Beautiful People

Beautiful People
By: Heather Ivery
Community Services
NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION
U.S. POSTAGE
1100 West Capitol Street
Jackson, MS 39203
601.353.2759
PAID
JACKSON, MS
PERMIT NO. 821
Faith meeting needs in our community
Faith meeting needs in our community
When you consider the homeless, you rarely think of them as “beautiful people” in the physical
sense of the word. Their clothes are generally thrift shop specials or free-for-alls from the local
soup kitchen and probably don’t fit just right. Their hair isn’t cut neat or fixed in the latest
fashion. The bag they carry on their backs is not a fashion statement but, rather, a practical
means to carry their life’s belongings with them everywhere they go. Not to say, though, that
those blessed with natural beauty don’t exist within this community. But sometimes we miss it
when we dismiss them all because of their status in our world.
A Newsletter of Stewpot Community Services
Christmas Holidays at Stewpot By Rev. Frank Spencer
The Christmas season is a joyful and busy time at Stewpot. Each
year Stewpot staff looks forward to the season and, with only a few
glitches, manage to handle the vastly increased workload. The biggest
pleasures come from assembling the Christmas gifts for our AfterSchool and shelter children, then giving out 500 Christmas meals of
turkeys, hams and the rest of the items in a full holiday meal and also
distributing the miscellaneous gifts from donors that consists of gloves,
socks, underwear, and cookies for our regular clients.
I met one such “beauty” not too long ago. “Felicia” has been in and out of homelessness for
several years now. Her battle to stay in her right mind has been a struggle, and she has lost
many bouts with it. I first ran into her on the street in front of Stewpot one day as she waited for
the doors to open so she could eat lunch. She had a scarf tied tightly around her head and was
wearing a dress several sizes too large so that it seemed to swallow her body. Nothing was really
different about her from anyone else in the crowd that day.
A few days later, I ran into her again. This time she was at a local women’s shelter. She had been
able to get into the emergency shelter for the next 30 days. And, hopefully, she would be able
to stay longer if she could show that she was trying to change her life. As I sat with her through
life skills classes and talked with her about her goals and challenges, I was drawn to her eyes.
They were big and dark but full of hurt and disappointment. Her eyes told her story. Slowly, as
her medications became regulated and she spent more time in the shelter than on the streets,
her eyes began to change. Traces of what life had been so far were still there, but another
chapter was being written. As her eyes changed, so did her face.
One day, it struck me how beautiful she was. Her dark skin and short haircut gave her the look
of a goddess. The way she carried herself and moved with ease from one place to the next
reminded me of old movies where the heroine saves the day and never breaks a sweat. Her
mind and spirit were obviously changing little by little, and this was reflected in her appearance.
Memorials
Nicholas Life
Nell Wiygul
Sue Maddox
Mot & Jerry Lyons
Drs. Edward
& Margie Smith
Nell Wiygul
Nora Frances
& Vaughan McRae
Nell Wiygul
Sandy & Mac Temple
Nell Wiygul
Thanh Bui & Sang Nguyen
Nell Wiygul
Marjorie Hamilton
Wayne & Betty Snuggs
Lucy Fisher
Dorothy & John Gibson
June Crellin
Nell Wiygul
Barbara Ashcroft
Nell Wiygul
Reva & Ellis Hart
Roger Hodge
Jim Temple
Nell Wiygul
Leigh Thomas
Nell Wiygul
Jeanette Elliott
David McClung
Joel Waltzer
Nell Wiygul
Richard McElroy
Nell Wiygul
JoAnne Morris
Phoebe Pearigen
When sending in your monthly
contribution you can now mail
them to P.O. Box 3610
Jackson, Ms 39207.
Joy Kuebler
Cyndi Scott
Linda Raff
Phoebe Pearigen
Lynda Wright
Phoebe Pearigen
Cleta Ellington
Phoebe Pearigen
Jum Powers
Beth & Steven Orlansky
Joy Kuebler
Lisa Latham
Ericka Hillard
Roffeyel Tate from Business
Faith & Ethics Class at
Mississippi College
Mike McKee
Beth & Steven Orlansky
Got Art?
Your Stewpot family now has a
Post Office Mailing Address!
Mr & Mrs. Tommy Dent
Mary Tom Berry
IN HONOR
Do you have any artwork or
items you would be interested
Your Stewpot family
now has a
Facebook page!!
in donating to Stewpot for Taste
of Mississippi? All donations are
Unfortunately, Felicia was not able to sustain her change. Her mental illness got the best of her
again, and she began backsliding into her erratic behaviors. Eventually, she was not able to live
peacefully in the shelter with the rest of the women and had to move out. I see her every now
and then on the street or at the bus station. When I look at her now, with her hair tied up and
her clothes that don’t fit, I still see the beautiful woman that had emerged while she was at the
shelter. I know that person is still inside her, waiting to come out again.
