WELCOME FROM HAYWOOD STREET:
UPDATES:
We are thrilled to announce that “Theirs Is The Kingdom”, the documentary film about the Haywood Street Fresco, has been accepted into two highly acclaimed film festivals and hopefully more are on the horizon! Follow along here!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
2. Haywood Street has multiple employment opportunities! More…
3. Sign up to provide a meal for Respite meal here!
4. Robert is inviting community participation in the garden and with campus maintenance Sunday-Thursday every week from 9am-12pm.
5. The blue bin is no longer available for clothing closet donations. Please drop off seasonal items and camping gear on Tuesdays from 10am-noon around back by the white door. If this day and time does not work for you, please reach out to Hannah.
COMPANION CORNER:
An Invitation From April to Companions:
I would like to invite companions for a time of fellowship in the sanctuary on Sunday, April 25 from 11:00-1:00 as we resume Fresco Viewing Hours. We’ll follow safety protocol of mask wearing and safe distancing and the air filter machine will be on. Please feel welcome to spend time in front of the Fresco, and with each other. I’ll be there to share updates on Fresco programming for 2021.
The regular Fresco Viewing hours for the public will be as follows:
Sundays: 11 – 2
Monday-Thursday: 10 – 2
You do not need a reservation to visit during these hours. If you’d like to come on a different day or time, email April to make a reservation. Please help me spread the word about these hours as we ease back into returning to campus with intention.
A HAYWOOD STREET REFLECTION BY: BROOK
Earlier this week, we announced the passing of Nancy Bennett (pictured above) — a beloved Haywood Street Friend, Companion, and congregant. Nancy served on the Haywood Street Board of Directors and most recently on the Board for the Haywood Street Community Development.
While we have been sitting with our grief, many of us have also been sharing stories and sweet memories of our dear friend.
I took this photo of Nancy last year after interviewing her about Haywood Street’s proposal for deeply affordable housing. She was thrilled to be an integral part of the planning process. She was also incredibly hopeful that she’d be one of the first residents.
Nancy and I bonded over our love of cities and regularly dreamed up our ideal New York City getaway. Hers included a night at the Waldorf Astoria.
But while Nancy could tell you stories of five-course meals and turndown service, she could also tell you stories of living on the streets; of seeking shelter not inside of a 5-star hotel, but rather in the stairwells and back alley doorways.
Nancy brought her experience of homelessness to Haywood Street and we will forever be better because of her shared insights and compassion for those who had walked a similar path. A couple of years ago, High Five Coffee wanted to host a drive for Haywood Street Friends and asked what items should be collected. I decided to check in with Nancy before getting back to them, assuming she would confirm my assumption that toothpaste and basic toiletries would be best. She confirmed that those things would be great, but kindly suggested that we also ask for small vials of perfume (“Like those ones you get as a sample from Clinique”, she said.), nail polish, and make-up. She told me that when she first realized that she was going to be homeless, she threw away everything “unnecessary”, but that the desire to feel dignified and beautiful did not go away when her housing went away. She completely changed this donation drive — from one based on the basics to one built on “unnecessary abundance”. And that is just so Haywood Street.
A few months ago, Nancy and I had a chance to catch up in the parking lot. She explained how in many ways the year had been challenging. She had experienced job loss and more devastating than that, the loss of her mother.
But in the midst of Nancy’s hardships, she had also managed to combine her stimulus check with a few hundred dollars she had saved and had invested in a car; a luxury she had not had in many years. Almost every weekend she was escaping the confines of the city bus line and delighting in evening drives up the Blue Ridge Parkway and hikes through the mountains. I remember her looking at me with those piercing blue eyes and saying, unabashedly, in her distinct and raspy voice, “This has been one of my best years yet.”
At this time, we hold Nancy’s husband, daughter, friends and family in prayer. Her ashes will be spread in the Haywood Street Garden and we will honor her life by remaining steadfast in our commitment to the margins.
