Diane Robertson

Diane Robertson and her signature roast pork,
with Jerry Brooks of Hope Lutheran, San Mateo

My friend Diane Robertson passed away on Thursday after a short illness.

I was the coordinator for the church outreach program, and for 20 years Diane cheerfully gave her money and time to the dozen or so activities we supported. She manned the church's booth for the Foster City summer fair, made sandwiches for Sandwiches on Sunday, and bought Christmas presents for immigrant families.

She was one of the stalwarts for Home and Hope, a consortium of Peninsula churches and synagogues that provided emergency housing at their facilities. Diane liked to roast a pork shoulder or ham for the Home and Hope families, and I always went back for seconds of her dish.

She was a retired stewardess (don't call me a flight attendant, she said) for United Airlines, and she was fond of recounting the glory of air travel as it used to be.

Though we grew up thousands of miles apart---me in Hawaii and she in Canada--we found common ground in our humble origins and marveled how good our lives had turned out to be. We also shared a deep gratitude that prompted us to give something back.

Goodbye, my friend, till we meet again.

Good Works: Don't Stop Trying

24 of the 40 items were bought at Costco

Charitable organizations have been just as affected, if not more so, by the pandemic as any institution in society. The 30 Peninsula churches and synagogues which comprise Home and Hope can no longer provide temporary family shelter on their premises. Housing is being furnished on a limited basis at hotels, and churches, rather than serving meals, have been asked to fill requests for food and supplies.

Our Episcopal congregation joined with Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church to complete the list for a total of four families, each church taking two.

On Friday we dropped off our purchases at Hope Lutheran, which made the deliveries.

Our friend at Hope Lutheran wrote:

This is the combination of groceries and supplies donated by St. Ambrose and Hope that we brought to 4 homeless families at Home & Hope this morning!

Thank you for your generosity and thoughtfulness for our neighbors. I had the opportunity to meet a couple of the lovely families, and they are so grateful and excited to have your care. The program manager also told me of an incredible single father with 3 small children in the program who relies on the city bus for transportation, so they were delivering his supplies to him later today. These families face substantial and heart-breaking challenges in their lives. With your gifts, you made a big difference for many people today!

It's discouraging: we have to put more money and time into doing good works, and the impact is not as great as it used to be. But that doesn't mean we stop trying.

Sometimes the Best Does Happen

Lutherans (Jerry) and Episcopalians (Diane) can get along.

Flying in late last night, I didn't have time to make anything for the Home and Hope families, so I bought the precooked mashed potatoes, rotisserie chicken, and dessert macaroons at Costco. Anyway, that's my excuse story, and I'm sticking to it.

Diane slow-cooked a pork roast, seasoned with lemon and garlic. Accompanied by the mashed potatoes and gravy, the roast was the perfect comfort food on a chilly fall night. We put on a pot, and the female heads of household spent an hour socializing over cookies, macaroons, and coffee.

Everyone was in bed by ten, and all were out the door by 6:15 the next morning without our having to roust them. My overnight partner, Hank, and I could scarcely believe our good fortune. Being done by 6:30 instead of the usual 7:30 was a first.

Expect the worst while hoping for the best is a sound rule, but sometimes the best does happen.

Give Me the Power, Lord

Seven years ago I blew the kitchen circuit in the 1950's-era building at the Lutheran church. I called Jerry at home--it was his parish--and he rushed over and showed me the control panel in one of the downstairs classrooms. Never operate two appliances at the same time, he said.

Lessons don't last, and one of the reasons is that memories fail. After activating the dishwasher tonight, I turned on the microwave to reheat a cup of coffee.

Oops. Everything in the kitchen shut down. The families at Home and Hope needed clean dishes, not to mention a working microwave in the morning.

I grabbed the only set of keys they left me. Would they work on the classrooms downstairs? Could I find the control panel, which I dimly remembered was in a back closet? Would I be able to find the switch and reset it? Yes, yes, and yes.

