The Rev. Joan B. Murray
September 19, 2008
For five and a half years I served as minister of common cathedral, the outdoor church of Ecclesia Ministries on Boston Common. At common cathedral those who are homeless and those who are housed come together every Sunday to worship God, to sing and pray and reflect upon scripture together. During the week there are programs and outings, including an art and a movie program, and ministers of common cathedral visit homeless parishioners on the street, in jails, and in hospitals and at other health care facilities. The homeless parishioners of common cathedral are those identified as chronically homeless. They have been in and out of homelessness many times or have been homeless for more than a year, many for many years. These are the people for whom the housing first initiatives were designed.
During my time as minister at common cathedral, I observed many people moving into housing and many shared with me what that was like for them. I saw many who were able to keep their housing and many who were not able, but all struggled in the transition from street to housing. From what I have observed and from the stories I have been privileged to hear, I am convinced that chaplaincy services can play a key role in the support system for newly-housed and formerly chronically-homeless people. I will share first what I know of the transitional struggles people have faced and then explain how I believe chaplaincy services can support people moving from street to housing.
People are thrilled when they obtain housing. There is initial celebration and great anticipation. Then the fears, often beginning with the logistics, begin to surface. People ask, "How will I get furniture?" "How will I manage having my own place?" When they do move inside, many have told me that they sleep on the floor at first, even when they have a bed, or that they stay out all night and sleep in the daytime. From my perspective they do better inside, especially in terms of physical health, even when they struggle with how to live indoors. They make fewer trips to the emergency room, often drink less, and are safer from violence, both fights they might be involved in and attacks which are perpetrated upon them.
However, there is loneliness attached to moving from street to housing. People feel isolated. However dysfunctional the community may be, the fact is, that homeless people live in community. Groups of people sleep together outside or in shelters and share meals together at soup kitchens. They are often fiercely loyal to their inner circle. Housing disrupts their community. When they invite their friends to their new apartment, the gathering often becomes disruptive to other tenants and the temptation is to have friends stay overnight, which is generally not allowed. However people share their new places with their friends; their sharing can jeopardize their housing. Because of these struggles and their perceived need to choose between housing and friends, newly housed people often isolate themselves further. They sometimes stopped coming to common cathedral on Sundays and to the programs during the week. Thus, when they needed community more than ever, they often cut themselves off from their spiritual community as well as from their friends.
Chaplaincy services can provide companionship and support in the transition from street to housing to those who are newly housed through housing first initiatives. What is unique about chaplaincy services is that the focus is on spiritual health, rather than physical and psychological health. People need support in all these areas and, of course, they do overlap. Chaplains are uniquely qualified, however, to be fully present to people where they are, so that they can move to a different place — so that they can more readily access the other resources offered them. Homelessness creates physical, emotional and spiritual problems for people. Moving out of homelessness requires a change of mind set, a whole new way of being. Moving into housing from the street raises questions around identity, meaning, and loyalty to existing relationships. These are spiritual issues. Non-judgmental listening and compassion go a long way to helping people cope with these struggles.
I envision chaplaincy services to newly-housed people to begin with small group meetings around spiritual themes. The groups can be interfaith. The purpose of the groups would be both to bring people out of isolation to form new relationships so they can support one another in healthy ways, as well as to address pertinent issues. Group meetings with a spiritual focus can provide support in identifying the spiritual and emotional resources people have which can help them. These resources come from their faith traditions and from their lived experience, including the experience of living on the street. Chronically homeless people are extremely resourceful. When housed they can draw on those skills in new ways. A spiritual focus stresses a particular way of seeing which is hopeful and supportive of a positive self-esteem without denying the challenges and reality of any situation. A spiritual focus supports the belief that there is a power greater than ourselves which desires both to comfort us and to support our growth and transformation. Chaplaincy services can bring a spiritual focus which I believe is crucial to all people in any transition.
I envision chaplaincy services to newly-housed people to include one-on-one conversations, as well as group meetings. I expect that the individual conversations will flow out of the group meetings. Such conversations can address more specifically the needs of each individual. One of the goals of chaplaincy services is to help people widen their circle of care by directing them to social service care-providers, as well. In addition, chaplaincy services can support those interested in finding a new faith community in their new neighborhood. A chaplain would be available to accompany people to worship services while they explore a potential new spiritual home for themselves. Chaplains can also work with congregations to help them extend hospitality to people who are newly housed, people they may not be used to having in their midst. Supporting people in the formation of new relationships in new communities has the potential for creating positive social and spiritual networks.
My new ministry, Chaplains on the Way, began this past summer to serve poor and homeless people, people struggling with mental illness and/or addiction, and newly-housed people. The resources needed to provide the services described above are simple: a space for small groups to meet and access to the people, who are no longer visible on the streets and at programs. I look forward to exploring more specifically how Chaplains on the Way could serve individuals newly housed through housing first initiatives in Framingham. I believe having a chaplain as part of the support network for newly-housed people will increase the likelihood that people will stay housed for the long term.