Max Guo ’17: Broad Street Ministry, one of the many community service opportunities Episcopal Academy provides, functions as a place accepting of anyone who needs a shelter or a home where they can go and spend time in a respectable community. This year, freshman advisories were given the opportunity to volunteer at Broad Street to help the homeless.
Photo Courtesy of Broadstreetministry.org
As described by Susan Swanson, Director of Community Outreach, “Broad Street Ministry is a full service outreach ministry in Philadelphia on Broad Street. We have been there partners for the last eight years. We have been pretty active, some years more than others. It is all about dignity and respect for the people living on the margins, for whatever reason, they don’t have a place to live or eat. All the tables have tablecloths, silverware as if it was a real restaurant.” Serving around 200 people a day, Broad Street makes use of all of its helpful volunteers. These volunteers can have various jobs, including waiter, cook, or host. The center’s provided dining services keep a tight seven to nine schedule, due to the large quantity of people who use these services as a main source of food for the day. Swanson described her most recent visit describing that, “My job was hostess, so that as the people came in, I took their name and seated them. It was high stress, because I wanted to do a good job.”
Broad Street provides hands-on interaction between the less fortunate and the servers as well. Jonathon Lewis ‘16 described his experience serving on Martin Luther King Day, emphasizing the interactiveness at the service majorly influenced him wanting to return. “At the ministry I really felt a sense of urgency among the volunteers to ensure that every person who walked through their doors in need was given it. Everyone worked very hard to put out meals and show respect to the those in need.” He continued noting, “I do plan on going back again and hopefully getting to revisit the old customer whom I previously had a 30 minute conversation with.”
Photo Courtesy of Susan Swanson
Broad Street Ministry also provides other services, such as keeping a clothing closet and personal care closet. Swanson explained, “If somebody needs some new clothes or a new jacket, they can get a ticket and go into the clothing closet and pick out a new jacket. For the personal care closet, you fill out a form and you get to pick 4 items. There’s soap, tooth care, underwear, paper towels, feminine items, and other necessities.” Service at Broad Street Ministry is not merely packing boxes of food, but rather a learning experience, raising the questions: Where do homeless people get personal care items? Why can’t they have everything that they want?
So far only one group of freshmen advisories, consisting of Dinkins’ and Kossuth’s advisees, traveled to Broad Street ministry as their advisory service trip. After the final advisories, Richards, Konopka, and Hall, they hope to know what to do going foward with next year’s freshmen. Swanson reasoned, “Most advisories don’t want to do service on their own time, they want to do it during the school day when all the other classes do.” She also stressed that, “It would be a bonus if they could use up an hour or two of their busy lives, because all time is precious.” If things go smoothly, service at the Broad Street ministry will become a focal point in the community service at Episcopal Academy. Swanson wholeheartedly believes in this as she exclaimed,“I’m confident the Broad Street Ministry will be huge success for upcoming service trips!”