At Liberty Hospitality

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At Liberty Hospitality

A hospitality and support program for homeless men and women in Louisville. Homeless shelters send people onto the streets at 6 a.m.

For over 30 years, Jeff Street Baptist Community at Liberty has hosted the morning hospitality program for the most down-and-out people in our community. We are a small congregation located just east of downtown Louisville, seeking to follow God's call to "do justice, love kindness and walk humbly". Many people never made it into the shelters. The At Liberty Hospitality program gives people the op

portunity to find warmth (or cooling), coffee (and often a breakfast), a paper to read, a phone to use, personal care items, and most importantly, a place of acceptance. We provide a sense of normalcy and stability for very vulnerable individuals. After building relationships of trust and respect with these individuals, we are able to refer them to health care providers and caseworkers from other agencies who visit on a weekly basis, including staff from Seven Counties and Family Health Centers. For many of our guests, the Hospitality Program is their first and sometimes only point of engagement with the homeless provider system.

11/14/2022

If you plan to do Holiday Shopping this year, the At Liberty Hospitality Program, is benefiting from the Holiday Shopping Program that Just Creations (Louisville's Fair Trade store) does each year to help out local non-profit organizations. Please consider shopping at Just Creations between November 28 and December 3, and asking them to donate their 15% to the "Jeff St Baptist At Liberty Hospitality Program" (There is also an online option during that week - see below). Please feel free to share this with your friends. Below is more detailed information if you want it:
“JUST CREATIONS” HOLIDAY SHOPPING PROGRAM -
Benefits our At Liberty Hospitality Program
The Jeff St Baptist Community At Liberty Hospitality Program is a weekday drop-in program (Monday – Friday 7:00 – 10:00 am), which serves homeless men and women in our community with coffee, a light breakfast, referral services, and the provision of essential items such as masks, hats, gloves, socks, coats, etc.
Shop Monday, Nov. 28 – Saturday, Dec. 3
10:00 am – 6:00 p.m.
2722 Frankfort Ave.
When you shop at Just Creations during the above days/hours, and
mention our name during checkout (Jeff St Baptist Community), our At Liberty Hospitality Program* will receive 15% of your purchase as a donation.
You can also shop online during that week at shop.justcreations.org, and mention “Jeff St Baptist Community” in the comments section, and we will also receive the 15% donation.
The money that you spend at Just Creations during “our week”, by buying a unique gift, will support an artisan in a developing country, AND help us purchase winter items (such as hats, gloves, and socks) for the homeless guests of our Hospitality Program.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

10/21/2022

As you prepare for cold weather and are going through your closets, if you have any extra cold weather items such as coats, hats, gloves, socks, sweatshirts, sweaters, sweatpants, blankets, or throws, please feel free to bring them to church for us to hand out to our homeless friends on weekday mornings. We were reminded this week just how soon Winter will be upon us!
(And, as always, we can use any small plastic "Kroger" bags that you might have.)
If for some reason you can't get the stuff to the church, let me know, and we can arrange a pick-up.
Thanks!

08/10/2022

Happenings with Hospitality:
"I'll have some things for you tomorrow" and I know it to be true. He lives in a section 8 apartment complex now, but I suspect he has experienced being unhoused at different times in his life. From what he does reveal about his life, he knows the biting struggle of 'just getting by', and so he now spends a part of his day collecting, bringing us items he's tested, items that he knows people can use or would simply like to have. He predicts when it's going to rain ("I can feel it in my old bones, they get to aching", he says) and so he brings us umbrellas and ponchos he's found. About every other week he brings us a couple of backpacks to give out, an essential and valued item for unhoused folks. And he knows that Bibles, especially pocket New Testaments, are popular, and so he brings us some to hand out when people ask for one. And people do ask. Last week, he overheard another man say that his bike had been stolen, a bike he needed. "Come with me," he said to the man and I saw them walk down the street together toward the apartment complex where our collector lives. An hour later, they were back at the Hospitality Program, with a bicycle. "I've had that stupid bike in my apartment forever. Can't ride it because of my old bones. Somebody said they was going to buy it off me but he never came up with the money. I'm tired of looking at it so I'm giving it to this man," and the man with his new bicycle just smiled, like he couldn't believe what had just happened.
This morning our generous collector said before he left, "I'll have some stuff for you tomorrow." I'm looking forward to seeing what he brings us.
Bro. Tim

08/09/2022

Happenings with Hospitality:
Despair. It was in his eyes, his hunched shoulders, his words, and nothing I said to him was getting through. The God-talk I knew by heart, the liturgy and prayers I had repeated on Sunday mornings, Bible verses I had used before in such situations - all of it fell to the ground, lifeless, and I knew it. She knew it too, the woman I had been speaking to throughout the morning as she waited to see the Thursday morning medical team at the Hospitality Program. When I finally stopped stumbling around trying to find the just-right words to say to this man, she, without prompting, broke into song. Angelic and sacred, holy and eternal, it was all there in her clear voice.
I've got a feeling, way down in my soul,
Everything, everything will be alright
Alright, alright, alright
Gonna be alright.
Jesus picked me up, turned me around,
Everything, everything will be alright.
Gonna be alright.
Then Jesus placed my feet on solid ground.
Everything, everything will be alright.
Alright,
It's gonna be alright. Amen.
I didn't just imagine it; she noticed it too. The man seemed lighter now, some of the darkness had lifted. He had listened, raptly, to her song, nodded, smiled, and when she finished with her 'amen', he said, '"Thank you." For a few moments, her song, a sacred light, broke through despair.
Bro. Tim
Photograph: Paul Mutton

