Author: House of Mercy

House of Mercy was delighted to partner with the RMSC as a Community Eclipse Ambassador on April 8th. The Rochester Museum and Science Center’s community ambassador program was created to prepare, excite and educate the nine county Rochester / Finger Lakes area, as well as, help to decentralize STEAM learning into the communities, creating access for all.

This unique partnership ensured that the people who are served by House of Mercy and our community partners were able to participate fully in the event in the way that’s most meaningful to them.

House of Mercy had a month of eclipse programming leading up to the big day, and distributed eclipse backpacks to our unsheltered neighbors who were interested in participating “where they’re at,” making sure that they had eclipse glasses, facts, a special House of Mercy 2024 eclipse water bottle, hygiene supplies and warm socks.…

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By the time he spent his first night at the House of Mercy six years ago, Earl Thomas’s heart was bone dry. 

He had spent nearly 30 years addicted to drugs and alcohol. Earl always found a place to land—with a friend or family member. By this time though, he had burned all those bridges. 

Going to House of Mercy, Earl says, helped him see himself and finally find the focus to change.

“God put House of Mercy in my life to walk through a door with people just like me, men and women,” he says. Seeing them, he says, helped him break up with his addiction, which was his longest-standing relationship in a life overshadowed by loss. …

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People looking for love think they’re looking for someone who is going to make them happy. In reality, we look for what is familiar, even if what is familiar is abuse. 

By the time Juan Roman’s girlfriend attacked him with a knife and hammer, it was clear he had found the same unpredictable violence he had endured growing up with an abusive mother. For Juan, these women were bookends to 17 years of homelessness and countless violent aggressions he was victim to on the streets.

“I looked for the love growing up. I expected it from the people I was with, but the love I was looking for wasn’t there,” Juan says.…

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Inspiring a willingness to try again in the mind of someone who has been let down time and again is the underlying objective of a team of therapists at House of Mercy. To do it, they must be gentle; they must listen carefully, and they must have the resources available when a client is ready to take another leap of faith and take their treatment further.

At House of Mercy, many people wrestling with mental illness have been lost in a system that under the best conditions is difficult to navigate. But without insurance, without ID, without transportation or money, getting help for the homeless is that much harder, explains Caroline Easton PhD, a professor in the College of Health Sciences and Technology at Rochester Institute of Technology.…

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On the cold rainy May afternoon I came to interview Sr. Grace, her office was full. One gentleman wanted to understand why the people in his housing community were struggling so much and being charged for a new light bulb when they didn’t have enough  money to eat. Another woman was trading phone calls with the county to try to get money for a burial. Sr. Grace’s cell phone rang incessantly with questions and concerns and requests for help. “We don’t say no to anyone,” the woman patiently explained to the man in the room. If a single mom is on the verge of losing it and all she wants is a massage, we try to make that happen.…

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The mask can’t hide Levern Burrows’s smile partly because he smiles with his whole face. And that’s the smile that greets many when they enter House of Mercy. It’s a smile born out of a life-long desire to help others.

Levern credits his mother for that compassion.

“She loved people,” Levern said. “She was spiritual and strict, but not in a bad way.”

Even when Levern made his way through Charlotte High School, Rochester Institute of Technology and Monroe Community College, he always felt compelled to give back.

“I was always asking for a better world for the less fortunate,” Levern says.…

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Austin Fox’s first encounter with the House of Mercy was as a high school student. His friend Dino Swan’s family hosted an annual cookout at the holidays and he was invited along. Austin grew up with a strong sense of the teachings of the Catholic service. He went to Holy Cross in Charlotte and then McQuaid before attending a Jesuit University, “Service has just been a part of my life.” At the cookout Austin was impressed by the community. “There was this really great sense of appreciation for what we were doing and even at a younger age you’re more comfortable with delving into that type of work.” …

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In four months, Sister Rita Lewis has shuttled more than 200 people to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Her efforts have helped House of Mercy return to almost-normal operations following a surge in infections months ago that forced HOM to close for two weeks. 

Sister Rita says it was heartbreaking when people kept turning up positive. In some ways, the experience was reminiscent of her early days at the House of Mercy, when Sister Rita watched another epidemic envelop residents. 

