Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine CATHOLIC www.gulfpinecatholic.com VOLUME 41 / NUMBER 22 June 21, 2024 Mercy Cross Center -- a place for hope, help and healing BY JENNIFER WILLIAMS, LSW Diocesan Director Catholic Charities of South Mississippi Mercy Cross Center (MCC) was blessed by a visit from Bishop Louis Kihneman III on May 28 as we marked a new chapter in the journey of this important facility. Construction work began in the latter part of 2023, which involved making the building safe and usable for its mis- sion of providing a safe place for members of the homeless community to have their basic needs met, connect with service providers, and receive medical care and mental health ser- vices, among other needs, in a central location. The actual work of the center began several months ago. Catholic Charities of South Mississippi staff members spent many morn- ings at the property explaining the process of the work moving forward and meeting with guests on site, while building trust with mem- bers of the community the facility will serve. This involved communicating what would come for the center and explaining the rules and parameters for its usage while also considering feed- back. MCC will be client-driven, meaning the needs of the guests will be considered as programming is developed. And we listened. A few weeks later, we began letting people know this was not a permanent spot to live but a stop on their journey to success. The rules are simple -- to live on the property and use the center, one must be regis- tered and working on a plan to move forward. There were only 40 spots and people were encouraged to apply. The next week we assigned spots and issued IDs. People do not have to live on site to use the cen- ter, but they do have to be registered and have a center ID. Once the spots were filled, anyone else living on the property was asked to leave; if they do not follow the rules, they were asked to leave. MCC is a day center only but, being client-driven, the team under- stands that this could be an unconventional manner of transitional housing. Case management began. The first full day that the center was open saw nine indi- viduals move from tent living to another form of housing. Three were helped with deposits in afford- able housing and three were provided bus tickets to New York and Florida where people they know can help them, which was confirmed through phone calls and receiving documents. One woman was brought by a medical transport service to a local hospital who sent them to another center, who sent them to Mercy Cross. She would have been homeless that day if a case manager didn’t sit and talk with her, learning that she has a home in Gulfport. She had no way to get there. After confirming the information, a simple Uber ride prevented her from being on the streets. Two others were alternately housed as a safety mea- sure for themselves. Days at the center have been spent having real conversations, matching individuals with case manag- ers to help them set goals, fill out housing applica- tions, showers, laundry, clothing, etc. But with all of this, the most important service provided at MCC has been humanity. It isn’t what we thought it would be. We thought the most basic, but important, service that we could provide would be a respite from the elements. But the most important service that our guests need is to be treated like humans. Our guests have shared that they have never been to a place where peo- ple consistently look them in the eye, remember their name, and ask about how they are doing. As an example, one gentleman was dozing in a folding chair. He was encouraged to sit in a more comfortable chair and put his feet up for a bit. He took a two-hour nap, unafraid of what would happen while he was sleeping. When he woke, he shared that he felt more human than he has felt in a long time. So many of the home- less population do not get good sleep at night and yet they are expected to do so much, to keep moving, to get a job, to find housing. How much do we get done when we haven’t slept in a day, in a week, in a month? There are guests at the center who have been offered rehab, domestic violence assis- tance, and other means to help make their lives better in the long term. Some have accepted, some are still considering it. They have been told that it is their choice to get help, but that their choices will impact how much we can help them. We needed help cleaning up some trash one day. We announced that we needed help. An hour later, the entire property was filled with guests helping clean up, doing what they could to make the community better. Every day the property looks cleaner and cleaner thanks to their help. There are a variety of reasons that people are liv- ing outside MCC. There are disabled veterans with vouchers, waiting for affordable housing to open. There is a couple who was housed by a homeless rehousing agency who were evicted because the rent was unaffordable for their fixed income. SEE MERCY CROSS CENTER, PAGE 11 Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III blesses crosses to be hung on the wall of the Mercy Cross Center during the May 28 blessing of the facility. At right is Mayor Andrew “FoFo’ Gilich of Biloxi Photo/Juliana Skelton