By Lois Dingman 

The Social Action Committee has been active since several years before the Community was formally recognized. It was formed in answer to Pope John XXIII's Call to Action to the laity.

Some of our earliest works were the formation of Monday Night Meal. We began by serving at St. John's on Church St. During the first month that a friend and I cooked and served the meal we had 35 people attend each night, four of whom were women. Now we see many more women, some families and more and more young, single men and women. Since that time it has become an entity to itself and serves between 400 and 700 people on any given Monday night. To give you an idea how old this ministry is, I myself cooked for 17 years, until 1994, and others who began at that time are still cooking.

One of the earliest projects was cooperation with the parish to help with the Rainbow Club. We met on Saturdays from 9:30 to 3:00 and planned activities for as many as 100 children. They played sports, did crafts and if they wished they could attend Bible class. We also fed them a hot lunch. Several times a year they were taken on field trips, one of which was a trip with the older children to the ballet. Rainbow was a very moving experience because many of these children were sent up to the Club for safety reasons and brought with them their 1 and 2-year old siblings. This group operated for about 18 years and the children are now served by programs at the Malachi Center. One of the most delightful things we did was to encourage participation of the children's mothers in the Rainbow Club. About five of these women became good friends of the volunteers and staff of St. Malachi. Several of them were able to get some training in food preparation and service and have since gotten jobs and homes out of the project. Several remain good friends.

A third project was the Boutique, which was held just before Christmas. This enabled the children to buy gifts for family members when they would otherwise not be able to. The Community members were very generous in their donations of good, clean articles of every description. The parents of Urban Community School now handle this project. Another project was our support of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. Many people picketed the grocery stores and most of us refrained from eating head lettuce and grapes for several years until the struggle was won. A number of members marched with Chavez when he came to Cleveland. We had dinners with the migrant families and some of us became surrogate families.

We also collected hats, gloves, scarves and socks, which were passed out to the children and also to the men at the back door. This ministry continues today.

Over the years there have been many good works performed by members of this committee, including the distribution of shoes at Thanksgiving, baskets at Easter, Neighborhood Ministry, the Bail Bond Project and the Angel Tree. Several years ago we concentrated on the Homeless. Ten people were trained to be more assertive in the area of the Homeless. By associating with many of the homeless at the Monday Night Meal we learned first hand to realize that they are real people. At one point we were able to keep a city shelter open by making a phone call to Mayor Michael White's office. We realize that we must keep working for the homeless but that it is such an overwhelming problem that we are almost as helpless as they are homeless.

 
This committee is well known throughout the city and as such has influence that many of us did not realize. When we write a letter or make a call our information and concerns are taken seriously. My son-in-law, who was at a meeting of Lutheran clergy in Detroit, was happy to learn that our reputation had even reached there.

Our emphasis in 1996 was on the Homeless, Women and Children, AIDS education, Housing in the area, and Voter Registration. We registered 37 new voters, and made 54 Change of Address or Name Change registrations before the November elections between the people at Monday Night meal.

In 1996 we cooperated closely with the Liturgy Committee. We began a project in Advent in which we asked members of the community to choose a symbol representing the Malachi Ministry that they were particularly interested in and indicate on the back of it what they would do to foster their interest and their actions in that Ministry. The symbols were used to decorate a Jesse tree. The idea of this project is to inform members about the different ministries and what is available to them to fulfill our mission as a community. During Lent, in 1996, we had several Communion reflections and passed out information about the new Welfare Reforms and how they impacted the residents of our area. This started on February 2nd with a flyer about the discontinuation of food stamps to 17,000 single men in Cuyahoga County on March 1st of '96. We also wrote a letter to the Governor urging him to seek a waiver to extend the stamps until more has been done about job training and availability, child care and transportation.

In spring 1996 we sponsored a Forum in cooperation with St. Malachi Center and the West Side Catholic Center on Welfare Reform and held a follow-up forum in 1997. Both forums were well received.

In a joint venture with the Parish, we were able to join St. Colman's Credit Union. They have been in business for 35 years and are very stable. Members of the parish, the Community, their relatives and friends can join. It is also open to the people in the project, the elderly at the high rise and the homeless in the area. In June of 1998 the Credit Union began a checking service. You can obtain information by calling them at 216-281-4570.

