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Feed my people
Karpos ministry brings faithful together to reach out to Painesville’s homeless

Painesville
The tradition of hospitality is one of the oldest in the Judeo-Christian tradition, says Kathy Philipps, founder of Karpos, a hospitality ministry sponsored by St. Mary Parish in Painesville. “Throughout the scriptures, we are admonished to welcome the stranger, remembering that we have been strangers ourselves,” Philipps says. “It is the second most repeated command in the Bible.”

Philipps, who is entering the final stages of a PhD program in theology at the Toronto School of Theology, a college of the University of Toronto, is a Leroy resident and parishioner at St. Mary. In her studies she has delved deeply into the concepts of suffering and “othering,” the societal practice of bolstering the group in power by identifying another (group or individual) to ostracize.
During many long study sessions at Painesville’s Morley Library, Philipps says that as she read spiritual works about finding solidarity with the other, she began to notice the many homeless people who gathered in the library parking lot. Her response to what she interpreted as a call to action was to become involved in facilitating for the Salvation Army’s scripture study program, which had a large clientele of homeless members.
Philipps was also a participant in JustFaith, a study and immersion program that explores social justice issues through the lens of Catholic teachings. This, in conjunction with her doctoral studies and her work with homeless people, were leading her to a growing sense that her parish could be doing more to help the homeless strangers in its midst.

MARIBETH JOERIGHT
Judi Maloney, Ed Zivkovich and Brian Price, members of St. Mary Parish, Painesville, help serve meals as part of the Karpos ministry with St. Gabriel Parish, Concord, and St. James Episcopal Church, Painesville.

Options opened up late last year, when Gregg Stovicek, a seminarian from John Carroll University, began volunteering at St. Mary. He was experienced with the university’s Labre program, in which students bring meals to the homeless in Cleveland, and was interested in helping to start something similar in Painesville. Philipps had made a number of friends in the homeless community through her work with the Salvation Army, so the stage was set for a successful beginning last fall.
About 25 homeless individuals came to the first meeting of Karpos’ advisory council, and they and others from the community remain involved in the work of cooking and delivering around 150 meals per week. From day one, this was a ministry of hospitality, not just a food delivery service. In Greek, its name, Karpos, means “fruit” or, as St. Paul puts it “the fruits of the spirit.”
Those fruits became immediately apparent to Philipps as the project took off with an almost miraculous sense of purpose.
“Everyone was on the same side of the problems,” she says, noting that solutions just seemed to materialize. “One day, someone asked me if we were going to begin to deliver food that week,” she says. “I said, no, we didn’t have the route together yet. The next day, another guy rode up to me on his bike, handed me a piece of paper, and said ‘Here’s the route.’”
Karpos’ food is made and delivered by volunteers--many of them from St. Mary, Philipp’s JustFaith community, and members of other churches in the Painesville area, including St. Gabriel Parish in Concord Township. St. Gabriel has agreed to provide both volunteers and food for Karpos twice each week.
Debbie Lokar, the manager of the St. Gabriel food bank, was able to leverage her contacts at the Cleveland Food Pantry to get supplies at a fraction of the market cost. She says the parish also had a huge outpouring of interest in volunteering for Karpos during its recent Call to Commitment Sunday.
But it is the ongoing support from members of the homeless community that Philipps finds the most heartwarming. She says the trust and camaraderie that grow up when you work side by side are what Christian hospitality is all about. It’s not a one-directional proposition, where people who have give to those who don’t. It’s recognizing that we all have something to give to each other.
During the warmer months, Karpos’ meals, served on the grounds of St. James Episcopal Church, have the feeling of a summer picnic, with the guests sitting at folding tables. When winter comes, the ministry will again become mobile, as it was last winter, bringing the meals closer to enclaves of people who have more difficulty getting around in the cold weather. But in either situation, everyone shares some fellowship around the “table.”
“When we are in the streets, we are their guests,” she says, adding that the welcome and sense of safety they receive is something they never really expected. “We come to this with humility. We are seeking relationships. They share with us their stories--of endurance, wisdom and faith. I think the trust we are earning is one reason so many of them continue to come to the kitchen. They know they are welcome.”
That trust leads to a greater ability for Philipps and the team to help with needs people have besides food. Because of it, they are willing to share their difficulties and the problems they know others are having. Philipps is in contact with agencies that offer services to the homeless in Painesville, as well as her large network of giving Christians. Between them they can usually come up with what is needed.
On a recent afternoon, she heard of a family whose belongings had been stolen. By that evening the family had the sleeping bags and other items they needed for the night.
“These people watch out for each other,” she says. And once you become their friend, they watch out for you, too.
“There is so much fear,” she says. “But once you are out there, you see that it’s so safe. This is something you have to experience to understand. I don’t want to minimize the risks, but this really becomes a sacred space, where people come together in a community.”
McGovern is freelance writer.