Housewarming Baskets

To Benefit Residents of Austin Street Center

By Carolyn Barta

"And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."

1 Corinthians 13:2

Parishioners at Saint Michael showed an abundance of love during the Lenten season as well as the ability to move mountains—mountains of housewarming baskets collected for home insecure people transitioning from temporary shelter at Austin Street Center into permanent homes.

The “Help Them Home” baskets were generated by the 40-day “Journey to Easter” Saint Michael parish-wide Lenten program, during which parishioners collected household goods and cleaning supplies, packed into a laundry basket, to be donated to Austin Street Center.

During Holy Week and on Easter Day, Journey to Easter participants brought to SMAA an amazing 230 baskets, containing essential items for setting up a household, such as sheets and towels. “Saint Michael parishioners never cease to amaze me—volunteering their time, talent and treasure. It’s a remarkable parish to be part of,” said Zoe Hart, Mission & Outreach committee senior chair.

“Saint Michael parishioners never cease to amaze me—volunteering their time, talent and treasure. It’s a remarkable parish to be part of,” said Zoe Hart, Mission & Outreach committee senior chair.

“I was just so wowed by people putting together 230 baskets!” said Jamey Peters, the Mission & Outreach Committee member responsible for the coordinated delivery of the baskets to Austin Street. The initial plan was to use member SUVs to deliver the baskets but very quickly he saw that a truck was needed to finish the job.

The value of the project was two-fold, according to Zoe Hart. “It gave parishioners a sense of doing (for others) that’s been sorely lacking in the time of Covid. There haven’t been a lot of opportunities to serve. Secondly, we wanted to take something on. This would be taking on something to help those who are less fortunate.”

Parishioners told Christi Morrow, Mission & Outreach coordinator, that they were grateful for the opportunity to “take on” something—that it was “much more meaningful to do something like this for Lent instead of giving something up.”

Paige Wilbur, Mission & Outreach committee co-chair, talked about the positive reaction to this first-time project. “Some parishioners said they really enjoyed doing something for others during Lent, rather than giving up something, like chocolate or alcohol. It was an activity for the whole family to participate in.”

The idea for this project originated from clergy-staff conversations an outreach to Austin Street to determine their specific needs.

Chanta Bhan, Associate for Mission & Outreach, said she began looking at Lenten calendars and thinking about how to incorporate prayer, discussion, and action—which turned out to be collecting various items for the Help Them Home baskets.

She located art and obtained permission from the artist, Audrie Renée Patterson; and Travis Harvey, one of the SMAA's own graphic designers, nearly completely recreated it, to perfectly fit with what Chanta envisioned, and with unique symbols for each day of the journey.

Chanta, who joined the Saint Michael family in August 2020 and anticipates ordination to the transitional diaconate in June, observed, “As parishioners have identified, this Lenten service opportunity engaged the parish in a particular fasting practice, addition fasting. In this practice, we add a spiritual practice to our routine. Other forms of fasting include abstinence fasting in which we remove something from our routine and replacement fasting in which we substitute one practice for another in our routine. These practices are meant to deepen our connection to God and others.”

Lenten packets went out the first week of February containing the illustrated Journey to Easter graphic, a meditation book and a purple altar cloth that parishioners could use to fashion a home altar. The graphic specified an action for each day, such as: collection of a specific household item (pot holder, paper towel), prayer, or questions to be discussed about the home insecure with family and friends.

Christi Morrow said: “If you followed the path, you were doing something every single day. It really was a Journey to Easter. I think it deepened our awareness of the needs of Austin Street Center and their goal to transition people into housing.”

As a longtime partner to Austin Street, Saint Michaelites are used to cooking and delivering meals to the Center, so this focused on another aspect of the agency that has served as one of Dallas’ largest home insecure shelter for more than three decades.

Libby Card, community and donor relations manager for Austin Street Center, talked about the project’s importance. The Center’s mission is to provide safe shelter and basic needs for the home insecure but it is also to help them find jobs and permanent housing. She worked with caseworkers to come up with a list of client needs when exiting.

Last year, 2020, was a record year for Austin Street, as the agency moved 276 clients into permanent homes. People arrive at the shelter with nothing, so it is expensive for them to get re-started, faced with rent, security deposits and other expenses of moving into a new apartment. “We noticed many clients did not have essential household items. That’s where the community comes in,” she said.

Austin Street is continuing this year to move clients out, on average, about a client a day. “So 230 baskets sustains us through 2021. For parishioners to respond like that is incredible. Every client moving out through the end of the year is going to get one of these baskets,” she added.

Other organizations and volunteers are also providing “Help Them Home” baskets, but not to the extent of SMAA. “It’s a lot to make one basket, so to make 230 is amazing. It makes us speechless,” Libby said. Christi Morrow said it was “fun to see how people came together to complete the project.”

Some parishioners made it a family project; some gathered basket items with their grandchildren. Since filling the baskets could be costly, some people joined together with neighbors, friends, or other families to fill the baskets. Chanta said one Good Shepherd neighborhood delivered about 12 to 14 baskets.

Chanta noted that many baskets contained notes of congratulations and encouragement to the recipient. “It was a very loving and thoughtful act. It doesn’t surprise me because the people here are very thoughtful and caring,” she said.

Among the basket messages were: “welcome home,” “enjoy your new home,” “we’re praying for you,” and “God speed in your new home.” Some were signed by parishioners’ first names, establishing a more personal connection.

Besides the notes, there were other special touches. Some of the baskets were color-coordinated; one had a mint-green theme, another was all beige. Contributors also thought about what else that person might need, tucking in laundry detergent or other items not on the request list. Parishioners liked that it was a community effort.

Sharon Tomnitz, a Good Shepherd for 35 years, contacted the 14 SMAA families in her 3-street, 6-block area of Highland Park and each one contributed in their own way. Some provided specific items or whole baskets. Some donated funds for other shoppers. “We ended up with eight full baskets and a whole lot of extra goodies,” she said, including a crockpot, cookware sets, mattress pads, and throw blankets.

“But it’s about more than just the number of baskets. For me, it’s about a team effort. It’s all about being a part of something. This provided people an opportunity to be part of a neighborhood community. Even if we only filled two or three baskets, it’s giving everybody the opportunity to be involved. The inclusion is the most important part,” Sharon said.

Paige Wilbur concluded: “This is a perfect example of how we need to think outwardly and help others. I think it was a huge hit and we’d like to do more of this type of thing in the future.”

Zoe Hart said M&O is looking to take the template of this project and continue to use it going forward. “I don’t know if it will be repeated exactly, but having parishioners walking a service journey together will definitely be repeated.”