08/03/2022

Happenings with Hospitality:
Meet Ducky. No one may ever know the real story of Ducky's origin or lineage. The two men who brought the kitten from their camp to the Hospitality Program one morning have entertained us with a number of stories about Ducky - the one most repeated is that Ducky's grandfather was a ferocious guard cat that attacked anyone who threatened his owner. Despite Ducky's mighty lineage, the men knew that the kitten needed more care than they could offer to her, and so they handed her over to the Hospitality Program staff, knowing she would be well taken care of. Fed, cleaned up, and after some 'oohs' and 'aaws', Ducky was taken to a veterinarian for a check up and within the day adopted by a wonderful, caring couple in a loving home.
And so it is at the Hospitality Program and among our brothers and sisters: "All creatures great and small . . . The Lord God made them all."
Bro. Tim

07/11/2022

Jim Forest, biographer and long-time friend of Dorothy Day, wrote that her legacy will likely be as the patron saint of homeless people and those who try to care for them. Because of her ceaseless commitment to the poor and the stranger, the person who has nowhere to go and no one to welcome him or her, and her own hard life of voluntary poverty among the homeless, she found it necessary from time to time to engage in a retreat, sometimes to her small room at the Hospitality House In New York City for a day or two, or to a Staten Island shack for a week. Those times were set aside for quiet reflection and meditation, a time to take stock and to make inventory, pray, read, write, and rest. Indeed, she thought retreats were so essential to the well-being of those who served the homeless that she strongly encouraged, and sometimes insisted, that staff members at each Hospitality House participate in periodic retreats.
"Pouring rain today. I stayed in, resting - feeling exhausted. Then tonight the prayers, the rosaries I've been saying were answered. And the feeling that prayers are indeed answered when we cry out for help was a comfort itself. "Praised be to God, the God of all consolations. He comforts us in all our afflictions and enables us to comfort those who are in trouble, with the same consolation we have found from him. (2 Cor. 1:3-4)."
- Dorothy Day, "The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day"
Bro. Tim

07/07/2022

Happenings with Hospitality: How do they manage it, the people who start gathering at sunrise, and earlier, for a cup of coffee at the Hospitality Program? Elliot Liebow asked the same question in his book, 'Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women.' "How do homeless people stay fully human while body and soul are under continuous and grievous assault? One can just as easily be immobilized by hopelessness and despair as by hunger and cold." And yet many do hold onto hope. I've started jotting down their responses to my "How are you this morning" because they sometimes make me laugh, or leave me hopeful for the day, or just remind me of what I need to be reminded of.
So, how are you this morning?
""I'm blessed by the best."
"God got me up this morning, and gave me this day. I can't ask for anything else."
"I'm a walkin'. I'm a talkin'. Thank you, Jesus."
"I'm still breathing."
"I'm just glad to wake up and be on this side of the ground."
"If I was a dog, I'd be waggin' my tail. (This one came from a man that had been given a new suitcase, with zippers that zipped and wheels that turned, a drastic improvement from what he had been dragging around for weeks.)
"I'm blessed. I'm above dirt and I don't hurt."
And to the greeting, "Good to see you this morning" came this response - "It's good to be seen . . . and not viewed."
I don't mind telling you that I've started using some of these myself.
Thank you Rose and Dave for handing out coffee, water, and breakfast snacks, organizing hygiene products into bags, and sorting t-shirts this morning. And for sharing grand baby photos and stories.
The Hospitality Program served coffee, cold water, and breakfast snacks to 152 men and women this morning.
Painting: Vincent Van Gogh
Bro. Tim

07/06/2022

Happenings with Hospitality: I was a little leaguer up against a major league sports guy, and he let me know it. Hockey's championship games, the Stanley Cup series, were over and I commented to this gentleman that it was a shame that the Tampa Bay Lightning would not be hockey's first team to win the championship three times in a row. "Oh no, that's not right," he came back with, and I knew then that I should have brought up the weather, or something in politics, or apple or blueberry fruit bars, which is the best - anything other than sports 'cause from that moment on I got schooled. "FOUR times in a row they won the Stanley Cup. The New York Islanders. '80, '81, '82, '83. Probably best team ever in hockey with Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith, each of them a Hall of Famer. I watched them as a kid. And before them, there was the Montreal Canadiens with one of the greatest players ever, Guy Lafleur." I did the only thing left for me to do. I changed the subject. "Well, how about them Yankees?" He pivoted and left me in his dust. "Yeah, this year probably as good as the '27 Yankees and if he keeps it up, Aaron Judge is going to break Maris' 61 homer mark, which in my thinking is still the real record." Now I'm reduced to just nodding my head and saying, "Yeah, that's right. Uh-huh, I agree." He won, he knew it, and he was gracious enough not to do a little victory dance around me. I learned, though. When he comes to the Hospitality Program now, he is greeted with, "Hey ESPN, catch me up." And, man, does he ever.
The Hospitality Program served coffee, cold water, and breakfast snacks as well as underwear to 124 men and women this morning.
Bro. Tim

07/05/2022

Poetry from a young man who has become a regular at the Hospitality Program. He called it a gift to us. In return, we gave him a notebook, and made this request, "Please, fill this with your words, your poetry."

