June 16, 2006
A UMNS Feature
By Lilla Marigza

Shoes and jars of peanut butter are stored on shelves inside the van, along with coiled hoses and tubs of pipe putty. Andy Powell never imagined he would end up here.

Powell works full time as a plumber and lives in his work van. "I been doing plumbing for more than 30 years, and I certainly didn't think that this is what it was going to be at 54 years old," he says.

Powell lives in Alexandria, Va., a wealthy suburb near Washington.

"I been here since 1998," he says. "Being on my own and trying to afford an apartment in this area is just totally out of my price range."

He is one of many homeless people being helped by the Rising Hope Mission United Methodist Church. The congregation was formed 10 years ago to meet the needs of Alexandria's homeless.

Pastor Keary Kincannon is well aware of the scope of the problem. "The county just came out with a report that says there's a 30,000-unit deficit in affordable housing in Fairfax County. They expect that to grow to 60,000 by 2020."

No place for 6-year-old

Powell's van is loaded with supplies for work and daily life. Homemade wooden shelves line the interior of the van's rear area. Here, Powell keeps everything from food, clothing and toiletries to jumper cables and plumbing tools. A mattress wedged between the shelves serves as a bed. It is piled with quilted moving blankets for warmth on cold nights. A piece of insulation is stretched across the back window to keep out the draft.

The only interior light is from a flashlight. Powell says living in a van gets miserably hot in summer.

Powell grabs a handful of plastic character dolls from McDonald's Happy Meals off the front dashboard. The toys belong to his son. The boy lives with his mother but also comes to visit with his dad regularly.

The van is no place for a 6-year-old, and Powell wishes he could provide a better home. He's considered taking a side job delivering pizza at night but is afraid he wouldn't be prepared to work heavy construction in the morning.

Plus, time is precious. "If I get a side job it helps... the income... but it takes me away from my son."

Despite their unconventional living situation, Powell tries to maintain a "normal" life. That includes attending church every Sunday. "It's very important for me to get my son there. As the leader of the family, it's my job. It's what God wants me to do. I feel God pulls me to do that."

Working poor

The homelessness problem in Alexandria is the same problem as in many communities, Kincannon says. Smaller, older homes are being torn down to make way for upscale developments. What is being rebuilt is out of reach for working poor families.

Church administrator Laura Derby shakes her head as she looks at a row of brand new town homes. "They would be able to rent a ranch-style house like the one that was here before, but they certainly couldn't afford a place like this. These are running $700,000 or $800,000 to purchase them. If you rent them, (they're) probably running $1,500 to $2,000 a month."

The church is fighting a development project right now that would displace 90 families living in mobile homes.

The pastor and church members have gone to city leaders to ask for affordable housing but insist they aren't the ones leading the fight. They are taking an unconventional approach. The church is using a grant to teach empowerment, to train its members on how to speak out and how to interact with local government officials on concerns and needs.

Kincannon says a government official shared feelings of surprise following a recent public meeting. "The county supervisor said to us, ‘I've had a lot of meetings where I've met with advocates for the poor, but this is the first time I've been in a meeting where the whole group of people were the people who were in need of affordable housing.'"

Church members are finding a new confidence in speaking up.

"One of the things that I love about the United Methodist Church and our Wesleyan tradition is that we preach both an evangelical gospel and a social gospel," Kincannon says, "and that relationship with God is extremely important because it is life transforming."

‘The little people'

Members such as Mary Baker attest to the impact the church has had on their lives. "I felt that I needed God on my side," she says. "One day, I found this church walking down Route 1. I walked into that door, and when I went into that door, my whole life began to change." At the time, Baker had fled a home life of domestic violence and was living in a family shelter with her two granddaughters.

Today, she volunteers full time at the church. She cooks meals six days a week in the kitchen. On Sundays, she drives the church van to enable people living in shelters and nursing homes to attend church.

She is no longer homeless, but she does not try to separate herself from the many in the congregation who are. Baker feels a close connection to these people whose situation was once her own.

"I don't really use the term of ‘homeless.' I always say, ‘the little people,' which I am one of them."

The church members are finding that together they can have a big voice. The church recently persuaded the local government to set aside a penny of every tax dollar collected for a trust to build affordable housing. It will take a long time and a lot of pennies to reverse the tide and find homes that working families can afford, but church members say they are making progress.

For now, the church provides day-to-day help with hot meals, clothing and a cold-weather shelter, as well as spiritual help.

Here, Baker, and the rest of the "little people" have found faith in something much bigger than themselves. "I've found out that this is my family," she says, "and they need me about as much as I need them."

United Methodist News Service
Lilla Marigza is a freelance producer in Nashville, Tenn.