Caption:House manager Thelma Hamlett and 15-month-old Cotyia Ransom-Gomes relax in one of St. Paul's residences for the homeless.A PROJECT OF CARE AND CONCERN
Boston Globe December 26, 1988 Author: Paul Hirshson, Globe Staff
CAMBRIDGE -- There's a story behind the creation of every shelter for the homeless, usually one that involves a lot of hard work, untangling bureaucratic snarls, scrambling for money, and soothing the neighbors.
And the story behind the creation of housing for homeless families here -- eight adults and 15 children -- is all that and more. It involves some high-risk capitalism, a lot of get-your-hands-dirty work and the extraordinary faith and quiet persistence of the pastor of St. Paul's AME church, near Central Square.
It is also, as Rev. Leroy Attles describes the effort to build the shelters, "one of the most beautiful expressions of concern for their fellow man I've ever seen.
"And for the fractured families who have found a place here, that expression of concern has made the difference between a holiday at home, and the prospect of no holiday at all.
The story began in 1985 when St. Paul's -- a church in the middle of a changing neighborhood, where well-kept houses stand next to crumbling tenements, and vie for space with rehabbed "yuppie houses" -- was given the opportunity to buy some property.
The building was a former bowling alley located about two blocks from the church on Bishop Allen Drive. "Our school, which was located in the basement of the church, was bulging, it was growing so fast," Attles recalls, so he moved to buy the bowling alley for $625,000. And he had no firm prospects of where he would get the money to buy and fix the building.
The idea was to renovate the two-story, cinderblock structure into classrooms, offices and meeting spaces. When all the plans were finished, the church's two houses -- one a parsonage and one an old boarding house next to the church -- would no longer be needed for offices and meeting rooms. What to do with the houses became a subject for church debate. Rent them, "or do some good," as Attles puts it.
Doing good, in his eyes, meant converting the buildings, both turn-of-the century wood frame dwellings, into comfortable housing for six families in the spacious, three-story parsonage and two in the old rooming house.
The families are ones "who had a bad break," Attles says; losing a job, getting evicted, or suffering a marital breakup or a house fire are some of these "bad breaks.
"Both of the buildings were solid, but showing their age, with ancient furnaces and old pipes and wires in need of updating. Time was short; in the case of the boarding house, the church had less than four weeks to get it ready to qualify for some government money befor the end of the fiscal year in June.
But the race to finish the work on the two buildings, with the aim to have everything ready by the cold weather, is the story behind the story.
Attles had the good fortune to link up with Linsey Lee, the city's resource coordinator for emergency programs. Lee brought a dynamo of energy to the project, lining up dozens of volunteers, businesses and other churches into a concerted effort to renovate these two buildings, installing new kitchens and bathrooms, painting, doing carpentry and landscaping, and making them - more than houses - homes.
Pictures - not just stick-up posters, but art from an expensive shop - draperies, window shades, carpeting, fancy tile, furniture from an antique store, plants and Christmas trees help make it homey. And new furnaces and hot water heaters provide the necessities on a cold day.
The result is as remarkable as the number of people and institutions who pitched in with time or money or goods to help. And, it should be noted that, although St. Paul's is a predominantly black church, the help it received came from every part of the city, from people of all races.
The list of helpers illuminates this aspect: $10,00 came from Harvard University; developer H.J. Davis gave $10,000, too; Christ Church, Episcopal, in Harvard Square, mobilized volunteers and donations; students from Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology donated hours of work; some of the area's most prestigious architectural firms donated professional expertise, and a kitchen cabinetmaker donated custom cabinets. A Framingham firm donated a fire alarm system; Channel 5 and radio station WEEI donated significant amounts of money.
Lee, the resource coordinator, says the outpouring and help and concern was remarkable. "Friends would show up at 11 o'clock at night to put in a couple of hours' work. One of the carpenters who worked with us - Doug Reveille - would sometimes work until 2 in the morning," she recalls. "It was a very inspiring experience.
"The results of the caring show throughout: crocheted bedspreads, throw pillows, Christmas decorations, coffee pots on the stove - all create atmosphere. "We wanted it to be like a home," Attles said, "to help people regain their dignity, their self-esteem.
"One resident, Reggie Ware, lives in the parsonage with his son, Jason, age 5. Ware had been laid off from his job as a computer operator, he said, and had been living with his sister.
"But it got pretty crowded there, sleeping on the floor, and like that," he says. "The people here are beautiful and this is a fine room," he says of the first-floor room he and Jason occupy. Ware is looking for another job, and an apartment, but can stay at the home until he saves enough to pay for the security deposit, first and last month's rent usually required.
Attles, whose wife, Henrietta is a former school committee member, is the father of three and the grandfather of three. He says the residents of the homes are referred through Travelers Aid, and the only restrictions are on active alcohol or drug use. No limit on the residents' stay is imposed, but he estimated that about 18 months would be the maximum. The boarding house opened in June, the parsonage in November, so most residents' stays have been short.
He belives that work on the parsonage is worth about $150,000 and on the boarding house about $30,000, but the amount of volunteer labor makes such calculations inexact.
In reflecting on the need for housing and feeding the less fortunate in society, Attles says: "The churches have to go further in life. It's not predicated on what the government does. The churches should be about feeding the hungry and housing the poor. That's what the gospel mandates. The Word says, that when you've 'done it for the least of the little ones, then you've done it for me.
