By Deacon Danny Rodgers
Birmingham - On Dec. 23, 1983, The Cooperative Downtown Ministries, a 501-c3 non-profit corporation, opened the doors of the City of Birmingham’s Number 6 fire station to men 18 years and older who were without food, shelter and clothing. The Cooperative Downtown Ministries was an ecumenical effort by eight downtown Birmingham churches to house homeless men living on the downtown streets and in abandoned buildings. These eight churches included our beloved Cathedral of St. Paul and she continues to support the Firehouse Shelter today with preparing lunch meals on three Wednesdays’ every month, joining St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic University Chapel in serving dinner every fourth Tuesday and providing a Board of Directors’ representative and financial support to the Firehouse Shelter. Other denominations and churches that were part of the founding of the Firehouse Shelter included Cathedral Church of the Advent, First Baptist Church of Birmingham, First United Methodist Church of Birmingham, First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church, New Pilgrim Baptist Church and Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.
The mission of the Firehouse Shelter is to provide to homeless men, 18 years and older, in the Birmingham Area a nurturing and caring environment offering supportive services that break the cycle of homelessness and empower individuals to achieve their highest potential. The Firehouse Shelter has been recently renamed “Firehouse Ministries” in order to properly describe its mission to serve as a faith-based organization that provides opportunities for spiritual growth.
Firehouse Ministries currently operates an emergency day shelter located at 1501 Third Avenue North where over 135,000 meals were served last year, 1,100 articles of clothing distributed and 50 men housed every night. This “Old Firehouse Shelter” is over 110 years old and is most inadequate to accommodate the complex needs of people experiencing homelessness. The need of a new facility that can serve the needs of men, many who are deemed chronically homeless, with a sense of dignity and respect has become paramount for our downtown community. Thus, Firehouse Ministries took a much-needed step of faith in the year 2015.
Many of us may remember that it was on The Feast of The Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8, 2015, that our Holy Father, Pope Francis, declared a “Jubilee Year of Mercy” and urged his Catholic bishops across the world to help build structural works of mercy in their dioceses. It has been clear to us Catholics throughout the world that “Mercy” has been and is Pope Francis’ central theme of his pontificate. We have been blessed with his many writings including his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel, and his book, The Name of God is Mercy.
In Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis tells us “that each individual Christian and every community is called by God to liberate and promote the poor and help them become part of society. Scripture shows that God hears the cry of the poor and acts, so much so that “He Himself becomes poor” (2 Cor. 8:9). Pope Francis goes on to say “that care for the poor is not a mission of a few. Jesus wants us to give the crowds something to eat, to eliminate structural causes of poverty and meet real needs.”
So, with our Bishop Baker leading the way, we embarked on a capital campaign to build a new Firehouse Shelter, now located at 626 Second Avenue North. Bishop Baker’s testimonial as follows was the catalyst that brought many donors to the $6.5 million capital campaign: “Committed to serving the needs of those who are least among us, we strongly support the planned construction of a new facility to provide comprehensive services to men struggling to find food, shelter and jobs in our community. Pope Francis has recently encouraged Catholic bishops across the world to help build structural works of mercy in their dioceses. I would be most pleased to see this construction begin during this Jubilee Year of Mercy.”
So, the effort was started in 2015 and the doors will open on Feb. 18, 2020. Thank you, Bishop Baker, for your love and support in making this “Gift of Mercy” a reality.
The new Firehouse Shelter will house up to 100 men, twice the current shelter’s capacity. This new facility will help Firehouse Ministries expand upon the continuum of community care we already provide. The building design is founded on functionality, cleanliness and adaptability. It will allow us to expand and better personalize the care we offer our guests.
The design includes expanding the general population capacity to 102, late entry intake for the working homeless, separate housing accommodations for men 18-24 years of age, emergency housing for a family, respite care for men recovering from surgery or injury, case management areas, medical screening rooms, computer classrooms, GED training classroom, a meeting room for substance abuse classes, job and life skills classes, and most importantly, an ecumenical chapel for a diversity of faith-based organizations to minister to the spiritual needs of the guests.
This chapel has a special significance for our Catholic community and diocese. On Sunday, Feb. 9, the Chapel was dedicated and blessed and offered back to Jesus Christ as a “Gift of Mercy.” And we did so in honor of Sister Mary Robert Oliver, O.S.B. The blessing and dedication were led by Father Jon Chalmers as the pastor of Holy Rosary Catholic Church where Sister Mary Robert Oliver and Sister Jackie Debone worship. As program director, Sister Mary Robert helped opened the doors of The Old Firehouse Shelter just before Christmas Day, 1983. She ministered to many men struggling for direction in their lives and we were privileged to hear the testimony of one who recently served on the Firehouse Board of Directors and acted as the painting subcontractor on our new facility.
"Sister Mary Robert Oliver is an example for all of us of the words we heard this past Sunday’s liturgy … from the Book of Isaiah: 'Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall be quickly healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.'"
Sister Mary Robert, thank you for being “salt and light” for the men of the Old Firehouse Shelter. In your honor, this new Firehouse Shelter and its Chapel is truly a “Gift Of Mercy.”