An addiction to alcohol nearly destroyed J’s life. He couldn’t keep a job, his marriage had eroded,
and his teenage daughter had stopped talking to him. J was at rock bottom, but he was brave enough
to walk into the Bowery Mission and ask for their help. He committed himself to the Mission’s
six-month program, which allowed him to live on-site amongst other men of his
age and situation. But the Bowery
Mission also required J to work towards his own recovery. As a program participant (“resident”), J had
to regularly meet with a counsellor, and he was required to attend Church
service, which he came to love – not so much for the religious elements, but
more for the opportunity for self-reflection.
Other participants in J’s group came and went, but J knew it was doing
him good and he stuck with it.
J has been sober for 13 months now. When he graduated from
the Bowery Mission’s program, he relocated to another facility up in Harlem
where he has maintained his clean-living lifestyle and is saving money to get
into more permanent housing. While J knows
there’s no hope of getting back together with his wife, the fact that he has
re-established contact with his daughter (now 21) is an obvious source of pride.
Like many other Bowery Mission alumni, J gives back to the
organisation that he credits with saving his life. Indeed, that’s where I met him yesterday – in
the Bowery Mission kitchen, preparing the Easter Sunday lunch for the
anticipated 300 residents and community members who would stop by.
Having volunteered at the Bowery Mission on Thanksgiving Day few years ago, I knew that volunteers were in abundance on big holidays and this
Easter was no exception. I strapped on
the familiar red apron and J put me to work wiping down benches, filling saucepans,
restocking cutlery supplies, and sorting through the donations of salad greens
and vegetables that had come from restaurants and supermarkets across the city.
When our first cohort of hungry visitors came in, we dished
up plates of sausages & peppers (capsicum), pasta, tomato spaghetti sauce,
and side salad. I cast myself in the
role of Chief Parmesan Cheese Sprinkler, and for the briefest of times, I was
terribly popular.
Once we had cleaned up, I headed out the back to flatten
cardboard boxes for recycling, and to help the Mission staff fill garbage bags
full of food that they simply couldn’t use - either because there was just too
much of it (in the case of the bread), or that the food was perishable and
wouldn’t last the day. Mission staff
mused that sometimes, there is such a thing as being too blessed.
When you volunteer at the Bowery Mission (and other places like
it) you’ll be really busy; you’ll probably get dirty; and if you're anything like me, your feet
and body will probably ache the next day. But to my mind, whether
you volunteer a few hours to work behind the scenes, or up front and engaging with
the residents and community, it’s an easy way to give something back to a City
that makes you feel so welcome.
