Friendly. Relaxed. Supportive. Low-key. Peaceful. Nurturing. Accommodating. Home-like.
All of these words could be used to describe the atmosphere in the morning at Patchwork.
Looking around Patchwork’s main room, you may see people drinking coffee, gathered together to talk to friends, charging their phones around the room’s perimeter, or closing their eyes for a brief rest.
Our volunteers stand at the kitchen window pouring cups of coffee or lemonade and serving up snacks. They chat with everyone coming to the window, answer questions, and direct folks to other areas of Patchwork as needed.
Our Hospitality volunteers make it look easy, but it takes skill and effort to do the job well. Many of our guests are experiencing stressful times in their lives. They may be tired from sleeping in less-than-ideal conditions. Or they may be frustrated because solutions to their problems aren’t easy or fast and because new roadblocks keep popping up in their way. Or one person’s behavior, influenced by substance use or mental illness, may get on another person’s last nerve.
Our volunteers help everyone feel valued and heard, they get to know our guests, and they do a lot to deescalate situations. The role has grown and evolved considerably over the years.
More than a decade ago, mornings at Patchwork were much quieter, but we suspected that we needed help. People waiting for food from the food pantry or bike repairs or a shower enjoyed drinking coffee to pass the time, but the coffee pot often ran dry, messes were made, and things were generally not organized.
At that moment, Helen Fisher stepped up to be our first “Hospitality Hostess” to keep things organized and running smoothly. You will still find her in the kitchen every Wednesday, and a team of others has joined her on other days of the week. Andrew, Jessica, and Nancy are here Mondays; Gail is here Tuesdays; Helen, Phyllis, and Azariah are here on Wednesdays; and Mary, Mary Jane, and Judy are here on Thursdays.
Gail is our second longest serving Hospitality volunteer and has also “hostessing” for over a decade. Gail will tell you how much the job has evolved through the years. Mostly, it has had to adjust to significant increases in demand. Since we first began keeping track in 2012, our hospitality services have increased by 260%. That’s a lot of people coming through our building!
Another measure of this traffic is through the number of pots of coffee brewed per day. Lately we’ve served 10-13 pots of coffee and up to four pitchers of lemonade per day.
We remain grateful for our Hospitality volunteers as they pour coffee, greet friendly faces, listen to customer grumbles, and relate to our guests in genuine and caring ways.
If you’re ever near 100 Washington Avenue on a Monday-Thursday morning between 9 am and noon, stop on in. The coffee is hot and the conversation is good!