2013
tax deductible and can be given
before the year’s end. Please
When you are browsing the social
network scene look up the Stewpot
facebook page and become a fan!
contact Michelle’ Bingham with
questions you might have at
601-353-2759 or
mbingham@stewpot.org.
Stewpot Privacy Policy
Stewpot does not and will not divulge or sell the names, addresses, or any other information about our contributors, newsletter recipients, or people
who access our website. If you wish to have your name removed from Stewpot’s mailing list, please email us at
www.stewpot.org or call us at 601-353-2759. Stewpot values your friendship and your privacy.
For at least the last 10 years, KLLM has assumed the main
responsibility for ensuring Christmas happens for our 55 K-5th grade
children. KLLM employees review the list of children and their sizes
and Christmas wishes and make sure the children receive the gifts they
want (within reason.) One of them even plays a jolly Santa who dishes
out the gift. For our 50 or so 6th - 12 graders, the gift they want is
money. Stewpot supporters supply the funds that allow us to purchase
gift cards that these pre-teen and teens want so they can use them to
buy what they want.
The big event that the 100 or so Stewpot shelter clients enjoy
is the Christmas Party given by St. James Church. This event is so much
fun it is hard to describe it fully. It occurs on a Sunday afternoon and
all the shelters get their clients to St James about 5P.M. When they get
to St. James, they are greeted by about 100 St. James members whose
sole task it seems is to make every client have as fun a time as they can.
The meal is delicious fried chicken cooked by St. James’ famous cook
Petra as well as vegetables with cakes galore for desert. Before and during the meal the children get to make crafts and sit on Santa’s lap and
tell him what they want for Christmas. Sometime during the evening,
Christmas carols are sung with much enthusiasm.
For the administrative staff at Stewpot, it the busiest time of
the year. They must ensure that the clients and the other Stewpot staff
clients have a joyous Christmas season. That means a lot of coordinating and arranging. It also means processing the many donation, thank
you letters and Christmas Cards.
The staff takes turns on being at Stewpot for the holidays, some are
there at Thanksgiving and then some are present at Christmas. All have a
full load during Christmas and New Year’s Day but they cheerfully take
on other duties to ensure other staff is able to enjoy precious time off.
From all of us at Stewpot, we hope you also have a very joyous holiday season. If you need some holiday cheer, come visit Stewpot. We will
be glad to share ours with you.
Director’s Corner
By: Rev. Frank Spencer
One of Stewpot largest
financial supporters is our
alternative gift giving program called The Spirit of
Giving and it truly is. With
a donation to Stewpot
which goes to help some of
the over 650 poverty level
people we assist each and
every day (240,000 client
days/year) the donor gets
a tax deduction for the
amount of the gift and a
card sent to the person or
people to whom the donor
requests a card to be sent.
The card states simply ”A
gift has been given in your
name to Stewpot Community Services by (donor.)
Spirit of Giving participants have contributed as
much as $60,000 in financial assistance to Stewpot
in a holiday season.
All of us have people
that we want to remember but for whom it is dif-
ficult to decide what kind
of gift to give. It may be a
person that has everything
or a person who supports
Stewpot and does not need
a gift, or it may be a clergy
person or it may be a group
of clients or members of
your social club. It may be
people that you want to
remember but do not have
the time during the busy
holiday season for whom to
shop. There is one easy answer for all of these people,
a Spirit of Giving donation.
Please assist Stewpot in its
ministry by participating in
this program for the 2013
holiday season.
Stewpot’s Spirit of Giving
After School
BACK
If you have a friend(s), relative(s), or client(s) that you wish to gift for the Holidays but have
difficulty with the right gift; please consider giving a gift to Stewpot in their name. To accomplish this, please send an appropriate contribution to the below address and give Stewpot
their name and address. Your donation will be tax deductible and they will receive a holiday
card from Stewpot that a donation was made in their name. You also will receive a card from
Stewpot thanking you for your donation for income tax purposes. Please send to:
IN ACTION
P O Box 3691
Jackson MS 39207
I understand that you will send each person a 2013 Holiday Greeting Card
that will acknowledge my gift to them.
This month we asked the students to name some things they were grateful for. Here are some of the things the children
and staff said:
“I am thankful for Jesus Christ who died on the cross for me.” Yulanders H.
“I am thankful for my mother who takes good care of me.” Niemah W.
“I am thankful for the hospitals and ambulance services.” Janiya E.
