Fall 2008 Newsletter

"The Samaritan Community, a place you can come when you really need help...."

    There are some people who need a little boost every once in a while to keep going.  They are essentially ambitious, resourceful and possessed of an independent spirit -- but for one or many reasons, life becomes overbearing.  The lucky ones, like Ray, come to the Samaritan Community for help -- and get it!

    On a pleasant, late summer morning at the Samaritan Community offices, Ray took time to tell me his story, in the hope that others may learn how the Samaritan Community has helped him.

    When Ray was just two years old his father died, and Ray and his mother moved to Baltimore.  His mother's strong influence kept him in school where he was third in his class in a local high school.  "I was always a good student," Ray recalls, which was problematic, because "going to school was not cool!"  As a result, Ray got into all sorts of trouble, including drugs.  He spent time in prison.  He was released from prison in  1991 and has not been back.  Ray has been totally off drugs since 1994 and gives much of the credit to his mother's continuing love and influence.  Ray currently has two sons, one now in jail and the other doing well as a sophomore at Morgan State University.

     Strong and in good health, Ray has been able to find limited employment as a home mover for a number of years.  While Ray loves that his moving jobs took him all around the country and put him in contact with fascinating people, the project-based work didn't provide a particularly stable income.

     As a hard-working guy who loves to fix things, Ray only came to the Samaritan Community for food, clothes, and help getting a job when he truly needed it.  Thanks to job counseling and advocacy at the Samaritan Community, Ray was recently hired in a full-time, permanent position with benefits.  Ray thinks often about his future and expresses interest in taking courses at a community college.

     When I ask Ray what the Samaritan Community has meant to him, he replies, "The Samaritan Community to me is a rock [of stability] in the community.  It's a place you can come when you really need  help, and you'll get it!"

                                                                                                               --Lee Starkey

               INSPIRING LIVES: YOUTH TAKE ACTION!

As 9-year-old Jake Schindler and his family were driving through the city, Jake spotted a homeless man and was troubled.  His parents, Sue and Joe, did not dismiss his concern.  Instead, Mom and Dad, Jake, and 7-year-old sister Annie came up with a plan  to help people in trouble.  The family spent days in the kitchen baking and then held a successful bake sale.  They netted $327.12 which they donated to the Samaritan Community.  We are grateful to Jake and Annie for wanting to make a difference.  Their  contribution helped save a young family from eviction when an illness caused a loss of income.  When a woman who had received services from the Samaritan Community heard about Jake, she sent the following note:  "When I heard you share the story about the young man," I thought, "that donation may have added to the assistance given to me, to help repair the recent rip in my day to day life.  I asked myself the question: 'What did this young man feel to be so moved to do something about a sad condition?'  I wanted this young man to know that I greatly appreciate his positive energy.  Bless him.  Please let him know."

SAMARITAN COMMUNITY SERVICES:  crisis intervention, individual counseling, suppost groups, Samaritan Residence & Food Pantry

                  SAVE THE DATE FOR   A Taste of France!

Sunday, November 23, 2008, 6:00 pm

Join us for a gala party of

superb food and fine French wines

Watch for your invitation

BEHIND THE SCENES: Meet Guy Hollyday, Ph. D.,  college professor, intrepid traveler, writer, photographer, musician, human dynamo -- and Samaritan volunteer.

     What a privilege it was for me to meet Guy Hollyday recently at the Samaritan community office.  I had heard that Guy is a real "human dynamo," kind of like the energizer bunny (he just keeps going) and I was looking forward to talking with him.  Greeting and shaking hands with him is like grabbing a live electric wire -- you can't help but be attacked by his infectious enthusiasm.  Although it is not possible to capture everything about Guy in a couple of short paragraphs, let me at least offer some highlights of his life and service to the Samaritan community.

     A native Baltimorean, Guy now lives with his wife, Pamela, in  Stone Hill, a neighborhood which today is blended-in with the area around Keswick Road below West 33rd Street.  In 1994, he published a book about this neighborhood, after interviewing and photographing many former residents.

     At the end of the Korean War, when Guy was 23, he was drafted and sent to Germany.  While there, he joined a German youth group and studied the German language.  Following his service, he acquired a motorcycle and toured Germany to continue his study of the language and culture.  On his return home, he taught German as a graduate assistant at Johns Hopkins University while completing the requirements for his Ph. D.

     In addition to teaching German for ten years, Guy has worked as an editor and a Baltimore City housing inspector, and taught English at Baltimore City Community College.  He also studied photography at Maryland Institute College of Art.  In 1998, Guy obtained a master's degree in acupuncture, and now works two mornings a week at the Penn North neighborhood center as an acupuncturist and zero balancer.

     Guy is a member of Memorial Episcopal Church and has been volunteering with the Samaritan Community since its beginning.  With his wife, Guy attends the Peace and Justice Eucharist on Tuesday mornings at 7:00 a.m.  After the service he helps set up for breakfast with the clients at 9:00 a.m. and stays to take part in discussion groups and to offer zero balancing.  Guy can also be found participating when the Samaritan Community organizes a field trip.

     During his time as a housing inspector in the inner city, Guy was struck by the daunting and unhealthy conditions in which so many of our neighbors live.  Helping at the Samaritan Community and taking part in the breakfast discussions with clients gives Guy a chance to contribute to the lives of some neighbors, and he says that he benefits personally both from being among those friends and from the ideas shared there.

                                                                                                             --Lee Starkey

THE SAMARITAN COMMUNITY GETS STRATEGIC

     The Samaritan Community has embarked upon an exciting new strategic planning initiative.  The primary goal of the initiative is to ensure that our resources are being deployed in a manner that best serves the needs of our  constituency now and into the future.  We have retained the capable services of Odette Ramos, President of Strategic Management Consulting, to assist us in our new endeavor.  With Ms. Ramos' assistance, the Samaritan Community Board of Directors held a full day strategic planning retreat in April.  At the planning session, we formed several committees, each charged with a specific set of goals.

    The Samaritan Community is indebted to Memorial Episcopal Church for providing financial support and encouragement for this effort.  We are pleased to be taking these steps to strengthen our organization and expand our capacity to serve our clients.  We look forward to sharing with you the improvements that will flow from our strategic initiative in the coming months.

Women Together

     The Women Together group recently visited The American Visionary Art Museum to see the exhibition All Faiths Beautiful.  Afterward we talked about the message of the show and what we each took away from it. 

The following are some of the remarks:

Everyone has a piece of the spirituality puzzle.  Together we begin understanding.

People are handicapable, we don't have to accept the labels.  We are scared to be who we are because of labeling.

I was shocked to see how intelligent people are.

It opened my eyes.                         It really enlightened me.

Less is more when God is in it.         We are all seeking the same thing.

I'm inspired to release more of myself.

You can do anything you set out to do.

Everybody has gifts.  There is beauty in everything.

...showed me that God has a bit of artistry in all of us, no matter what our physical or mental abilities are.

Women Together: having fun * finding meaning, purpose and serenity * sharing our fears, our dreams, and our wisdom * supporting * encouraging * sharing * loving *