courtyard, flock to the TV room and seek the services of the center.  She doesn’t know the hundreds of individuals by name, but they know her and it is clear from their reactions to her that they know she loves each of them. 

Not that she is a pushover. In my short visit, she made it clear drugs were not welcome on the property,  helped keep safe a man who was too high to care for himself, and protected a young woman who was about to make a horrible decision from doing so.  She also informed a man waiting for a bed for the evening about a job she found that he would be well qualified for, encouraged others waiting in line to keep watch over each other, and checked on the well-being of just about every person we met.  Gina is living what Pope Francis asks of us all – that we go out into the streets and get dirty, “touching the flesh of the poor Christ, in the humble, the poor, the sick, in children.”

Our Catholic day center, including the soup kitchen, is our Church at its best.  Here is where the hungry find food, the thirsty drink, the unemployed work, but also where Christ is recognized in each person, no matter the brand of their clothing, the cleanliness of their persons, or their mental state. The center practices the love of neighbor that we preach. 

Weigand makes room for those who need it, and it needs each of us.  It needs us to volunteer, make donations, and be its advocates. As city, county and state governments discuss how best to serve the homeless, we Catholic citizens need to encourage them to become fully familiar with the services provided at Weigand (and do so ourselves)and support all that it does for our homeless brothers and sisters.  Go to Weigand Day Center, meet the people, see the hope, and call or write the city and county officials who are reviewing homelessness in the city to do the same.