 |
 |
|
| Intro | Luke's List | Links | Photo Gallery | Of Note | Advocacy Corner for Homelessness | Success Stories | Speaker's Bureau | History of Black Miami | ||
Camillus House News
Perspectives from the Brothers of the Good Shepherd
by Janet Rice
(L-R) Brother Bill, Brother Charles and Brother Raphael.
Ever since 1960, when Brother Mathias Barrett founded Camillus House to help individuals who were fleeing Cuba in hope of a better future, the Brothers of the Good Shepherd have been a gentle, dedicated, hard-working presence in our community.
Almost five decades of service
That was almost 50 years ago. So how have things changed for the Brothers over the past five decades? The answer: a lot, according to Brother Raphael Mieszala.
“Our basic mission – availability, hospitality and adaptability – have not changed. We started with feeding and overnight shelter to men. It took a few years to develop the drug and alcohol program. When we were just feeding, we saw we weren’t really helping much. So we added programs as we saw needs. Now we’re into housing, temporary and permanent. We’re working with women now. And that’s just the beginning.”
Miami without Camillus?
What would Miami without Camillus be like? Brother Charles says, “If there were no Camillus House, there would probably be hundreds more people on the streets.” Brother Raphael added that, “Camillus is helping the public by giving them an opportunity to do good.”
Following in the path: 2008
Although Camillus House is blessed to have a great many volunteers, the Brothers agree that these days, “It’s hard to inspire people to follow in the path” by joining the Brothers of the Good Shepherd. “There are so many opportunities for people to help without joining an order,” says Brother Charles.
“People are more set in their ways now – they’re independent and probably wouldn’t adjust well to the lifestyle, like not having a car,” adds Brother Bill.
Brother Nicolas, 50, joined the Brothers as a novice in March 2007. Brother Bill says that most who are interested in the order find the Brothers through ads in various Catholic publications.
Brother Charles listens while a young man explains his situation.It’s not always easy
It probably should go without saying that a life of helping the homeless can be far from easy. “The work can be frustrating… we should be collapsing, but God is here for us,” says Brother Raphael, whose primary work at Camillus House is being an ombudsman who looks into the occasional complaints Camillus receives from clients.
“You need a lot of patience, especially with clients who are irate, hot, tired, hungry, thirsty, and have nowhere to rest their bodies at night,” says Brother Bill. “And many are mentally ill on top of everything else.” Brother Bill makes sure that clients who come to Camillus have the clothes and personal supplies they need. He says that giving clients clothes for church is one of his favorite tasks. “They are so proud of themselves and feel like they are ‘normal’ people,” he said.
Brother Charles’s work is literally on the front lines of Camillus House. Most days he can be found at the front office, going over with clients the available services and how to obtain them. He also receives checks for individuals who are homeless and receive public assistance but who must have a street address to be able to get their checks.
How the Brothers deal with discouragement
“Just voicing my frustration helps,” says Brother Raphael. “So does having a laugh with the other employees. If you don’t vocalize your frustration, you keep it all in.”
Being aware is Brother Charles’s way of dealing with discouragement. “It’s important to realize that you’ll have good days and bad days like any other. And, tomorrow is another day.”
“As a religious person it’s essential to have a good prayer life,” Brother Bill says. “Soon I am going to a cabin in central Pennsylvania. We do look forward to rest – we’re only human. And I agree with Brother Charles that we expect ups and downs in this life. It’s not a perfect world.”
What makes it all worth it
So often in life it’s the little things that bring the greatest sense of satisfaction. For Brother Raphael, it was something he did for a woman who was having trouble walking. “One woman stopped me – she needed a cane. I was able to cut through the ‘red tape’ and within a short while she had her cane.”
Brother Bill helps a young man with his clothing needs.Brother Raphael, who is a nurse, also told of a client whose feet were so dirty and battered that they had become infected. “I cleaned his feet and gave him antibiotics. The next time I saw him his feet were healed.”
Brother Charles relates, “Hundreds of people come through the front office. When a man comes in mid-afternoon looking for clothing and we don’t have much left, and he’s wearing prison blues, I can often arrange for a regular set of clothes – and he can walk out with his head held high.
Brother Bill echoes Brother Charles. “It’s wonderful when a man comes in in his prison blues and in a half an hour, with a shave and new clothes, he looks like a different person. I also am so happy to give out diapers to women with babies and personal items to women who don’t have any.”
What makes the Brothers emotional?
For Brother Charles, it’s the graduation ceremonies for clients who have completed the charity’s nine-month drug & alcohol recovery program. “You get to see that they have changed their lives from the streets to normal living.” He adds, “But you will encounter people you can’t help – you try to help but when they walk out, you know they don’t understand what you were telling them.”
For Brother Raphael, it’s the children who touch his heart. “I love to see the kids at Somerville Residence (permanent housing for low income women and their kids) and at the (Camillus Health Concern) clinic. There were eight kids in my family, and I have lots of nieces and nephews. Kids are so open, and it’s a joy to know we’re helping them.”
“We touch so many lives in an eight hour day that it’s hard to answer that. I remember a very old woman, in her nineties, who came to me in tears because her son had turned to alcohol. She told me she desperately wanted him to get help and get better before she died. And we worked with him and he did get better. I believe God puts us all in a given place for a reason, and that was my reason to be there for the man and his mother.”
