UAW bikers ride to help shelter

Local motorcycle enthusiasts traded some time on the open road for a chance to organize food storage spaces in Lorain’s new homeless shelter.

The St. Elizabeth Center, 2726 Caroline Ave., on Sept. 30 opened its doors to members of the United Auto Workers Local 2000 Motorcycle Committee.

“We’re just going to do things to support our local community,” said Motorcycle Committee Chairman Willie Pettyjohn said. “We figured we’d start here.”

The group heard about the shelter moving and consolidating operations.

After several years of planning, the St. Elizabeth

Center combined the services offered by the seasonal St. Joseph Overnight Shelter, in the former St. Joseph Church, 317 W. 15th St., and the Catholic Charities Family Center, 203 W. Eighth St., the day shelter that serves breakfast and lunch and has food pantry and social services.

The new facility was a good match for the relatively new committee, which started in April “just raising awareness for safety for motorcycle riders, and community work,” said Public Relations Coordinator Candise Bivens of Elyria.

The UAW has a number of committees for its members, including groups dedicated to veterans, women’s issues, civil rights, community service and recreation.

The Motorcycle Committee has 26 members among the Ohio Assembly Plant workers and is open to all UAW Local 2000 members.

“You don’t have to have a motorcycle,” Pettyjohn added. For most northern Ohio riders, motorcycles are a warm-weather pursuit, but the committee is not seasonal.

“We’re going to continue to do what we do with the bikes or without them,” he said.

The committee members noted they prefer Americanmade bikes, so it was no surprise the shelter parking lot had a row of Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Among the UAW Local 2000 members were Motorcycle Committee Road Captain 1 Richard “The Chief” Palacios of Lorain; Treasurer Sheila Johnson of Lorain; Alternate Anthony Marrero, a South Lorain native now living in Vermilion; Sergeant at Arms Terrell Calhoun of Elyria; Secretary Amanda Hale of Avon Lake; Road Captain 2 Dave Alten of Sheffield Lake; Alternate John Woodruff of Vermilion; and members Keith Maholic of Lorain and Deshawn Chatman, a Detroit native who transferred to the plant last year and now lives in Lorain.

Assisting was committee supporter Sara Lee Soler, shelter Food Service Coordinator Denise Atwood and her friend, volunteer Regina Aaron, a UAW member who retired from the Ohio Assembly Plant in October 2016.

The motorcycle committee organized the foodstuffs used for daily meals. They also sorted the boxed and canned goods stored on color-coded shelves for the choice pantry that is planned to open twice a month.

The extra hands were welcome because once the shelter opened, its operations and services continued without stopping, said Program Director Lynn WriceHead.

But combining two buildings and two groups of workers in a new facility, employees still are trying to find their rhythm in the new center, Wrice-Head said. Food supplies were available, but not necessarily arranged for the most efficiency.

“We worked it out, by the grace of God,” she said.

The shelter began having guests stay overnight on Sept. 20. On Oct. 2, staff from Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio would inspect the storage area as part of the food pantry program.

“So this is a blessing to get back up and running,” Wrice-Head said. “No doubt we’ll be ready for people to shop.”

For years, local churches helped supply money, food and labor for the facilities. Since the St. Elizabeth Center opened, a rumor started that the facility no longer needs helpers.

“I want to dispel that rumor,” Wrice-Head said. “We need lots of volunteers.”

The shelter staff treated the UAW members to a late lunch of sandwiches, potato chips and bottled water. The group prayed together, anticipating shelter guests to start arriving in the early evening hours.

United Auto Workers are about solidarity, Pettyjohn said. If its members don’t normally see a place like the homeless shelter, they can have a new experience there and share that with their children, families and co-workers, he said.

That’s how people begin to make a difference in the community, Pettyjohn said.

“It’s humbling,” Pettyjohn said. “It’s very humbling. Not everybody is as fortunate as we are to have the jobs that we’ve got.

“We’ve got to give back, we have to,” he said. “No doubt.”