Tuesday, April 2, 1974

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Page Seven

Tuesday, Aprif 2, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAiLY Page Seven


Mliss ions

offer

"My poverity is with time. It's easy
to give someone $5 and tell them to
get lost. We must have the time to sit
down and talk with each man,"
Brother Gus of Detroit's Capuchin
Soup Kitchen says quietly.
In inner city Detroit, there are men
and women who take contributions
from the affluent and use the money
to buy food for those who have none,
provide beds for the homeless and
most precious of all, give time on
Sunday to those who need to talk.
Capuchin m o n k s, fundamentalist
preachers, and graduate students in
social work all listen. They listen to
a hard-luck cartoonist, who hasn't
held a steady job since his army dis-
charge nearly 20 years ago. They lis-
ten to a drunken man who wants to.
work, but doesn't have the will power
to hold a job or to get off the bottle.
They listen to an old man who cannot
match the rising costs with a stag-
nated social security check.
The Capuchin (Monastery) S o u p

Kitchen and the Detroit Rescue Mis-
sion are just two of many. These are
privately run centers where people
can go w h e n the government and
other sources fail.
The missions usually have religious
affiliations. But the degree of religi-
ous indoctrination offered with the
food and comfort depends upon which
faith backs the mission.
The Capuchin Soup Kitchen is a
Catholic mission. The monks who run
the place tend to avoid preaching
with the meals. Brother Charles, the
coordinator, says, "There is a danger
among the poor, that they'll join the
church as a gratitude for the meal."
He refers to such joiners as "Rice
Christians."
The Soup Kitchen serves all people
-poor, elderly, alcoholics, and others.
Preacher Evans' clientele at the De-
troit Rescue Mission are of a rougher
type; his patrons are mainly drunks
and heroin addicts. His outlook fol-
lows the 1 i n e of the fundamental

'he
churches, which sponsor .his mission.
The answer to all men's woes is Jesus
and when they find Jesus, they'll be
a happier lot.
But Evans and Brother Charles are
alike in one basic way: they both
offer selfless care for all who come to
their door. When people turn to them,
they k n o w they won't be ignored,
turned away, or treated like crimi-
nals. The "homes for the homeless"
have good keepers.


Photos
by
KAREN
KASMAUSKI

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