The road to becoming an ambassador for Catholic Relief Services’ Rice Bowl program began after my layoff in 2009 when I was asked to help newly resettled refugees find work in the South Bay. My compassion for the refugees looking for work was piqued during this experience as they shared their stories with me, which led to a more profound sense of solidarity with people outside the United States. Being able to identify personally with that group led me to take on the Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade Ambassador role, and to my current involvement with the CRS Rice Bowl Grant initiative.

I gained an intimate connection with the local community through a grant recipient — St Julie Billiart’s Shower Ministry — which serves our local unhoused citizens with showers, clothing, food, and hospitality. While participating in this and in other local ministries, I have tried to understand our work in the context of the Catholic Social Teaching principle of the Preferential Option for the Poor, which emphasizes that our attention needs to be focused on situations that are contrary to God’s will as the USCCB’s document, Economic Justice for All states, “Jesus takes the side of those most in need. As followers of Christ, we are challenged to make a fundamental ‘option for the poor’— to speak for the voiceless, defend the defenseless, and assess lifestyles, policies, and social institutions regarding their impact on the poor. ” My faith taught me that caring for the poor is a moral requirement for Christians: to bring in being a world that resembles the Kingdom of God and, in the process, transforms the lives of the faithful.

The enormity of local homelessness can bring on feelings of despair, and the lack of hope for an individual or group can be inevitable. However, working with a client or volunteer can bring hope. The solution for aiding the unhoused cannot come from just one person but from a community. When I feel part of a community of like-minded folks, my despair turns to hope. 

One client that I know distinctly is William. It is not because we share the same name, although we joke about being brothers from different mothers. He has lived the experience of the unhoused. When I met him, he lived in a patch of bushes at the side of the road. Yet, despite the difficulty of living outside and scrounging for food, he could shower every day at the YMCA and help improve the lives of his fellow unhoused population at the Shower Ministries and other charity places. William’s selfless acts inspire me to imitate his model of love.

When I visited the local homeless, I saw my unsheltered brothers and sisters in a new light. When I am present to them and listen to their stories, Jesus Christ is revealed in them. I aim to bring a presence to the poor and foster relationships with them that the world seems to have forgotten. These experiences have transformed my faith because I know that every encounter with them becomes an encounter with Christ. In this authentic encounter, our relationship transforms me and them for the benefit of the world.   

 I encourage all Catholics in the diocese to investigate giving time, talent, or treasure to local needy families through the CRS Rice Bowl. From firsthand experience, I can safely say that they have an enormous impact on recipients like my brother in Christ, William. But also, allowing tenderness to reach oneself through the act of giving can, I can safely say from personal experience, lead to a profound sense of solidarity with those in need and an encounter with Christ in those we serve.