On the surface, everything seemed fine.  Barbara’s husband was a police officer.  She worked as a nursing assistant and cared for their two children.  But inside their home, Barbara and her two daughters were experiencing emotional and physical…

“Hope is holy,” reads the first line of a poem written by a group of women at Calvary.  To have “hope” isn’t something these women take lightly. Rather, hope itself is sacred.  Without hope, one is immobilized. But with hope, there is a f…

The music in the church was loud and joyful.  There were tears streaming down the faces of family and friends.  There was a pride in the graduates’ steps that brought tears to my eyes as well.  Sharon had invited me to attend her graduation, and…

When I ran into Sharon a few months ago, she didn’t look well.  You could tell that her health was poor – her teeth were broken, her eyes were dull, she was very thin.  Addiction had taken a toll on both her body and mind.  The drugs and alcoh…

My paternal grandmother was a tough woman. She raised five children in a small farmhouse and often cleaned other people’s houses to make ends meet. After years of walking with pain, Grandma had hip replacement surgery when she was 69. Not long afte…

A light snow on the ground.  Watching my children open presents left for them by Santa Claus.  Homemade cookies from recipes passed down by my grandmothers.  “These are a few of my favorite things…” as the song goes.  These are some of the…

Having a job is about so much more than just earning an income.  Don’t get me wrong, the money is necessary and critical.  But when I talk to the women at Calvary who have recently gotten a job, I am reminded that employment is about more than mo…

I passed by one of the large emergency shelters yesterday afternoon while walking back to my office.  Standing outside, holding a trash bag filled with her belongings, was a woman who had lived at Calvary several years ago.  Barbara must be in her…

Last week my kids and I were in Detroit for a Tigers baseball game.  We joined everyone in the stadium on that 4th of July weekend in honoring veterans.  As the screen on the scoreboard projected the faces of the veterans in attendance and the crow…

I sat down to write this post on what was being called the hottest day of summer so far.  With temperatures 10 degrees higher than normal, I was reminded of how challenging (and even life-threatening) the summer can be for people who are homeless. …