Boston Globe December 26, 1988 Author: Paul Hirshson, Globe Staff
CAMBRIDGE -- There's a story behind the creation of every shelter for the homeless, usually one that involves a lot of hard work, untangling bureaucratic snarls, scrambling for money, and soothing the neighbors.
And the story behind the creation of housing for homeless families here -- eight adults and 15 children -- is all that and more. It involves some high-risk capitalism, a lot of get-your-hands-dirty work and the extraordinary faith and quiet persistence of the pastor of St. Paul's AME church, near Central Square.
It is also, as Rev. Leroy Attles describes the effort to build the shelters, "one of the most beautiful expressions of concern for their fellow man I've ever seen.
"And for the fractured families who have found a place here, that expression of concern has made the difference between a holiday at home, and the prospect of no holiday at all.
The story began in 1985 when St. Paul's -- a church in the middle of a changing neighborhood, where well-kept houses stand next to crumbling tenements, and vie for space with rehabbed "yuppie houses" -- was given the opportunity to buy some property.
The building was a former bowling alley located about two blocks from the church on Bishop Allen Drive. "Our school, which was located in the basement of the church, was bulging, it was growing so fast," Attles recalls, so he moved to buy the bowling alley for $625,000. And he had no firm prospects of where he would get the money to buy and fix the building.
The idea was to renovate the two-story, cinderblock structure into classrooms, offices and meeting spaces. When all the plans were finished, the church's two houses -- one a parsonage and one an old boarding house next to the church -- would no longer be needed for offices and meeting rooms. What to do with the houses became a subject for church debate. Rent them, "or do some good," as Attles puts it.
Doing good, in his eyes, meant converting the buildings, both turn-of-the century wood frame dwellings, into comfortable housing for six families in the spacious, three-story parsonage and two in the old rooming house.
The families are ones "who had a bad break," Attles says; losing a job, getting evicted, or suffering a marital breakup or a house fire are some of these "bad breaks.
"Both of the buildings were solid, but showing their age, with ancient furnaces and old pipes and wires in need of updating. Time was short; in the case of the boarding house, the church had less than four weeks to get it ready to qualify for some government money befor the end of the fiscal year in June.
But the race to finish the work on the two buildings, with the aim to have everything ready by the cold weather, is the story behind the story.
Attles had the good fortune to link up with Linsey Lee, the city's resource coordinator for emergency programs. Lee brought a dynamo of energy to the project, lining up dozens of volunteers, businesses and other churches into a concerted effort to renovate these two buildings, installing new kitchens and bathrooms, painting, doing carpentry and landscaping, and making them - more than houses - homes.
Pictures - not just stick-up posters, but art from an expensive shop - draperies, window shades, carpeting, fancy tile, furniture from an antique store, plants and Christmas trees help make it homey. And new furnaces and hot water heaters provide the necessities on a cold day.
The result is as remarkable as the number of people and institutions who pitched in with time or money or goods to help. And, it should be noted that, although St. Paul's is a predominantly black church, the help it received came from every part of the city, from people of all races.
The list of helpers illuminates this aspect: $10,00 came from Harvard University; developer H.J. Davis gave $10,000, too; Christ Church, Episcopal, in Harvard Square, mobilized volunteers and donations; students from Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology donated hours of work; some of the area's most prestigious architectural firms donated professional expertise, and a kitchen cabinetmaker donated custom cabinets. A Framingham firm donated a fire alarm system; Channel 5 and radio station WEEI donated significant amounts of money.
Lee, the resource coordinator, says the outpouring and help and concern was remarkable. "Friends would show up at 11 o'clock at night to put in a couple of hours' work. One of the carpenters who worked with us - Doug Reveille - would sometimes work until 2 in the morning," she recalls. "It was a very inspiring experience.
"The results of the caring show throughout: crocheted bedspreads, throw pillows, Christmas decorations, coffee pots on the stove - all create atmosphere. "We wanted it to be like a home," Attles said, "to help people regain their dignity, their self-esteem.
"One resident, Reggie Ware, lives in the parsonage with his son, Jason, age 5. Ware had been laid off from his job as a computer operator, he said, and had been living with his sister.
"But it got pretty crowded there, sleeping on the floor, and like that," he says. "The people here are beautiful and this is a fine room," he says of the first-floor room he and Jason occupy. Ware is looking for another job, and an apartment, but can stay at the home until he saves enough to pay for the security deposit, first and last month's rent usually required.
Attles, whose wife, Henrietta is a former school committee member, is the father of three and the grandfather of three. He says the residents of the homes are referred through Travelers Aid, and the only restrictions are on active alcohol or drug use. No limit on the residents' stay is imposed, but he estimated that about 18 months would be the maximum. The boarding house opened in June, the parsonage in November, so most residents' stays have been short.
He belives that work on the parsonage is worth about $150,000 and on the boarding house about $30,000, but the amount of volunteer labor makes such calculations inexact.
In reflecting on the need for housing and feeding the less fortunate in society, Attles says: "The churches have to go further in life. It's not predicated on what the government does. The churches should be about feeding the hungry and housing the poor. That's what the gospel mandates. The Word says, that when you've 'done it for the least of the little ones, then you've done it for me.
