The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
RENOVATED HOMELESS SHELTER DEDICATED
Christians have no choice but to serve, bishop says
Lorain’s 50-bed St. Elizabeth Center was dedicated Oct. 31 in a ceremony of blessing with Bishop Nelson Perez of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese.
At least 160 people crowded the lower level kitchen and meal space to hear from local officials and religious leaders who cut the ribbon to formally open the shelter at 2726 Caroline Ave., where residents moved in Sept. 30.
The day was the culmination of years of work that started at the former St. Joseph Church in Lorain. But the local leaders acknowledged there is more work ahead to help those in need.
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.
Catholic Charities and city officials have worked for years on how to help the homeless in Lorain. Perez, who was installed in the diocese in September, prompted laughs when he joked that it was great to be thanked for doing nothing.
On a serious note, Perez credited the efforts of his predecessors, Bishop Richard Lennon and Bishop
“However, at the end of the day, we do it with great love, right? We do it with great love.” — Bishop Nelson Perez of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese
Daniel Thomas, to help the needy of Lorain County.
Perez challenged the group to ponder why people serve the poor. Citing the gospels, Perez said in many ways Christians have no choice but to serve others.
He used the example of Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes feed the multitudes and recounted Jesus’ words.
“What we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we actually did to him — his words, not mine,” Perez said. “He identifies so much so with the poor and those in need, that, that’s pretty radical.
“He said, you do unto me. You do unto me,” Perez said. “So in many ways, in more ways than one, as people come in and out of this St. Elizabeth Center and as you go about doing your work with your volunteers and your people who work here, you will be doing unto Christ himself because that’s whom he chose in a particular way to identify with.”
The work is not always easy, Perez added. He recounted his days as a deacon in Philadephia, handing a cheese sandwich to a homeless man who asked him where the meat was.
“Sometimes it’ll be tough, it’ll be challenging,” he said. “However, at the end of the day, we do it with great love, right? We do it with great love.”
The bishop’s story was not unlike that of Deacon Lou Maldonado, who for years coordinated the St. Joseph Overnight Shelter. After the ceremony he recalled a homeless man knocking at the door of the rectory of the former St. Joseph Parish, where the shelter started in 1995.
“He was begging me to help him,” Maldonado said. “We had these empty classrooms, so we bought some cots and opened the doors.”
Things evolved, Maldonado said, with Catholic Charities overseeing the shelter efforts when the parish closed in 2010. He praised the organization for ensuring the operations will go well at the St. Elizabeth Center.
“I just feel so good about it all because now the homeless have someplace that’s solid, secure, that is recognized by the community, accepted by the community,” Maldonado said afterward. “I’m very much gratified to see this happen.”
The dedication ceremony combined details of financing and building a homeless shelter, recent city history and personal recollections of those involved.
The day of dedication was never guaranteed to happen, said Mayor Chase Ritenauer.
“I want everybody to really, really relish what we’re a part of today because I think anybody involved in civic affairs or government will tell you, getting things is tough,” Ritenauer said. “Getting everything to come together the way it ought to come together is very difficult.”
In working on the issue, Patrick Gareau, president and chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Cleveland, would attest that “the going wasn’t always easy,” Ritenauer said. The city and Catholic Charities went back and forth but pushed each other to become better and get to the day of dedication, he said.
Ritenauer and Gareau credited the assistance of North Olmsted Law Director Michael Gareau Jr. He is Gareau’s nephew and a friend Ritenauer knew from working in that city.
The Lorain County Land Reutilization Corp. worked with the city to acquire the building for Catholic Charities, said Lorain County Commissioner Ted Kalo, who attended with county Commissioner Lori Kokoski.
Kalo also recounted “growing up in this building,” with many people there remembering social gatherings and dinners at the former Polish American Citizens Club, a component of the International City.
“To turn this into what it’s going to be and how it’s going to serve the community is just a wonderful thing,” Kalo said.
The group also heard from Lynn Wrice-Head, program director for the center; Lawrence Murtaugh, executive director for the Diocese of Cleveland Facilities Services and Catholic Charities Housing Corp.; and Brooke Smith, senior government relations specialist for the Federal Home Loan Bank, which helped finance the renovations.
Along with Catholic Charities, the center operates with help from numerous volunteers from area church and civic groups. Wrice-Head thanked them for the help.
“It is a blessing to have numerous dedicated volunteers with dedicated hearts,” she said.