By Msgr. Francis A. Carbine
“ONE IN SIX AMERICANS STRUGGLES WITH HUNGER!” This fact is announced on a billboard on Lehigh Avenue, a few blocks west of St. Francis Inn. This message is an apt introduction to the neighborhood served by the Inn, located at Kensington Avenue and Hagert Street, Philadelphia.
Father Michael Duffy serving lunch at St. Francis Inn | photo © Tom Keenan
In 2007, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the nearby Somerset stop of the “El” was one of the top 10 drug centers in the city. Little has changed. Within easy walking distance is Tusculum Street, the Kensington home of Rocky Balboa.
Father Michael Duffy, O.F.M. has lived on Hagert Street for 23 years. Along with poverty, there is constant noise: boom boxes, shouting, fire crackers on summer nights, and the unrelenting rumblings of the elevated train that passes within yards of the second floor chapel of the Inn.
“I was raised in Ashland, New Hampshire,” he explains, “a small town near the White Mountains. ‘Scenic New Hampshire’ is stamped on our license plates. There, I could look up and see clouds. Here, I look up and see the “El.” Kensington is not New Hampshire!”
After graduating from Boston College, Father Duffy entered the Franciscans, Order of Friars Minor, and was ordained a priest in 1971. After assignments in New Jersey, the Bronx, and Boston, he came to St. Francis Inn in 1987. The Inn had opened in 1979.
The three Franciscans founders of the Inn lived for weeks on the streets. They slept on benches and talked to men around fire barrels to determine local needs. Food was a low priority in this environment of alcohol, drugs and people struggling to pay rent.
Today, the Inn remains committed to helping the neighborhood. In 2010, the Inn served evening meals to 141,000 persons in all categories of need. This breaks down to 386 persons per day. Thousands of additional guests were given breakfast. When the Inn opened in 1979, only five guests were served on the first night!
The Franciscans and their team help addicted persons who are often malnourished because their income goes for destructive habits. From time to time, the Franciscans receive letters that say, “I am alive today because of help that you provided at the Inn. Thank you.”
Father Duffy notes that people often think of a “soup kitchen” as helping single, male alcoholics. However, a large part of the Inn’s resources goes to Senior Citizens because as prices rise, incomes stay fixed, and Seniors get poorer and poorer.
Help goes to Vietnam Veterans who can be wounded both physically and mentally. Many are unaware of governmental services. The Team at the Inn shows where assistance is available.
Help also goes to families with children. This Easter, guests at the Inn totaled 435 for dinner – ham with pineapple, sweet potatoes, green beans and cake. Easter baskets were given to 125 children.
St. Francis Inn presently needs volunteers to assist with breakfast program on three mornings each week. Also much needed are maintenance men: plumbers, electricians, and men who can help with windows, door jambs, pipes and ceilings—“nothing too major.”
Since the Inn operates seven days every week, the work is constant. For example, the team and volunteers use their van to pick up food—baked good, breads, meat, canned goods—that organizations donate. Food remains a priority. Then there is the work of preparing and serving meals, and cleaning up when the day is finished. Volunteers serve all Guests. In addition, Volunteers conduct a Thrift Shop, Urban Center and Women’s Center.
The Team —nine in all—consists of four Franciscans—Friars Xavier, Fred, John and Father Michael. Brother Xavier also collects soda cans that he exchanges for money to purchase tokens for the “El.” Often, guests must travel to court appointments and meetings with parole officers.
The Team also includes Karen Pushaw, Barbara Salapek, Judy Stachecki, and Franciscan Sisters Mary Augustini, and Leslie Birk.
They have exchanged professional commitments to work in Kensington, and their individual commitments total many years.
For instance, Karen Pushaw is an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She came as a volunteer in 1991, and remained. She applies her legal expertise as needed.
“The Inn is a peaceful presence in Kensington,” she explains. “I can refer guests to services to which they are entitled: Community Legal Services, Senior Law Center, and services related to Social Security and other benefits.”
In addition to the Team, there are both temporary volunteers and volunteers who commit to one year of service. Joe Glass, a 2010 graduate of Marquette University, Indiana, with a degree in political science, is a one-year volunteer.
He describes the Inn as a “landmark of the community where people gather in an atmosphere of mutual respect.” Joe, who stands at 6’3”, also coaches basketball for a parish in Camden.
Joe sums up his experiences: “Here I am learning about the fulfillment that a life of service can provide. St. Francis Inn is a place where people share kindness.”
Joe pinpoints what the Inn is all about: service and kindness.
Msgr. Francis A. Carbine, pastor emeritus at St. Charles Borromeo in Bensalem, PA, is a weekly volunteer at St. Francis Inn.
St. Francis Inn 2441 Kensington Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19125S (215) 423-5845 http://www.stfrancisinn.org/