Leading through service: Rachel’s Night Shelter

How USD Ministry and students are serving San Diego

Haley Jacob / Feature Editor / The USD Vista

Every few weeks, USD Ministry staff and various students on campus pay a visit to Rachel’s Night Shelter. The shelter is one of many women’s homelessness programs offered through the Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego, a Catholic welfare agency. Students and faculty prepare meals to bring to the shelter and eat with the residents while hearing their stories and experiences. This allows for a deeper understanding of the issues of homelessness and emphasizes compassion and understanding. 

USD Ministry has led the program for over a decade, and for the first time in two years, program participants are allowed to stay and share meals again. Last year, program members only dropped meals off, due to safety precautions. The full return of the program has members excited to get back to forming new connections based on in-person interaction and conversations. 

The Program Leader and Resident Minister Alec Hartman believes Rachel’s Night Shelter is an important opportunity for students to bond with each other, share an encounter with someone experiencing homelessness and reflect on the experience: to unpack, share highlights and ask questions.

Hartman values the opportunity and the new perspective it offers surrounding the issue of homelessness. Serving at the shelter allows attendees to understand the deep, complex implications of homelessness. 

“It’s easy to have stereotypes about who might be experiencing homelessness, what led to that,” Hartman said. “There’s this mentality of ‘why don’t they just get a job and not be homeless?’ But when you really sit down and talk to someone and hear their story, that’s really what it’s about. It really breaks all those stereotypes that we might have in the back of our heads and puts that human face to the issues of homelessness.”

The experience minimizes judgment and opens up the opportunity for compassion and finding similarities as human beings. 

“It makes me think about the systems and the barriers of like: there’s this person with such a beautiful story — ‘why don’t they have access to what I have?’ Often it’s just one thing that sometimes is in their control, sometimes it’s out of their control, that led to them experiencing homelessness, and sometimes it’s short-term, sometimes it’s long-term,” Hartman said. “Once you really get to hear someone’s story and understand them, it’s impossible to judge them and not to love them, because you really get that understanding and find that connection, even just a 45-minute conversation.”

The meal preparation process is a great way for students to connect and form valuable relationships. Because students and faculty make the meals in USD Ministry’s kitchen before heading to the shelter, it allows everyone to bond and prepare for the night ahead.  

“I like that we start with cooking the meal here, because our students can really come together, and some of them might know each other, some of them might have just been interested in signing up,” Hartman said. “But they can really build that community together. Maybe if they’re a little bit nervous or if they have questions, they can feel welcomed here so that they end up getting into the right state of mind to then be able to have a conversation and dive in.”

While all students are encouraged and welcome to participate in the program, Hartman discussed the importance of service in faith and how the opportunity is valuable to students in the Catholic community.

“In the Catholic tradition, we talk about putting faith in action, and that’s done in charity and solidarity. Both are important and both are able to offer something temporary, whether that’s a donation, or in this case preparing and serving a meal,” Hartman said. “It maybe doesn’t make a big-picture impact on the issue of homelessness, but the hope from this encounter is really being able to learn more about the issues of homelessness and put a face to those issues. Then they’ll be able to carry that with them as they share their [own] stories.”

Hartman believes the program is a powerful way for students to strengthen their relationship with their faith and gain a more robust understanding of the values of Catholic tradition and practice.

“Looking at the life of Jesus, it was never about building up one’s own achievements and operating from a standpoint about ‘me.’ It was always about being for others, and especially those on the margins,” Hartman said. “For our students, as they hopefully take time to explore who they are and who God is, there are also opportunities for them to widen their understanding of the Catholic Church. You’re talking about serving your neighbor, loving your neighbor, but it’s an invitation to expand ‘who is my neighbor?’ It’s important to recognize the inherent, God-given dignity in each and every person, especially those on the margins and often forgotten in society.”

Hartman believes the simple gesture of sharing a meal goes a long way, especially when wanting to learn more about someone’s experience with homelessness, a concept often stigmatized and misunderstood in society. 

“There’s value in doing something for a community or for people, whether it’s building houses or — for instance — when we simply prepare a meal and bring it,” Hartman said. “When you can really have a conversation and break bread together, that’s what it’s really about. It teaches you how much we really all have in common, and we all have a story and so be able to, to hear that, it’s very simple in a beautiful way.”

Hartman hopes the opportunity inspires students to invite their friends and get others involved in the program. 

“Hopefully, it’s the gift that keeps on giving,” Hartman said. “That people come back and they feel more grateful, they feel more inspired, and they’ll tell their friends. It’s like a perspective shift.”

Volunteering at Rachel’s Night Shelter is a great way for students to give back to the community and emphasize with those often outcasted and marginalized in society. 

Regardless of one’s faith, participating in the service is bound to teach students valuable lessons and provide a sense of responsibility for taking care of those in need. Often, the best way to get to know somebody is through engaging conversation, and the exchange of stories that takes place at the shelter is an impactful way to dive into the complicated concept of homelessness and put a face to those dealing with the trying, misunderstood circumstance.