It was the late 1980s, and Sister Rita was transporting AIDS patients to the hospital and to doctor appointments. She remembers her first patient: 

“He would come into my office and look so sick.…

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Since she was five, helping to raise her baby sister, Tamika Rivera-Stokes has been helping people. Now 43, she opens her home to friends and family in need; she cooks meals for neighbors, and she connects people with the goods they need from donations at House of Mercy.

She discovered HOM as many volunteers do—when she needed help herself. That was five years ago, when she used the shelter’s pantry to feed her family of four. Tamika had been out of work due to a back injury and unsuccessful spinal fusion surgery. She was in constant pain, she says, and trying to make ends meet.…

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“Totally unacceptable.”

That’s what Mark McDermott has to say about poverty.

“Probably goes back to my Catholic upbringing,” he says.

It’s that commitment to others that led McDermott into the for-profit senior home care industry.

“I was looking for a way to make a living with a purpose,” he says.

He and his brothers started Touching Hearts at Home which has provided non-medical, companion-level care for years now, even through the pandemic.

The company’s success has put him and his family in a position to sponsor the House of Mercy gala.

The monetary commitment represents an extension of his family’s deep connection to the HOM with McDermott’s father serving on the board.…

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Loss has been a close companion of Maryanne Lang. Her brother and only sibling, Frank died at the young age of 52. Her husband, Brad, passed in 2012. Then, a dear friend died suddenly while staying in her home. 

It was her mother’s death that led her to the House of Mercy. As her mother was dying, Maryanne knew the time was near and called her church to request a priest to come and give her the last rites, but no one was available. Maryanne’s friend said, “I know someone who will come.” That someone was Fr. Neil Miller, brother of Sr.…

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Mildred Bartlett life has not been easy, but she believes in angels. “I know that God brought me to Sister Grace in the midst of my trouble and my pain. Sister Grace is an angel. My angel.” 

If you are lucky enough to meet Mildred, what you notice from the moment you connect is the joy and compassion that radiate from her. Her deep resonant laugh draws you right into her circle of loving kindness. Deep loss has been a part of her journey. When she was a child in Greenville, North Carolina, she was the oldest of five children. Her mother was an alcoholic and sometimes she would leave the children for two or three days at a time.…

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Adam Chodak, WROC News 8 evening anchor, shares some thoughts on generosity, relating the story of Paris Butler and her relationship with the House of Mercy.

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What a night! On November 12th the HOM Junior Board hosted a virtual beer tasting event with Rohrbach Brewing Company. Thanks to all of our attendees, we raised more than $2,500! …

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Jim Memmott from the Democrat & Chronicle encourages supporting charitable organizations that help the needy in honor of his quarantine shirt, Old Burgundy.

As close readers of this column know, six weeks ago I was on the verge of giving up Old Burgundy, the long-sleeved, wine-red T-shirt that I had been wearing nearly every day since we began sheltering in place.

I’m happy to report that I’m the grateful recipient of two new Old Burgundies. In addition, the original Old Burgundy has been granted a new life. More about that in a moment.

But first, because I’ve been the recipient of such kindness, and because I have more than enough shirts, I’d like to suggest donations in Old Burgundy’s name to any group that’s clothing and feeding the needy.…

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On July 13, Sister Grace Miller celebrated her 85th birthday… and received a surprise party and video from the guests, staff, volunteers, and friends of House of Mercy, which she founded 35 years ago.…

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“Whatsoever you do to the least of my sisters and brothers, you do to Me.”

Mt. 25:40

The House of Mercy Board, staff, volunteers and the Rochester Homeless Union stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement against structural racism and racial inequality. We have witnessed with broken hearts the recent state of affairs within our community, the nation and abroad. With the recent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Toney McDade, Breonna Taylor and many others by police and vigilantes, we cannot ignore the fact that people of color are being disproportionately targeted and oppressed with little justice imposed on those who commit these crimes.…

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Susan Gawlowicz from RIT’s University News writes about how Professor Caroline Easton leads a team of therapists in a doctoral training program to provide telepsychology services to House of Mercy residents.

Residents of a homeless shelter in Rochester are continuing to receive therapy during the coronavirus pandemic from a team of therapists in a clinical internship program at Rochester Institute of Technology.

The doctoral training program began as an exercise in using telepsychology to deliver care to a marginalized and underserved population. When New York shut down in March to stem the spreading virus, the therapists were already prepared to apply the telehealth protocols in the crisis.…

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