I will be climbing
the rock of Gibraltar
despite bone shards and
the invisible sharks.
Never a moment did I
doubt the cast iron
monkeys that I seek.
Home is where
you find it.
But you better find
it soon because
winter is coming.
And when you look the wrong
way down a one street
it will be clear and full of sunsent.
I only know this because
of the way the dust settled last night
after all the smoke
but there, somewhere, is a virtue.

The Hospitality Program served coffee, cold water, and breakfast snacks to 118 men and women this very hot and humid morning
Bro. Tim

07/01/2022

There will be, of course, much flag waving, freedom speeches, and fireworks this Fourth of July weekend. But while all that is going on, we should keep in mind those who live in what Michael Harrington decades ago called 'the Other America.' The Coalition for the Homeless' recent report, 'Addressing Urgent Needs: A 2022 Analysis of Homelessness in Louisville', has the stark numbers. "Our data shows two significant trends between 2018 and 2021: a 41% increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness (7,572 to 10,640) and a 4,837% increase in the number of people seeking services other than shelter'" (living on the streets or elsewhere).
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. summed up the situation:
"We are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that would be only an initial act. One day the whole Jericho road must be transformed . . . True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it understands that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."
The Hospitality Program is proud to be a part of Jeff St. Baptist Community at Liberty, a strong and long-time member congregation of Citizens of Louisville Organized and United Together (CLOUT). Among many issues concerning justice, CLOUT has for years fought for and achieved city funding for affordable housing, a key component in solving the crisis of homelessness.
Photo: Judith Calson, S.F. Public Press

06/30/2022

Treasures of Hospitality: "For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also."
A table of treasures tells the story of this morning at the Hospitality Program.
- A young man asked for a second cup of coffee. We serve a large first serving of coffee, and because of the number of people that come to the program in the morning, we normally limit people to one cup. But this morning, he looked so worn out that when he pulled some change out of his pocket and offered to pay for a second cup, I couldn't turn him away. "Hang on to your money, it's on me. Get a second cup." He walked to the service door, received a cup of coffee, and left 22 cents on the tray. Thank you.
- One of our regular guests brought his dog, King Samson, to the program yesterday to proudly show him off. We provided a bag of dog food and pastor Cindy asked if there was anything else King Samson needed. "Do you have any flea collars?" Samson's friend asked. We didn't, so Pastor Cindy bought one yesterday and brought it to the program for King Samson.
- Occasionally, people have asked for notebooks, and we've been able to hand a couple of sheets of paper, with a pen, to them. This morning a man asked for a notebook and thanks to Lydia, who donated a box of notebooks to the program, we were able to give him one. Thank you.
- A young woman who has recently started to come to the program for coffee has taken responsibility for feeding the sparrows. She did this morning, and they sang. Thank you.
- A couple were escorting a man, new to Louisville, to places where he could get something to eat, drink, find clothing, get medical attention, and talk to someone about housing. They introduced him to the Hospitality Program. Thank you.
-"You all should put this up on your wall," he said as he handed me the bumper sticker. "This is your brain on hugs." We are pleased he thought of us. Thank you.
The Hospitality Program served coffee, water, and breakfast snacks to 141 men and women this morning. Housing and medical staff were at the Hospitality Program to talk to and assist our brothers and sisters.
Bro. Tim

06/29/2022

Wednesday Sidewalk Shorts at the Hospitality Program:
- I'm going into recovery tomorrow and then get into some housing. I've had enough. Can't do it any more. Thank ya'll for what you do. I don't have anything to give you so I brought ya this. Thank you." With that he handed us flowers. Thank you, our brother, and God bless you. Our hearts and hopes go with you.

- "How're you doing this morning?"
Without hesitation came the answer. "I'm walkin' and talkin'. Thank you Jesus.

- One of the first things we do in the morning, just as the sun is coming up, is to set out the traffic cones along the edge of the road to alert drivers that people are gathering on the sidewalk. "They're beautiful." The young woman sitting with her back to the wall was looking just above the skyline at a wisp of rose-pink clouds delicately curled against the pale blue sky. "Yes. They are beautiful." I paused to watch the clouds with her. "I wish my hair looked like that. I want to look like those clouds," she said.
The Hospitality Program served coffee, water, and breakfast snacks to 151 men and women this morning.
Thank you to everyone who brings shopping bags to the Hospitality Program. They provide a way for people to carry bottles of water, breakfast snacks, as well as articles of clothing and hygiene products we distribute.
Bro. Tim

Address

Louisville, KY
40202

Website

http://jeffstreetbaptist.blogspot.com/

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