HOME VAN JOURNAL - MAY 19, 2009

REMEMBERING OUR MARIA SHRIVER

She was several inches shorter than me, which would be about 4'9" tall. Twenty years ago she looked to be about sixty. For years she pushed her shopping cart around downtown Gainesville and slept, summer and winter, on the bench beneath the big clock. She spoke to no one and did not seek services at St. Francis House or, to the best of my knowledge, anywhere else. She spent her disability check on food, bottled water, and hygiene supplies, which she carefully packed into her shopping cart. I never saw her smile, except one time, which I will tell you about later in this story. The GPD officers assigned to the downtown area watched out for her.

Around the year 2000, Maria came to the attention of Gary Matthews and Mike Shipman of St. Vincent de Paul. They got her into housing and looked after her. Mike or Gary would stop by regularly to make sure she had food or whatever else she might need, like a ride somewhere, the same way people look in on their parents or grandparents to make sure that all is well. Gary tells me that every month she would come in to the SVDP office with whatever was left of her disability check and lay out the money to be counted. Whatever was lacking from her rent money would be made up by SVDP funds.

Over the years I have come to understand that even severe mental illness is not who people are - it is a kind of overlay on who the person is. Our small and silent Maria was what the Russian philosopher George Gurdjieff referred to as a "good householder." She was frugal and worked hard at keeping her life in order. She took care of her money - I have been told that she could break her silence with great ferocity if a suspicious person tried to approach her. She spent her money on what she needed and maintained a routine. Sometimes Freeman and I would see her shopping at Publix and offer her a ride home (otherwise she would take a cab). She accepted our offers, rode in silent dignity, and then thanked us.

The last time I saw Maria she was doing her laundry at the laundromat on NE 16th Street, with the assistance of a young man, maybe 30 something and dressed in a suit and tie. They had a full array of soap, bleach, fabric softener, and were intent on separating whites from coloreds and shaking out each garment before placing it in the machine. Maria was smiling! She had a wonderful smile I had never seen before.

Our Maria Shriver died last week. There was a funeral mass for her at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. We wish you Godspeed Maria. You were one of the silent angels who spoke to my heart and helped it open up.
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BILL AND SHAYNA, who lived in their big white van for two and a half years, are now living in a Section 8 apartment. Bill is an ordained minister and also retired from many years as a steel worker in Chicago. He and Shayna developed health problems and were no longer able to work. Their landlord kept raising the rent, finally so high their disability money could no longer enable them to live inside. Shayna says that living inside is pure, escstatic heaven. It is! The contact high I get - the pure bliss of walking from a bed to a shower - is the best part of this job. Enjoy your lives - we are living in heaven whether we know it or not.

THE GENERAL SITUATION AND WHAT WE NEED

Day Labor in Gainesville has largely dried up. We have always focused on getting tents for elderly and disabled people. The younger folks worked day labor for their tents and other basic needs. Now we have a situation where more and more people are sleeping on the ground, night after night, with no protection from the elements and nowhere to store their belongings. This is a cruel downward spiral that leaves people more and more sick, despairing and unemployable, even when there is work. I know this economic downturn is affecting everyone, but if you can get together the scratch to buy a tent or a tarp for the Home Van, it would be a wondrous act of mercy.

We are also starting to run low on over-the-counter medications. For the last year, thanks to generous donations plus meds available at Bread of the Mighty, we have been able to keep people supplied with pain meds, cold and allergy medicine, stomach medicines, and even vitamins for some of the frailer folks. Bread of the Mighty hasn't had any meds or vitamins for a long time and we only have meds left for about two weeks. With the health care situation being what it is (and soon to get much worse with the closing of AGH), these medications are the difference between heaven and hell, especially for those with intractable toothaches and arthritis. The cheapest place I know to get meds are the various dollar stores. Sometimes you can even get a bottle of aspirin for a dollar.

Thank you again to all the blessed elves who leave Vienna sausages, peanut butter, and protein drinks on our front porch.

Blessings on you all! love, arupa
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The Home Van needs Vienna sausages, creamy peanut butter and jelly, white tube socks, candles, bottled water, over-the-counter medications, tents and tarps. Financial donations to the Home Van should be made out to St. Vincent de Paul, earmarked for the Home Van, and mailed to 307 SE 6th Street, Gainesville, Florida, 32601. All donations are tax deductible.