Part 2.
To most. When you saw the home the mama’s from the community brought us to, you would have turned and ran in the other direction. But for us, we saw the gold. We saw the potential, and we knew this was going to be where we put down new roots.
A few blocks from our current location, walking distance to the local elementary school. This location could not have been more perfect.
This tiny, 3 room house, with a big fenced yard was exactly what we needed.
The days turned into weeks as our staff was hard at work making it functional. Cleaning, painting, burning, sanding, bleaching, repairing walls, adding in doors, bringing in water and sewer pipes, and even electricity. It was beginning to resemble home.
Every day, kids were coming to sit, and be. Helping when needed, but ultimately they simply wanted to be in our presence. As the days went on, we noticed they would bring their homework for help, toys to sit in the dirt to play with, and even snack or two. We had nothing set up, ready to go, but we created home.
One afternoon as our staff was working on getting the space open for our first Friday feeding, one of the little kids yelled out, “Voy a la CASA MARKED” (“I’m going to MARKED’s house”). It was that moment that we knew exactly what this space was. It was home. It is a place to represent rest, family, safety and a model for the community as to what home can look like.
Since opening our doors on February 18th, it has become home to hundreds. It may not be fully set up, and we still need quite a few things, but even in its imperfections, it is home.
(Continued next week)