As the Baptists say, PTL (praise the Lord).

For the Families' Sake

Volunteers Clara, Diane, and Anoush dig in.

Less than two months after making dinner for Home and Hope, it was time to cook again.

Two of the February families had not yet found living quarters. The mothers do have jobs, but finding affordable housing is a problem for them, as well as nearly every young Peninsula family.

One of the children, a four-year-old, put away everything in the play area without being asked. That may not seem like much, but your humble blogger usually spends 15 minutes picking up books, toys, crayons, and Play-Doh after the kids go to bed.

Our next date is in November. I hope for their sake that they'll be out of the program by then.

Overnight Duty

Comfortable and warm enough

After a hearty dinner of Nellie’s stir-fried pork and cabbage, the Home and Hope guests helped themselves to Susan’s cherry-and-pineapple coffee cake. My contribution was steamed rice and the $5 rotisserie chicken from Costco. (I always pick up a chicken for the kids; most prefer it to the main dish unless it's pizza.)

Hank from the host Lutheran church arrived at 9. Hank, like your humble blogger, is a retiree who is able sleep on the floor. However, the number of volunteers who can handle overnight duty is dwindling--most of the younger ones have families to take care of and jobs to go to the next day--and the church might well have to cut back or cease hosting next year.

It's just four families that we can shelter at a time, but we're making a difference, and I hope they can find a way to continue.

Home and Hope: Conversation Over Dinner

I piled the plate with the casserole and sat across from the mother and two kids. Volunteers for Home and Hope not only prepare dinner but engage in dinnertime conversation with the guests.

A.J. corrected his mother on her word usage. Disrespect by pre-teens toward parents is not unusual, but it's atypical to show it by means of vocabulary.

Do you like to read, A.J.? He shook his head.

"He likes math," said five-year-old Taylor, who immediately peppered him with addition problems using the biggest numbers she knew, i.e., "what's 100+50?" Addition being no sweat, a couple of questions about multiplication quickly showed that he had mastered those tables, too.

But math, in fact any subject, should be fun, not a test. I recounted the story about a famous mathematician who as a child was asked to calculate the total of the series

1+2+3+4+5....+100 = ??

(This is a familiar tale, but perhaps there are a few humanities majors reading this.) The child solved the problem quickly, confounding his teacher. How did he do it? A.J. puzzled for a minute, then shook his head.

Using pen and paper, I wrote the series in reverse order:

1+2+3+4+5....+100
100+99+98+97...+1

The total of the two series is 101+101+101+... one hundred times. So the solution is 100 x 101 divided by 2, or 5,050.

The mathematician was Carl Gauss, (1777-1855) who was seven when he came up with the answer.

A.J. enjoyed hearing about how kids in those days were pretty smart, too. If I see him again on Thursday night [update: i didn't--they had dinner elsewhere], we'll resume talking about how people, before computers, could still accomplish a lot by just using pen and paper.

On the Calendar

Volunteers and clients dine together.

Home and Hope's clients arrived early this evening.

All had cars, which is a good thing because the van service had been discontinued. The charity still owned the van, which is in good condition, but it was very difficult to put together a combination of volunteers and part-time employees to guarantee that the van was operating every day at 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Another good thing is that everyone had jobs that enabled them to cover the cost of their cars. Affordable housing is the problem; the temporary shelter that H&H provides is spartan, but secure, reliable and well-heated---important when it's 45 degrees outside.

I started the dishwasher and rolled out the sleeping bag. In the morning I'll put the dishes away.

In February it will still be cold. Some of these families will be back, and so will we.

What I Can Do

Teresa and Dilip volunteered for the first time.

It had been six months since we last served dinner to the families of Home and Hope. Though our commitment occurs in the middle of the holiday season we have five cooks/servers for each night.

One of the clients, a single mother, was excited by her new job. The downside was that she had the night shift, which meant leaving her teenaged son in charge of his two younger siblings.

