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February 1, 2022. By Ken Mammarella
“In 1976, Brother Ronald Giannone, OFM Cap., was sent by his Capuchin Franciscan Order to Delaware. After ascertaining community needs, he obtained funds for the Delmarva Peninsula’s first emergency shelter for homeless women. Mary Mother of Hope House opened Oct. 7, 1977. His mission since: Assure that “the poor should never be treated poorly.” The Ministry of Caring budget now tops $10 million, with 19 programs, including childcare, dining rooms, shelters, and housing options. Brother Ronald also oversees several housing operations in Wilmington, with a $7 million budget, and one near his childhood home in the Bronx.” Reproduced courtesy of Today Media and The Delaware Valley Italian-American Herald.
Read the full story here: https://www.italianamericanherald.com/i-did-the-maximum-good-i-could-do-on-earth/
Howard Burch, a combat veteran, spent two nights in the woods before finding shelter at House of Joseph I.
Shortly before he came to the Ministry of Caring, Howard Burch spent two nights sleeping outdoors.
A 56-year-old Marine combat veteran who served in Beirut, Lebanon, Burch had post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his service, compounded by strife in his family.
“I was caught between a rock and a hard place,” he said. “I just wanted peace. I wanted to practice peace.”
Burch was recently divorced and had been living with an Iraq War veteran, but she became caught up in drug addiction. He knew he had to move out, but he had nowhere to go. While he was looking for a place to live, he learned his niece had been sexually assaulted, and he began feeling anger he couldn’t control. He went to the urgent care center at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Coatesville, Pennsylvania.
“They told me they didn’t have no beds,” he said. “I slept in the woods for two days.”
A counselor at the VA told him about the House of Joseph I (HOJI), the Ministry of Caring’s emergency shelter for men. Burch made an appointment to meet the shelter director, Tony Attaway, but he thought it would be another dead end. He admits to having trust issues with men. He had grown up with an alcoholic father, who showed up drunk to his high-school track meets, if he showed up at all.
“I came in here, sat down here, and as soon as I saw Tony… there was something about him,” Burch said, sitting on a couch in the HOJI living room. “I heard him out, we did the interview, and I stayed. Since I’ve been here, everyone’s been a blessing.”
Attaway said he saw a courageousness in Burch.
“He was quick to stand up and speak out for what he felt was right,” Attaway said. “Being in the military, he came home with that same attitude, ‘I will stand up and defend you.'”
Burch said, “I’m one of the ones who survived the Beirut experience. I just got tired of surviving, feeling as though every day was about surviving instead of just living. [House of Joseph I] gave me an opportunity to practice the small things—cleaning up in the morning, setting the table, breaking the table down, praying over the food, being thankful for the little things.”
Burch began volunteering at Emmanuel Dining Room, and found comfort in serving those who were even less fortunate than himself.
Everywhere he went, he brought his backpack, filled with a notepad and a first-place ribbon he won in a singing contest. He discovered he was eligible for significant financial support due to his combat-related medical condition. After about a month at HOJI, he added a new item to his backpack—a key to his new apartment. There’s one HOJI staff member he was eager to show it to—his case worker, Jeremiah Thaara.
“Mr. Jeremiah, I can’t wait to see him tomorrow. He challenged me. He wanted to see the keys to my apartment. He wanted to see the lease agreement,” Burch said. “I like to be a man of my word.”
Several local business are collecting new and gently used coats, hats, scarves and gloves, which the Ministry of Caring will distribute to homeless and poor people. Adult and children’s sizes are needed.
To donate an item or to set up a collection point at your workplace or other site, please call 302-652-5523 or email mail@ministryofcaring.org.
Hope House I — Our first program has been a place of peaceful refuge for women for 40 years.
House of Joseph II — A home full of love can make all the difference to people with HIV/AIDS.
Child Care Center — Happy kids in our early learning centers mug for the camera.
Hope House I — Residents of our women’s shelter tell their stories.
Videos we like. View the list by clicking in the upper-right corner.
The word “intern” usually conjures an image of a young graduate, making his or her first foray into the workforce. But that’s not the case for Mary Mellon Trotter, who spent the summer as a mental health counseling intern in the Ministry.
Mellon Trotter already had a long and successful career in the nutrition field. She even helped Michelle Obama develop a nutrition program. But she decided to move in a new direction, so she went back to school and recently graduated from Neumann University with a degree in counseling.
“It’s never too late,” she said.
Mary was part of a team of four summer interns supervised by Shannon Ayres, the Ministry’s mental health counselor, who works with clients in the shelters and other programs.