In 1997 we focused on Sweatshop labor. In cooperation with the Inter-Religious Task Force we wrote many letters to manufacturers, distributors and others asking them their policies on wages and treatment of workers in their places of manufacture. We also encouraged members of the community to join us in writing letters. We encouraged these companies to pay decent wages and put humane working conditions in place where they do not exist and encouraged them to raise the standard of living for their workers in this country and in foreign countries. Communion reflections were given on Mental Health Awareness, Welfare reform and again in connection with our charge of raising money for the refugee family that the community sponsored.

We were given the task of raising $5000 for the refugee family. Two gentlemen from the community did a splendid job in reproducing flyers and distributing them on Sundays, encouraging members to meet their pledge of $20. One of them gave a communion reflection on the subject. Through their efforts we raised $8000. A breakfast held for the purpose of raising money brought in another $1200. We spent $5000 on the first family and a determination had to be made by the community whether or not to sponsor another family starting with the nest egg of $4200. The community voted on this at the May 1997 meeting.

The possibility of purchasing second-hand coats for the knights of the road was approved by the pastor, and the committee was prepared to do this. After discussion with the parish personnel we waited for them to tell us when they were in need of the coats. Because of the mild weather the need did not arise and the money is still on hold.

We collected hats, gloves, scarves and socks for those in need in advent. In 1998 the Committee was very active. One of our projects was the Christmas program for children. We served 63 children, 30 from St. Malachi Center and 33 from programs at West Side Ecumenical Ministry Center.

Information on the Sweat Shop project that we are working on with the Inter-Religious Task Force was written up in the newsletter several times this year.

Community members were encouraged to continue writing to manufacturers expressing their concerns for the welfare of those working in sweatshops, both in this country and abroad.

We had a collection to raise money for the Honduras Relief effort. A Communion Reflection was presented and money was raised by the combined efforts of the community and the parish for this purpose. Together with matching funds and donated work by doctors from the Cleveland area approximately $10,000 was realized.

We have been approached by Transitional Housing to try to better the lives of the women residents there by helping with educational scholarships and by providing dental work. The committee has committed to this project and has begun working on it by writing a grant for part of the money. Dentists will be contacted to see if special rates can be arranged for some of the women. They will also be put in touch with Case Western Reserve Dental School.

The committee is open to all interested persons and everyone is welcome to attend the meetings. Also you are invited to present projects that especially interest you and we will attempt to help you with them. Younger members of the community must become more active in this committee as it fulfills the Community Mission Statement and we need younger people's input and energy

In 1990 the national Call to Action published a sign-on ad "A Call for Reform" in the New York Times. This document called on church leadership to consider a variety of reform issues in the spirit of Vatican II that had not yet been addressed. Among these were the centrality of Eucharist, welcoming the divorced and remarried to Eucharist, the primacy of informed conscience in deciding about birth control, the human rights of gay and lesbian persons, the participation of all the Baptized in Church decision making, the need to welcome the gifts of priests who left the active ministry to marry, and the need to open ordination to women and the married.

The St. Malachi Community Council, then chaired by Tom Hatcher, signed on to the ad and appointed a Church reform subcommittee. Chris Schenk was asked to co- chair the committee with Bill Donnelly. Early committee members also included Kay Vine, Bruce Wacker, Mary Englert, Gen McCloskey and others. Kay Vine dubbed our committee: "FutureChurch."

Also in 1990, the Resurrection parish council in Solon, Ohio adopted a resolution calling on the U.S. bishops to look beyond substituting communion services for the Mass in priestless parishes and to reconsider opening ordination to all the Baptized. Their resolution was subsequently endorsed by the St. Malachi Community and Parish Councils and 26 other parishes in Northeast Ohio.

The Malachi FutureChurch committee met with people from Resurrection to consider what could be done in Northeast Ohio. Mary Englert, Gen McCloskey and assorted others put their heads together to surface other progressive church leaders in the diocese who might be interested in being part of our group. On October 16, 1990 over 40 representatives of 16 faith communities gathered at St. Malachi’s School Hall and the FutureChurch network was born.

