Rahab's Sisters and People in Need
An individual's time of need can come at the most unexpected of times. Many people that have led so-called “normal lives” have found themselves slowly but surely sinking into ever more precarious financial positions, with many falling into homelessness. With no place to turn, many fall into lives of crime just to survive. Of course there are myriad reasons why a person ends up marginalized, living in rough conditions, without clear recourse. And as a few of the homeless or otherwise “living on the edge” people I've spoken with have said, the path back to relative normalcy is incredibly difficult to find and navigate. It's for this reason that I've decided to highlight an organization that, for the last 18 years, has been providing no-strings-attached assistance to marginalized people in the form of meals, clothing, hygiene products and mental health support. The non-profit organization is called Rahab's Sisters, which finds its location at 247 S.E. 82nd Ave, in the parking lot of St. Peter Paul Episcopal Church. Serving meals and giving out much needed items such as clothing, sleeping bags and more, they are open on Friday's and Sunday's.
Some of the volunteers at Rahab’s Sisters are seen here, out in front of the entrance. Image Courtesy: Saints Peter and Paul
Just last week I was first made aware of Rahab's Sisters, and their important mission, when I helped a friend move a filing cabinet for donation at their location. Upon arrival I met the current director, Desiree Eden, and was just so impressed with what she had to say about their operations. Moved to write about it after interviewing Desiree, this blog post came to be. Run entirely by volunteers, Rahab's Sisters takes in donations to keep their doors open. And these days, donations are in the greatest of need. Why? Well, as Desiree put it, it's a perfect storm:
“Traditionally we have been very reliant on volunteers and have always operated on a shoestring budget. People volunteer their time, others donate food, supplies and money. That’s largely how we’ve operated. But then when COVID hit, we lost 60-70% of our volunteers, which is understandable. However, we truly didn’t anticipate how many people would soon be coming through our doors. We didn’t expect it to balloon as it has. Just looking from 2020 to 2021, we have now more than tripled our cost of procuring food. Before COVID we hardly spent any money to make our meals and prepare them (we had partners donating). But that has changed. Food has gotten a lot more expensive, and our volunteer staff has shrunk. It’s a perfect storm. A crisis.”
Needless to say, Rahab's Sisters, and other organizations like it, need DONATIONS and they need VOLUNTEERS. I've decided to donate some of my time in helping them build a front-of-website video. I wish I could do more.
The Incredible Philosophy of Full Humanity
In listening to Desiree talk about their approach to people in need, she had this to say:
“When people come seeking a meal, or some supplies, we just give it to them without any strings attached. We don’t say things like, “We will feed you as long as you pray with us. Or we will give you a sleeping bag as long as you sign up for this program to get you on the road for finding housing.” We certainly have resources to help steer people in those directions, but we do not push these things on people. We just meet them where they are. It’s what we call “radical hospitality,” the idea of serving people without judgement. And when we see a newcomer we ask them, “How much food do you need?” This is always a surprise because we don’t limit people. If they need to take extra meals back to their partner, children or otherwise, we give it to them. Our goal is to truly serve what the person needs without putting any extra expectation on that person at the moment. They’re just trying to get through the day. It opens up the room for us to hear that person. To see their full humanity. To Build that trust. It takes months, sometime years to build that (trust). The full humanity, it’s messy. Even for those that are not marginalized, it’s messy. But to open up, to see it, it’s beautiful.”
Donations and Volunteers are Needed
As outlined, the need for donations and volunteers is at a crisis level. This is true for many organizations like Rahab's Sisters. Here is a list of what they are seeking, so please see what you might be able to spare as every little bit makes a difference:
Monetary Donations
Hygiene supplies
Clothing
Makeup (cause some people get beat up and want to cover up)
Sleeping bags (not down ones, they get wet and don't dry)
Blankets, especially wool but any and all will be taken
Rain gear
Tarps, tents
Image Courtesy: Rahab’s Sisters
Of Growing Concern
I asked Desiree what she's the most worried about. She had this to say, “One of the things that has been weighing on me, even though we're trying to get back to normal with the pandemic, is the rise in the number of folks coming in. This is still going to continue to increase pretty high and for a long period of time. And now, we do run out of food, it's heart wrenching. This is happening more often lately. We have been cranking out 600 meals a week, on Fridays and Sundays, and we were even doing a brunch on Saturday mornings for a while, but we had to stop that due to lack of funds and a highly-reduced number of volunteers.”
More History
Rahab's Sisters has been in operation for 18 years, since 2003. They got started by a priest that was at St. Peter's and Paul, and another priest, Sarah Fisher, as they were seeing a lot of women out on 82nd Avenue engaged in sex work. The priests started by leaving their lights on at night, serving hot cocoa to women that would come in. The first night it was just one person. The next night, four women showed up. The next night, five. Word simply spread that it was just a safe place at night. They weren't asking people to change their life, they were just meeting them where they were at. Radical hospitality.
Going forward, any given Friday they'd have 80-90 women come on site to be served. Sometimes yoga was being hosted in the mornings, and women would pick up hygiene supplies. Relationships just started forming. Most of the women, if they had children, didn't have them with them. They've primarily always been serving women. But during COVID, men started showing up too. Says Desiree, “So we had to accept all. We wouldn't turn them away. Rain or shine, we're committed to never closing, and never have.”
Additional Resources: Needle Exchange, Vaccines
The oldest needle exchange in the state of Oregon takes place at the site of Rahab's Sisters as well (Tue and Fri). The needle exchange is run by county personnel. The county also brings in Harm Reduction COVID personnel to administer vaccines on-site (administered by the Portland Fire Dept). Vaccines are on Friday's at 7 p.m. and this is committed through the end of 2021.