By Diane Holloway
Communications/Volunteer Coordinator
The long month of August, when we are missing (really missing) our annual AmeriCorps member, has finally ended, and we are blessed with the arrival of Tess Bernhard. A spring graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., Tess is settling in and immersing herself in the chaotic joy of Trinity Center.
About seven months ago, Jason Palos started volunteering with us — initially in the kitchen, where he prepped and served breakfast for 70-plus people. Then he added financial assistance to his tasks, helping neighbors chart the complex territory of replacing IDs and birth certificates. Now there’s pretty much nothing Jason can’t or won’t do for on Thursdays, the busiest day of our week, including adding another computer to the front desk area.
By Diane Holloway
We are privileged to have a board of directors member in our community of neighbors! Darryl Brandenburg has been appointed to the board of the C.D. Doyle Clinic, which serves the health needs of people experiencing poverty and homelessness, Sunday afternoons in the St. David’s Church Gym. If you know Darryl, and just about everyone at Trinity Center does, you know that serving others is just what he does, whether it’s helping us clean at the end of the day or giving up his sack lunch to anyone who seems hungry.
2016 Mid-Year Report by Irit Umani, Executive Director
The other day I was at my computer answering e-mails, when I heard loud sobbing sound, almost wailing, coming from the small Chapel that is next to my office. I moved there to see what was happening and how I could help.
By Doug Bell
Founder and Volunteer
In 1990 Diana and Doug Bell moved to Austin. They joined the congregation at St. David’s Episcopal Church in downtown Austin. In 1995 Doug was on the Vestry as the chair of the Mission and Outreach Committee. The Bells observed that many homeless people gathered on the streets around St. David’s. The Salvation Army was a block away, and other homeless service providers were in the area. Most of the members of the congregation of St. David’s came from the suburbs. They were sympathetic to the homeless, but some were afraid of them and many avoided contact with the homeless people on the streets. The church gave money generously to homeless causes, but not too many parishioners were directly involved in helping the homeless in the neighborhood.