Over the next year a mission statement was drafted and officers and committees selected. Our first Malachi program was Dr. Bernard Cooke speaking on Eucharist. Dr. Anthony Padovano, president of the married priest organization CORPUS, came for an evening lecture and morning workshop at Cleveland State University, hosted at the CSU Newman Center by Sr. Jane Pank. Also during this year, the Catholic Universe Bulletin published several articles about the pending shortage of priests in the Cleveland diocese. Nationally it was projected that we would have 40% fewer priests in 2005 compared to 1965 levels. At the same time, the number of Catholics was projected to increase by 65%. In Cleveland, we were projecting a 26% decline in the number of priests.

Our first broadly publicized event was a dinner featuring Fr. Richard McBrien, chair of the Theology Department at the University of Notre Dame. We felt that if 300 people came to join us at the IX center, we would count the evening a great success. Instead nearly 700 people came. (We still refer to this as the miracle of the multiplication of the chicken!). Perhaps the most inspiring thing about the evening was the fact that there were people there from every aspect of diocesan life. Some pastors brought all of their staff and parish council members, and many Chancery officials and teachers from the seminary also attended.

Unfortunately, our guest of honor, Fr. Richard McBrien did not attend! His flight was grounded all afternoon by heavy fog in South Bend. After several hours of anxious waiting, Fr. McBrien faxed his talk to his friend and St. Raphael Pastor, Fr. Nels Callahan. Fr. Lou Trivison, with no small amount of trepidation gave the talk to a warmly appreciative crowd. But, when all was said and done, nothing could really spoil that exhilarating evening. We came together and discovered that the Spirit is doing something new among us once again.

Who would have thought that 10 years later we would have 2000 members and two full time staff positions? Thanks to the efforts of so many Malachi community and parish members, not to mention pastor emeritus Fr. Paul Hritz (who provided many a consultation to Chris behind the scenes) we are trying to live up to our motto: "We love the Church...we’re working to make it better!"

The St. Malachi Monday Night Meal has served meals to the poor and needy of the area for more than 25 years. Every Monday evening as many as 450 people have been served a full dinner meal. Nearly 2000 meals are served annually. There are 170 food providers from the Community, the parish and others outside St. Malachi's who faithfully supply food on a rotating basis once a month. There are six callers who contact the providers on a weekly basis. Between 45 and 65 volunteers prepare the food in the school kitchen, serve the food and clean up afterwards. This is all accomplished between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. each Monday. Over the past 20 plus years approximately 500,000 dinners have been served at the St. Malachi Monday Night Meal. Our goal is to continue to serve meals to the needy people in the neighborhood area.

"Martha" wasn’t even her real name. It was "Maria." And very little else, fact or fiction, was known about her. Yet, Martha was a presence to us here at St. Malachi for many, many years.

Her small, forlorn figure could be seen here and there within a short radius of the church—in the streets and alleyways, under the bridges, at the rectory back door, or hovering in the parking area waiting for the end of a meeting so she could come into the hall to sleep on the floor.

Winter and summer in the same dark, increasingly ragged ankle-length clothes, her head buried in a cap or shawl. Clothing much too warm for summer, yet not quite warm enough for winter. (One time, Fr. Paul Hritz prevailed on her to accept another coat; she returned it to him shortly, telling him to "give it to the poor." He observed that she was "street-smart. She wasn’t going to get mugged for that coat.")

Martha at all times kept all her worldly goods at her side, in plastic shopping bags. For a while there, a shabby small dog was ever at her side too.

Martha apparently came to the U.S. from Eastern Europe via the World War II refugee camp route. She was a "DP" – a displaced person. She was angry. She kept people at a distance. She refused assistance. Or accepted it begrudgingly, and only on her own terms.

So what did this get her? A place in a lot of hearts, that’s what. Martha’s funeral Liturgy in early 1996 was crowded with St. Malachi community and parish members; she was especially important to Malachi staff, Monday Night Meal and Back Door Ministry people. At their own request, Stella Maris men were her pallbearers. (To them, she was known as "Maria." When coaxed, she drank their coffee. They watched out for her; she was "family" to them, too.)

This "bag lady," or "street person," if you will, was loved. Tears were shed at her funeral, and stories were told. Turning away from her open casket in the back of the church, before the Liturgy, one viewer said, "Why, she looks like a baroness." In a black lace dress, she did.