She and one other intern, Blair Souder, finished their time in the program last month, after completing 250 hours of pro bono counseling services. Souder holds a degree in chemical engineering and an MBA. Like Mary, he went back to school later in life, earning a counseling degree at Neumann.
When asked about their experience at the Ministry they both chose the same word, “transformative.”
“It would be impossible to not carry this experience with you for the rest of your life,” Mellon Trotter said.
At a small gathering to mark their successful completion of the program, Ayres commended them for their service.
“As counselors, we are asked to bear witness to a lot of suffering, a lot of loneliness, and a lot of life’s core deep issues. The fact that the two of you were willing to come in and shelter these clients with your hearts, it takes a very special type of person,” Ayres said.
“It’s really planting the seeds and allowing people to grow from that. A lot of times these people have never been afforded the opportunity to have people listen to them in a non judgmental way, in a real compassionate way.”
The other two interns, Amanda Moore and Sr. Kathy Flood, OSF, are still in the program.
Moore, 27, works full-time as a para-educator with the Delaware Autism Program and is studying for a masters in mental health counseling at Wilmington University. In her internship, she spends time mostly at Hope House II and House of Joseph II.
Moore says a lot of her work with Ministry clients focuses on helping them to forgive themselves and others.
“The moments that stick out to me are the moments you can see the hope in a client’s face. You’ll sit for a session, and they’re not feeling like they have a lot of hope. But then you see the light bulb click on, when they realize they’re able to be successful in life,” Moore said.
“I’ve had a few of those moments, and they have been really rewarding for me, to see their face light up. It’s why, as counselors, we do what we do.”
—by David Sullivan, communications intern
The team of counseling interns gathered with other Ministry staff to bid farewell to two interns, Blair Souder and Mary Mellon Trotter.
Students from Child Care Center and Guardian Angel Child Care received their diplomas on July 28 in a graduation ceremony at Francis X. Norton Center. The graduates sang songs before and after they stepped up to the podium for their scrolls, as proud family members snapped photos.
See more photos on our Facebook Page.
NCALL recently featured an extensive article on the Village of St. John project in its newsletter. NCALL is a nonprofit organization based in Dover that specializes in affordable housing development, education and lending. It is helping to develop the Village of St. John, which will provide 53 units of affordable housing in Wilmington.
June 21, 2016
Every Sunday, Qina Godwin cooks meals for her housemates at Hope House III, and the menu often includes her delicious Ribs ’n’ Mac ’n’ Cheese. But it wasn’t long ago that Qina didn’t know where her next meal would come from, and where she and her three children would sleep at night.
Qina lost her apartment in May and had been struggling to find stability before she came to Hope House III.
Hope House III is a temporary emergency shelter for women with children, a comfortable site that provides residents with a stable environment and support for 30 to 45 days. During their stays, women work with a case manager who helps them to acquire skills in life management and parenting, while their children receive educational and recreational enrichment at Ministry of Caring child care programs.
“Now that I’m here, I’m back on my feet,” she says.
Since entering the house, she has learned how to use a computer and, with help from her caseworker, she successfully acquired a job cleaning businesses. She was able to get approved for an apartment and is currently near the top of the waiting list for a apartment of her own.
Qina attributes much of her success to Kim Boulden, the dedicated site manager of Hope House III.
“The house has had a good impact because of Miss Kim. Miss Kim works with you, especially if she sees that you are trying. That’s the kind of people I like, the people that bend over backwards to help you because they see you trying,” Qina said. “Kim is more hands on, the rest of the shelters I’ve been to are not like that. They are basically, you go out and do what you got to do yourself, Kim is more helpful and helps you strive and makes sure that you succeed and get where you need to be.”
Qina’s story is another example of how the Ministry of Caring’s continuum of care is successful for those who are ready to do the hard work of improving their lives.
“It’s a good program if you apply yourself and do what you need to do,” Qina said. “You’re not going to be successful if you are not trying.”
Feb 24, 2016
Wilmington, Del. – The Ministry of Caring has received $2,500 from the Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation just in time to help feed local residents. The Ministry of Caring will use the gift to provide meals to the hungry and homeless living locally. (more…)
The Ministry of Caring was recently awarded a $100,000 affordable housing grant through the TD Charitable Foundation’s Housing for Everyone grant competition. The grant will be used as completion funds for Sacred Heart Village II, a 26-unit affordable senior housing facility. This year’s “Housing for Everyone” theme was Affordable Housing for Seniors, focusing on initiatives that support the development of safe, affordable, accessible housing for older adults, aged 55 and over.
