WELCOME FROM HAYWOOD STREET

UPDATES:

REMINDER:  Beginning this Wednesday, the Wednesday Downtown Welcome Table will go from 10:00-11:30 am. The hope is that this shift will allow companions and staff who want to attend worship at 12:30 have enough time to clean and transition upstairs.

The Street Dog Coalition will be back on campus Sunday, August 28th, from 9-12. This service for those experiencing or at risk of homelessness and need vet services for their pets.

The Golf for Awareness registration is open! This annual fundraising event benefits the Downtown Welcome Table and Respite, supporting those struggling with poverty and/or homelessness. The event will be held at the Asheville Municipal Golf Course on September 16th. Register Here!

We wrapped up our summer visits with Asheville Youth Mission last week. They were so helpful with projects around the campus, and they interacted and cared for friends of ours with such kindness and compassion. We are so grateful for their lively presence throughout the summer!

A huge shoutout goes to Jinnia, our Banquet Steward/ Chef de Cuisine, for the incredible meal at Wednesday’s Welcome Table. The pork loin was slow cooked and stuffed with spinach, apples, dried cranberries, bacon, garlic, rosemary and thyme. Thank you, Jinnia and all those who help prepare the meals. The work is certainly a labor of love!

With the increase of Covid cases in our community, we just want to remind everyone that we have masks available at the main entrances to the building. While not mandatory, it is encouraged for folks to wear them when indoors and around large groups.

COMMUNITY RESOURCES:

Check out this updated calendar that lists the food resources in the Asheville area. You’ll find the organizations, times, and locations where folks can get meals and groceries each day.

Click here to see the list the places in the community to donate clothes and to find free clothes. If you know of a place not on this list, reach out to Melanee at melanee@haywoodstreet.org.

COMPANION CORNER:

 

  • Servers are invited to join us at the Welcome Table: The kitchen is in need of additional servers at the Downtown Welcome Table on Wednesdays and Sundays. If you’d like to help, please let Katlyn know or sign up and feel free to bring a friend!
  • Meal Train for Respite:  Every night of the week a wonderful home cooked meal is provided for our friends in Respite. This month there are several open days that we need folks to sign up for. You can do so here: https://mealtrain.com/dm2y6z. Feel free to share this need with your friends, Bible Studies, etc.
  • Clean Up Companions Needed for the Downtown Welcome Table on Sundays and Wednesdays: Wednesdays 12:00pm-1:00pm and Sundays 10:00am-11:00am companions are needed to help clean up. You can sign up or just show up!
  • Haywood Street Hair Cutting Ministry – We are currently in the process of reimagining the Hair Cutting Ministry here that we have had in the past. If you would like to be a part of that process or would like to cut or wash hair when it is open, let Katlyn know!
  • To Go Boxes – Since reopening in December, we have gone back and forth with to go containers at the Welcome Table. Because we served only to-go-boxes during the pandemic, our community got used to the option and we didn’t want to take that away abruptly. We have slowly been phasing out of providing to-go containers and have decided to begin phasing them out completely. Once we run out of our current supply, we will not purchase any more containers. This is both for sustainability purposes (creation care & budget sustainability) and because we want to focus on the experience at the table and allow other places that serve to go to do that well. In the case of an emergency, staff will work directly with an individual and provide food to go if needed.
  • NEW MINISTRY UPDATES – Starting the week of May 1
    • Sunday Bible Study – 11:00am in the sanctuary
    • Tuesday Prayer Group – 12:00 in the sanctuary – Gather for a time of communal prayer
    • Thursday Card Making Group – 10:00am in Room 1 (off the main lobby) – Gather together to make cards for our community and friends in prison or in the hospital.

SACRED ENCOUNTERS

“A Love that Offers Hope”
By Brittany Borras

Caption: A metal grate covering a vent outside of Haywood Street’s main entrance. Beauty and an opportunity to pause can be found all over Haywood Street’s campus, even amidst chaos a day might bring.
Photo by Brittany Borras
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When I hear a place say that all are welcome, I’m optimistic and relieved, but also cautious and waiting. My childhood taught me to always be watching and waiting in that way. I also learned at an early age, not to be surprised or affected by the heart wrenching disappointment that often comes when I find all really aren’t welcome.

In my first conversation with Laura at Haywood Street, I was excited by the mission. I felt hope for a place that really and deeply cared for each person regardless of how they showed up. My big heart for seeing, helping, and caring for others brought me to Haywood Street as a graduate student. While I agreed to be there for a learning experience, I had a personal desire to be there too.

I often feel afraid to show up and my mind bombards me with the many reasons I shouldn’t or can’t be worthy and loved. My trauma tends to keep me small, hiding, and waiting. I hoped, if Haywood Street offers their love to anyone coming to campus, that should mean that same care gets extended to me no matter how I show up.

Haywood Street and its staff offer so much to anyone that decides to be a part of this place. Whether you visit for one day, or for years, you’re part of a family that through action shows you they love you, and they mean it. Haywood Street has helped me heal old wounds and stretch into places that have felt scary before. I know Haywood Street is a place where I can show up with my whole self, even my broken and healing parts, and always find love and finally see a beauty in the world that is being with people and being cared for. Being at Haywood Street has helped me work on healing a part of me that I’ve pushed to the side for years. I’ve been afraid to confront my own darkness and I’ve been convinced I should always hide away rather than risk being seen, or risk not being enough.

While I’ve been at Haywood Street I’ve seen staff wrap their arms around others over and over. I’ve seen them lean into caring for people that show up broken, scared, or on top of the world. Their love doesn’t end or stop and it seeps through people to touch their hearts on their best or worst days. Over and over I’ve seen examples of a type of love that offers hope, a sense of belonging, and safety. They want to get it right for people, they understand suffering, and they want to ease it through relationships above all else because they want to connect with people in a way that just through eye contact says.. You matter. You’re good. We love you..no matter what, and you’ll always be enough in this place.