Affectionate chuckles greeted Fr.Tony Schuerger’s observation at the start of his homily: This is one thing Martha could not stop us from doing.

From several eulogists came recollections that belied the general Martha-image. For instance, she had been seen one time dancing around the hall’s stage area. Dancing and singing. And actually smiling. (Martha? Smiling?)

Toward the end, when her poor abscessed feet could hardly carry her, she finally allowed someone to bandage them. But, consistent with her image, she would not accept needed assistance up to the rectory food window unless all her bags were brought along as well.

Through the years my own attempts at communicating with Martha were unsuccessful. Occasionally my greeting was met with a nod, a grunt and, just once, a wave of the hand. Fortunately, others were better at it than I. Once I was very moved at the sight of Mary Laubenthal holding Martha in her arms, gently rocking her and crooning: "Martha dear, please let me get you a warmer coat." The look on Martha’s usually expressionless face was one of complete bliss. (But she didn’t give in on the coat.)

Like those of most "homeless," Martha’s life was one of dreadful mental and physical disturbance. Yet, she was not totally homeless. She chose St. Malachi’s as her home. On her own terms, of course, always resisting offers of real housing arrangements.

Truth to tell, I think she was sent. A gift to us. A symbol. A constant reminder that no matter how bloody awful things get, they could be worse. A constant reminder to be grateful. No telling how many people driving to or from the Flats or downtown were affected by the heart-wrenching sight of that lonely, grungy little person. There’s an old saying: "There, but for the grace of God, go I." Maybe there should be a similar one for Martha: "Here, thanks to the grace of God, came she."

Well, she’s certainly not homeless now. Her clothes are no longer in shreds, and her streets these winters are a lot warmer than ours. Let’s thank God for that, and for the gift of Martha herself. As they used to say around this St. Malachi neighborhood: "God be good to her!"

Clevelanders have a special sensitivity to the needs of Central America because two Salvadorans martyrs, Jean Donovan and Sr. Dorothy Kazel were from here. In fact, both of them attended Mass at St. Malachi's. In 1984 St. Malachi's began an eight-month discernment process about whether or not to grant sanctuary to political refugees fleeing torture and violent death in Central America. It was controversial, but the Community eventually decided to place conscience over possible legal consequence and welcomed political refugees. In the succeeding four years, 21 Central American men, women and children found refuge in our midst and eventual permanent legal residence in Canada.

The Community of St. Malachi was one of 300 sanctuary churches nationwide that, after along struggle, finally forced the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) to abide by our own laws. As signers of the Geneva Accords, the Refugee Act of 1980, the United States is obligated to investigate each claimant's case for political asylum. Instead, the INS quickly deported political refugees without first investigating their claims of imminent injury or death if forced to return home. When we began, the obstacles seemed insurmountable. The INS was too intransigent, and what could only 300 churches out of hundreds of thousands do in the face of systemic blindness? As it turned out, quite a lot! After a protracted struggle the sanctuary churches won their lawsuit, and today the INS must investigate each refugee's situation. The learning here? A few just people can move mountains!

We organized over 30 prominent church and political leaders to publicly endorse our sanctuary position long before the public prayer service welcoming "Pedro", our first sanctuary guest. This reduced our risk and created a wide safety net for us even as it broadened commitment to peace and justice in Central America. This grassroots base was very helpful later, when successful resolution was passed by Cleveland's City Council declaring Cleveland a Sanctuary City.

In March 1997, Community Council was asked to accept sponsorship of a refugee family of legal immigrants and help them settle in America. After discussion, prayer and reflection on the Community’s mission, an extraordinary partnership began between the Community and the Diocesan Office of Migration and Refugee Services. The Council voted to sponsor a family and began the process of setting up several work groups to address practical issues and communication with the entire Community membership. Votes of support at the Community’s annual meeting in May as well as a special Community meeting in August 1997 provided the impetus for this new work with God’s people along with a $5,000 commitment for the family for the year. The Ali/Mohamed family of seven arrived from Somalia at the end of August. Two families from Bosnia were also sponsored. These families came from different cultures and religious traditions—Muslim and Catholic. There have been six adults and ten children in all.

