“When I was younger, I thought that God’s gift was Jesus and women. Now that I’m older, I think it’s soap and water,” the man said as he stopped into Patchwork’s main office after taking a shower.
The office sees its fair share of philosophizing throughout the week. Conversations can be interesting:
“Have you ever met a normal person?”
“Evansville has too many demons in it. I want to move to Florida. It’s God’s country!”
“The woman, the myth, the…what’s the third thing?”
Through it all, I’ve learned many things. A hot shower can make a world of difference. A little kindness goes a long way. Often, people just want someone to listen to what they’re going through. Anyone can be a step or two away from having it all fall apart. I don’t know many “normal” people.
Stopping to philosophize, to talk, to listen is part of what we work to do at Patchwork so we can be a place of support in addition to simply providing services.
The flow of people through Patchwork waxes and wanes throughout the day. Yesterday, for instance, there was a moment when members of two households were in the main office to get food orders. One wasn’t eligible for food from our pantry (you can come every 30 days), so we gave her a list of independent pantries. “You have the best pantry, though. I tell everybody that,” she said as she took the list. The other got a referral to Patchwork’s pantry and headed back to get some food.
Nurse Mary was in the library checking a man’s blood pressure and, finding it a little high, was calling on John to give a second opinion. Rocky the dog and Rocky’s human stopped into the main office so Rocky could make the rounds and say his hellos. Mary Jane and Judy were pouring what would add up to be nine pots of coffee over the course of the morning. Another health ministry client was on the phone for John and needed help getting connected to resources. Jill was stopping through to finalize details for the new seating area we’re creating out front in memory of Alan, Beth, and Darlene.
The main office was full. The building was full. And then, time ticked forward and people moved on. Our staff and volunteers were left waiting for whoever would come in next.