| October 05, 2018 

By Chick Carroll

When The Gathering Place — a daytime drop-in center in Brunswick for the homeless — began in 2011, our intention was simply to offer a place for those who wanted to come during the day where they would be respected and welcomed, where their essential dignity as human beings would be honored and recognized. These remain the watchword of The Gathering Place today. And the result has been wonderful to see. We watch many of our guests able to put their lives back together. Some get decent jobs again, some are able to move into a good apartment, some find a spiritual life again. And some  of them, for example, have become volunteers and supervisors as well, giving back to others, providing a growth opportunity not only for other guests but for themselves as well.

And, in the intervening years, we have discovered another wonderful result. Our volunteers have grown enormously too. When we began, the motivating force for us who volunteered was to be able to give to our guests. What most of us failed to realize was that our guests would give back to us. That our volunteers would learn from our guests as well as vice versa. Our guests have become among my most important teachers. I have learned, for example, from friends I have made among those who are homeless the value of trusting about the future. One day at a time; God will provide; things will work out. And that those results don’t depend on me; the world will offer opportunities to me.

Those who are poor and/or homeless have much to teach me that way. As a hard driving, striving member of the “I do it myself” club, which I learned as a child, I imagined that everything depended on my efforts. From the guests I have met at The Gathering Place, I have begun to see the grandiosity and the arrogance of my point of view. And, of course, some of the guests have learned from me, as well. When we are together, we learn from each other

I notice that our volunteers get what they need from their time at The Gathering Place. Of course, they each bring different skills and preferences. For some, keeping the kitchen well stocked and orderly is really important, and they are good at it. For others, planning and implementing programs for guests, or doing puzzles and joining in card games with our guests are their strength and pleasure. And for me, simply listening in conversation one on one with our guests is what I like and how I learn from them.

All of what we do with guests is part of how we do it. Our role with guests, the role of every volunteer is not just to do things for them, but even more importantly is to be with them. Not as experts, or as saints or helpers, but as companions, as fellow human beings with all the joys and sorrows and rights and obligations that being human entails. Someone wise, I forget who, has said that the curse of modern day life is isolation. And, combatting isolation is what we hope to do. Offering respect and companionship is what The Gathering Place is all about. Not just to our guests but to our volunteers also. And we ask that from our guests and volunteers as well. Respect and companionship absolutely do not flourish where arguments, gossip, and belittling occur.

Is our record perfect? Of course not. Do we always remember why we are here? Afraid not.  We have times when we or our guests forget  what we are about, that our goals are to respect the dignity of every person and to be available for companionship. But even when we forget, we try again- with gentleness and respect for those of us who have failed, even when it is ourself.

Chick Carroll is a founder and board member of The Gathering Place and a deacon at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brunswick. Giving Voice is a weekly collaboration among four local non-profit service agencies to share information and stories about their work in the community