The challenges of resettlement are enormous: radical cultural and social changes, leaving behind families and friends in threatening environments, memories of the horrors escaped, adapting to American culture with medical, governmental, and daily life routines. More than 100 community members and others contributed time, talent and treasure to help them in their adjustment. From the time each family arrived at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and arrived at a host home to the point when each family was established in its own home, generosity has been evident.

Refugee sponsorship has also created new friendships, inspired special prayer gatherings, and set up cooperative efforts with St. Malachi Parish. Presentations and connections with other Diocesan parishes occurred because the Community accepted the Gospel challenge in living out its mission. As with all faith-based efforts, much good has happened for individuals and the Community as a whole. God’s goodness has been witnessed.

Since the first death of a Community member, Mildred Johnston in 1974, the Community has always been responsive to the needs of others at the time of the death of a loved one. The work of helping with liturgical plans for the funerals and offering a luncheon after the Liturgy were always made available to Community members. The ministry has developed so that prayer services at the time of the wake, printing of the funeral program, offering a month’s mind Liturgy, providing musicians for prayer services and Liturgies, and memorials in the Community newsletter became available.

More importantly, there has always been an effort on the part of the Community and the pastor to offer personal, prayerful support to the survivors. Phone calls were made, notifying others of the death. Condolences are offered at Sunday Liturgy. Personal visits and other gestures of support are all part of sharing life and death.

As we say in the prayers of Final Commendation, Receive their souls and present them to God, the Most High! The Community expresses this prayer in its walk with the others at a time of sending loved ones to their eternal home.

The Community has been involved the past five years in Shared Ministry, an ecumenical group of church leaders from Ohio City, including the Community of St. Malachi, St. Malachi Parish, St. Pat’s Parish, St. Paul Community Church, Lutheran Hospital Chaplaincy, Franklin Circle Church, West Side United Church of Christ, and others. Their function is to provide dialogue along with interfaith services several times each year including a retreat, a Thanksgiving Eve Service, Christmas Caroling, a Christian Unity Sunday Service, World Prayer Day, and Good Friday Services.

The Shared Ministry group also has a housing project called Project A.F.F.O.R.D. St. Malachi Parish and St. Malachi Community sponsored the Hritz-O’Donnell home with Project A.F.F.O.R.D. a few years ago. The home is presently under construction on Woodbine Avenue. (See picture below.) Project A.F.F.O.R.D. offers needy families the opportunity to purchase a new home with a subsidized down payment—our sponsorship—for a monthly payment of approximately $350.

West Side Ecumenical Ministry, of which Shared ministry is a cluster, is located at 5209 Detroit. WSEM provides programs for the poor and needy on the near West Side including, Headstart Programs, Food Programs, Senior Nutrition programs, Americorps Teen Programs, SACC programs (School Age Child Care), neighborhood playgrounds, a theater program, etc. Community members Pat Forkas and Lou Keim are employed by WSEM. Sr. Francis Borgia is the St. Malachi Parish representative for Shared Ministry. Paul Kunkel, the Community representative for Shared Ministry, also serves on the WSEM board.

Hritz/O’Donnell Home – Completion date: June 2000

Pastoral Associate, Sr. Francis Borgia, OSU, coordinates the Backdoor Ministry. The window is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m., on Sundays from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. There are well over 100 volunteers serving at the window. They come from the Community, the parish and from all over town. Many volunteers have been serving for years. High school students come to do their community service. Catholic Worker volunteers come from all over the country.

Lou Schroeder, who went to the Kingdom last year, coordinated the volunteers for many years before Sr. Francis took over the leadership. Ronnie Triscko, our housekeeper and cook, works with the volunteers during the week. Ronnie is known as "the mother of the neighborhood". She looks after the guests as well as the volunteers, not to mention making meals, doing laundry and housekeeping for our staff at the parish house.

The window closes one Sunday each month from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m when the monthly breakfast is provided by Bill McLaughlin and his crew in the school hall. There is much need in the neighborhood these days. We see more and more children and families coming to the window. With the changes in the Federal Welfare, many families are having difficulty meeting the new standards.

Many of the Sunday volunteers bring a kettle of soup or some prepared food for the ministry, thereby having some ownership in the ministry. Sr. Francis always welcomes those who want to help with volunteering or bringing food.

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