Supporter Corner
by Jason Strecker
With the recent Together with Hope picnic taking place, I am grateful for the various groups that helped with donations and volunteering at the event. These groups include Solley United Methodist Church in Glen Burnie, St. Philip Neri Church and St. John’s Church, both in Linthicum. These church parishes have remained committed to helping Arundel House of Hope in various ways such as Day Center meal service and volunteering with Winter Relief. Other individual donors helped with items from the Amazon Wishlist.
Along with the special donors and the fun times at the picnic, another reason the Together with Hope picnic means so much to me is that it honors two very dear friends. The Together with Hope picnic is a continuation of the history of picnics called “Emmaus Center Freedom Festival.” The Emmaus Center Church was founded by the husband and wife homeless advocacy team of Father Ed Jansen and Amma Trish Gaffney. They founded Emmaus Center in 2008 and the church doors offered important forms of support to men and women living on the streets, such as Bible study, breakfast and lunch, a food pantry and trade classes. Their yearly Freedom Fests were originally held in the couple’s yard but attendance became so big that they moved locations to both the Sandy Point State Park and Fort Smallwood Park during different years.
Today, we see the Emmaus Center founders’ regular presence at the Arundel House of Hope Day Center/Community Recovery Center with their 12 step meetings, Bingo games and support with other special events such as Solley United Methodist lunches. Along with the Freedom Fests, another regular event with Emmaus Center and Together has been their Thanksgiving dinners which many will be looking forward to next month. As a longtime admirer of the Emmaus Center/Together founders’ unique services, I’m happy to see Father Ed and Amma Trish’s vision of service to the community continuing as Together at Arundel House of Hope.
Sincerely,
Jason
Arundel House of Hope Volunteer/Staff 2008-2010