“I am thankful for the opportunity to work with the Children Services Department.” Ms. Sham
“I am thankful to be a part of AmeriCorps because it brought me to Stewpot.” Ms. Crystal
Enclosed is my check in the amount of $_____________ to cover these gifts.
Address______________________________________________________________________
Recipient’s Name _____________________________________________________________
Address______________________________________________________________________
As a whole we are grateful to the mentors and volunteers who take out their time to tutor our children. We are grateful to
the teachers who teach our kids to help them better understand. We are thankful to the donors who give to the children program and Stewpot as a whole so we can stay in operation. We are thankful and blessed in the children’s program and because
of you we have many more things to be grateful for.
As we are preparing to end this year and enter into another one we want you to know that the Stewpot children are thriving. They are giving their all to their school work and we are instilling in them great things. We know that when great things
are put into our children, great things come out. Thanks for everything you do to help us make that happen. We wish a Happy
and Prosperous New Year!
Recipient’s Name _____________________________________________________________
Address______________________________________________________________________
If you have other names to acknowledge, please use a separate sheet of papers.
Success
I am thankful for...
“I am thankful for food and shelter.” Summer J.
Your Name___________________________________________________________________
Determined to Be a
By: Linda Parker
Stewpot Spirit of Giving
Attention: Michelle’ Bingham
Stewpot Community Services, Inc.
Stewpot needs Turkeys 2013: The Christmas holidays are fast approaching, with your help we can help as many families as
possible have a wonderful dinner on their table. Here is how you can help us help them: Turkey donations! We will assist another 500
or more families for Christmas with a Holiday Basket. We are well on our way but need your help to accomplish this goal. Helping others is the best gift you can give yourself. Try it; the smiles on these families’ faces will be worth your Turkey donation! If you are unable
to bring a turkey, a $25.00 donation will cover the cost of a complete Holiday Basket.
Stephanie Echols
Director, Food Services
This past March, Laquita McMullen and her three children came to Flowers House Shelter. At 33, she had found herself
unemployed and homeless. The small unemployment check of
just $180 a week was not enough to keep her children clothed and
feed , the utilities on and a roof over their heads. She had been
able to hold onto their only source of transportation, but reluctantly had to bring her family to the shelter to survive.
Laquita was not interested in staying at the shelter long.
She made finding a job, her only job. Every week she was filling
out applications, going to interviews and attending job fairs. She
knew she had some great skills and could be an asset to some
company. Finding the right one took time, though. She couldn’t
settle for a minimum wage or part time job. After all, she has
three beautiful children to raise. No, Laqutia knew she had to be
determined and find the job that was going to help her make life
better for herself and her children.
Six months later, her hard work finally paid off. She was
hired to a fulltime position with the Hinds County Sheriff’s
Department as a RDC Detention Officer and began working this
past September. She has since been able to move out of the shelter
into her own place and has begun the work of setting up house
and bringing a sense of normalcy back to her family. We are so
proud of the success she has had and glad we were able to help her
in her darkest hour.
Congratulations Laquita!
1100 West Capitol Street,
Jackson, MS 39203
Phone: 601-353-2759
Fax: 601-353-7071
E-mail: www.stewpot.org
Board of Directors
Charles Parrott, President
Holmes Adams, President Emeritus
Jane-Anna Barksdale, Vice-President
Amy Brooks, Treasurer
Barbara Brunini, Secretary
Sheldon Alston
Glen Breedlove
Bennie Butts
Donna Orkin
Beth Orlansky
Ton Rietvelt
Sister Trinita Eddington
Rev. Steve Burton
Rev. Tommie Brown
Rev. James Donald
Rev. Ricky James
Rev. Edward O’Conner
Rev. Linda Smith
Rev. Mark Williamson
Stewpot Staff Members
Rev. Frank Spencer: Executive Director
fspencer@stewpot.org
Mary Thompson: Women’s Services
mthompson@stewpot.org
Wilbert Logan: Billy Brumfield Shelter
wlogan@stewpot.org
Yolanda Kirkland: Teen’s Services
ykirkland@stewpot.org
Stephanie Echols: Food Services
sechols@stewpot.org
Tara Lindsey: Volunteer Services,
tlindsey@stewpot.org
Rhonda Tomlin: Executive Assistant
rtomlin@stewpot.org
Michelle Bingham: Director, Special
Events, mbingham@stewpot.org
Sherry Spiller: Director, Accounting
sspille@stewpot.org
Heather Ivery: Director, Business
Administrations, hivery@stewpot.org
Shamberi Horton: Director, Children
Services, shorton@stewpot.org
Christie Burnett: Director, Opportunity
Center, cburnett@stewpot.org