4 GROUNDCOVER NEWS COMMUNITY SEPTEMBER 22, 2023 Happy anniversary to four 'MISSION' community houses — Jimmy Hill House, Mercy House, Peace House and Hospitality House WILL SHAKESPEARE Groundcover vendor No. 258 This month Washtenaw County community members can join us to wish Jimmy Hill House, Mercy House, Peace House and Hospitality House happy birthdays. The wise people of the world say, “Gratitude is a memory of the heart.” Thousands of people have received help or life-saving assistance at the four community houses under the umbrella known as MISSION (Michigan Itinerant Shelter System Interdependent Out of Necessity). Most human beings tend to remember the times and places where they received much needed help to survive and begin a fresh start. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAYS! JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE — in French!! Historical Antecedents In June 2010 the Michigan Department of Transportation evicted 78 homeless individuals from the organized encampment in Washtenaw County “Camp Take Notice.” CTN was informed that their homeless camp site belonged to MDOT and campers were forced to leave. After the eviction, some of the stranded campers received housing locally, some were accepted to stay temporarily at the Delonis Center and many found camping grounds in several locations in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. Due to the eviction CTN lost its ability to hold Sunday dinner meetings sponsored by St. Mary’s Student Parish of Ann Arbor, other churches in Scio Township and Dexter. The leaders of CTN felt that their social movement had collapsed. A parishioner of St. Mary’s who actively supported CTN pre-eviction came to the rescue. Peggy Lynch wholeheartedly opened the doors of her Burns Park home to CTN members who wished to maintain the weekly Sunday dinner meetings. About six or seven homeless people were invited to stay in her house. It is fair to say that Ms. Peggy resurrected CTN from the dead, and gave it new life and new hope to carry on. It was at Peggy’s Burns Park home on White Street where CTN reconstituted its board membership and worked with Peggy and others to create a homeless community organization known as MISSION. Jimmy Hill House The first task of MISSION was to raise money in order to buy a three acre property on Stone School Road so that CTN residents who had scattered could have a permanent place for Sunday dinner meetings, board meetings, laundry, showers, picking donated clothing and receiving medical services. MISSION received a anonymous donation to purchase the property and their intention was to reestablish CTN on their own land. It is still the intention of the MISSION board to establish a tiny house community on this piece of property. The building was first nicknamed the “Purple House” due to its brightly painted exterior. It is now called Jimmy Hill House in honor of the now-deceased exemplary leader who helped guide CTN and served as MISSION Board President. Jimmy Hill House was acquired in the fall of 2012. Many people don't know this, but Jimmy Hill lived under the U.S. 23 bridge near Carpenter Road for five years before Caleb Poirier invited him into Camp Take Notice on Wagner Road. Jimmy Hill was a natural leader and instantly became one of the favorites at Camp Take Notice. Jimmy Hill led weekly camp meetings, he helped new residents learn the art of winter survival and provided residents with hours of entertainment, regaling them with stories about his colorful past. Jimmy Hill continued to show leadership, when MISSION acquired the Stone School Road property and even helped choose the distinctive color scheme which has become a trademark of MISSION. Jimmy Hill rose to be the first homeless president of MISSION and is still loved by many today. His slogan was so simple and yet so powerful, "It is what it is." Many Camp Take Notice friends had this slogan tattooed to their forearms after he passed. Nowadays Jimmy Hill House hosts the Weather Amnesty Survival Program which provides emergency shelter from November to April to individuals trespassed from other overnight warming shelters. Mercy House Mercy House of Ann Arbor was opened as a private home of Ms. Peggy in September 2013. She sold her Burns Park home and moved to a house in Ann Arbor’s West Side which is close Jimmy Hill Memorial House in 2012, before renovation. to the Robert J. Delonis Center. Peggy and Sheri Wander, a peace advocate and resident of CTN, wanted to provide social services modeled after Dorothy Day’s Catholic Worker Movement, along with Jane Addam’s “Hull House” social work project for addressing the needs of the poor, the hungry and the destitute on Chicago’s West Side. The Mercy House location is still a private home that works in partnership with MISSION. This month, it is celebrating its ten-year anniversary. Many community members have been to Mercy House on Saturday for “Peggy’s pancakes” or their annual Christmas party. Peace House The Peace House of Ypsilanti was opened by Sheri Wander and her partner Patrick Jones in September 2018. This month, we celebrate their fifth anniversary. Peace House Ypsi is a house of hospitality in the tradition of Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin and the Catholic Worker movement. Their mission is simply to love. By providing hospitality, nonviolently resisting injustice and living in solidarity with those on the margins, their mission is to build the world they envision by living it! Peace House has supported the creation of grassroots community projects Pull Over Prevention and Pet Pals Mutual Aid. Hospitality House Ypsi The newest house created under the umbrella of MISSION is Hospitality House, located in downtown Ypsilanti. September marks the first year anniversary of Hospitality House. The house is blessed with three capable and energetic leaders: Lindsay, Ben and Lauren. The house offers temporary shelter and has open hours twice a week for laundry, showers, meals and social time and is the homebase for the work of Washtenaw Camp Outreach. We are delighted to celebrate the anniversaries of Jimmy Hill House, Mercy House, Peace House and Hospitality House. All four houses exist to help the homeless and housing-insecure community members. Wise people say, “Rome was not built in a day.” It has taken a lot of “sweat equity,” “talent equity” and the sacrifices of church volunteers, student volunteers and other members of the community to make lives better and hopeful for the homeless of Washtenaw County. Final words from Brian Durrance, MISSION board member The first part of our MISSION acronym describes our organization's purpose. The words, "Michigan Itinerant Shelter System," acknowledge the basic truth that it takes a village to house the homeless. Many live in tents, some in tent cities, many in public housing, hotels — and many live in houses which have been opened in love. Houses like the Jimmy Hill Memorial are now joined by Mercy House, Peace House and Hospitaltiy House thanks to the gracious efforts of activists like Peggy Lynch and Sheri Wander. The second part of our MISSION acronym is our slogan, "Interdependent out of Necessity." These words boldly declare that we are a family. Homeless people needing assistance with food, shelter, clothing meet in the middle with those who come to assist. We are drawn to each other in love, each fulfilling a powerful personal need. MISSION began as a small camp behind the Arborland Mall; now it is a family which has grown larger and stronger and has survived over 15 years. And we are powered by pure love!
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