St. Martin's

Rebecca Harris

This past Thursday, Team Woodlawn volunteered at St. Martin de Porres House of Hope, a homeless shelter for women and children affected by substance abuse.  We were fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Miss Amanda, who runs a daycare for the children of the shelter and the children of previous shelter residents.  When we arrived, all that was on our minds was the unbearable heat.  We walked into the classroom to find a few fans running, which hardly could stop the sweat from pouring down our faces.  But there was music blasting in the room, and we were greeted by seven happy little preschool children dancing and singing along.  Our moods quickly improved, and we spent the next few hours dancing around the room, singing songs, clapping hands, and reading stories.  The smiles and energy that the children had were contagious.

Perhaps my favorite part of the day was when we sat down to lunch with Miss Amanda.  Amidst serving the kids food and cleaning up spills, she told us her life’s story.  She was a mother to sixteen children and had been a heroin addict for twenty years when she first arrived at St. Martin’s.  But she finally decided that she wanted to turn her life around and got clean.  Now, in addition to working with the kids of the shelter, she is going back to school and has a 4.0 grade point average.  She has seven grandchildren, and her face beamed with pride as she introduced us to one of her grandsons.  Her story was truly inspirational, and it was an honor to be able to work with her.