Anti-poverty plan aimed at housing family
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- One person can make a difference, especially
when it comes to easing poverty. Ask Mary Vanderwert and Pam Standl, both Christians and Head
Start workers who came up with a novel idea to help one family
in the grip of poverty. "Pam ran into a Head Start mom who (was applying) to get
into a homeless shelter," Vanderwert said. "The woman
was just coming out of an abusive relationship. She had two kids
and one had special needs. In Pam's mind she wondered what it
would be like to bounce from place to place -- shelter to shelter.
And then there is the accompanying grief of breaking off a relationship.
And there is also relief with being able to leave such a crummy
situation. And Pam and I both know there are a million stories
like that out there." So Vanderwert, a member of St. Luke's Catholic Church on St.
Paul's Summit Avenue, and Standl, a member of St. Timothy's Lutheran
Church on Victoria Street, began calling friends and neighbors.
Standl also recruited one of her pastors, the Rev. Jeff Rohr.
The result is the Starfish Project, a program that tries to help
one family struggling with poverty by paying a full year's rent.
St. Timothy's handles the money, and rent payments, which organizers
estimate to be about $6,000 annually, will be sent directly to
the landlord. Vanderwert said families must meet three criteria: Members
must be chemically free or at least on a solid road to recovery;
adults must make an effort toward self-sufficiency from government
or charitable support; and the family must include children. Rohr said the church group hopes to become acquainted with
the family and help it in many ways, including employment. "Some people can't hold a job. They don't know what to
wear -- don't have the clothes. And some don't know that you have
to arrive at the workplace on time," Vanderwert said. She also stressed the role churches can play in helping equalize
opportunity. "It's a justice issue, because all the job growth is in
the suburbs ... And unless religious people do something, our
cities will be like doughnuts with a big hole in the center,"
she said. The project's name, Starfish, comes from a story in which a
little boy goes to the beach. He finds it covered with thousands,
even millions, of starfish. The child picks one up and heads to
the water to put the creature back into the surf. A man on the
beach observes this and points out to the boy that thousands of
the starfish will die. "But this one won't," says the boy, as he gently
sets the starfish into the water. The message fit the women's goal perfectly -- solving what
seems like an overwhelming problem begins with just one person,
or a few people, taking action. Vanderwert and Standl began thinking of fund-raising ideas
and settled on a holiday caroling party. They hand-delivered notes
to neighbors, telling them about the program and seeking donations. "We had about 45 or 50 people (caroling), and it was a
very cold evening," Rohr said. "We broke into three
groups and started out, but after an hour everyone came back to
warm up and count the money. We had $750 after an hour, so we
prayed again and went out. Every two blocks we collected about
$250." One of the most unique contributions came from two women who
earlier had gone out jogging and found a $100 bill. Even other
caroling groups working the same area donated when they ran into
the Starfish groups. The Starfish Project has raised about $3,000, roughly half
the goal, but the organizers are hopeful. Their goal is to collect
the full amount and select a family before spring. "There is a lot of energy in the Starfish Project -- a
lot of passion," Rohr said. X X X To get involved: To donate to the Starfish Project, send a check to St. Timothy's
Lutheran Church, 1465 Victoria St., St. Paul, MN, 55117
Clark D. Morphew
Posted For January 16, 1999