The two volunteers who stay overnight--my turn will be on Thursday--must be knowledgable about each family's situation, for their and our sake.

In this economy adults of all skill levels can get jobs. The problem is not finding work but housing that is affordable. In Foster City the cheapest one-bedroom apartment (525 sq. ft.) is $2,295 per month, which would absorb more than half the after-tax salary of someone earning $50,000.

Solving the problems of homelessness and affordable housing is way above my pay grade. Meanwhile, what I can do is bring some food and help look after things overnight.

Stepping Up

Camping in a classroom: good thing I've lost my
fear of toys and stuffed animals coming to life at night.
Note: sleeping by the altar is different.

"Aging out" of activities not only happens to kids, it also occurs with middle-aged adults. At Home and Hope, which provides short-term shelter to families, older volunteers eventually find it too difficult to sleep on the floor, even helped by the cushioning of air mattresses and sleeping bags. So we're shorthanded.

I actually look forward to these overnight stints. It's a chance to reconnect with friends at the Lutheran church, which is in a wooded area in the Belmont Hills. At night the classroom is quiet, bereft of electronic distractions. I usually get 5-6 hours, but they're good hours.

The rotation says we're not on the shelter schedule until Thanksgiving. If a church has to drop out, as sometimes happens, we'll do our part and step up.

It's All About Them

Clara and Diane have been cooking and serving for 15 years.

Just like 2½ months ago, it was another full night with four families and 15 beds occupied. The good news was that all the faces were new, meaning that the previous families had all found housing.

We had to adapt to our guests' work schedules--they arrived between 6 p.m. and midnight--by setting up plates with reheating instructions. We had to leave the final clean-up, normally done by 8, for the overnight crew (sorry, Hank and Phil)

One rule of volunteering: if you can't be adaptable, then stay out of the kitchen.

Kitchen and Other Duties

This week all 15 beds at the church are filled. The fall-off in demand for temporary shelter one year ago proved to be a short-lived phenomenon. We can speculate why requests fell and why they bounced back but, just like the recent volatile behavior of the stock market, it's above my pay grade.

A few days ago the sign-up list for Home & Hope was looking sparse, but some long-time volunteers stepped into the breach.

After dinner a couple of kids took basketballs and soccer balls outside. I followed after them. Under the rules an adult must supervise children at all times.

Those who stayed in the kitchen.

Soon they were joined by three others, and I spent the rest of the evening corraling five under-10's in the parking lot, escalating my warnings into threats so that they stayed within sight (it was dark after seven). When the two-year-old fell down, I picked him up, which was a mistake because his crying nearly burst my right eardrum. Just by looking at me the kids knew that playtime was over and went inside. The two-year-old was fine, as everyone knew he was.

I won't complain about kitchen duty again.

Only One Night for Me

After a dinner of spaghetti, green beans, and chicken, the kids grabbed the hula hoops and raced around the room. The cooks remembered a time when children should be seen and not heard when the grownups are talking, but those days are gone forever.

On the bright side, social interaction, even the raucous kind, was welcome.

It was refreshing to see children---strangers---from different families playing together sans electronic devices.

Liv, Lorie, and Leda relax after doing the dishes.

This week was our turn to make dinner for Home and Hope, a network of 30 Peninsula churches and synagogues who provide temporary shelter for displaced families.

It was also a chance for people from different circumstances to spend a few hours together. We swapped stories about the places we grew up and how we came to live in the most beautiful place on earth. We talked about our childhood and parents.

The volunteers left around 8, and Hank and I rolled out our sleeping bags. I didn't sleep comfortably, but, unlike our new friends, the lack of comfort will only last one night.

The Reason We Keep Going

Clara and Leda prepared and served dinner on Tuesday.

This past week it was our turn to serve dinner to 11-15 people at Home and Hope, which provides temporary shelter to families on the Peninsula. Unlike last spring, demand for shelter services has come back to normal, that is, they are oversubscribed. The temporary drop-off probably was not due to stepped-up immigration enforcement, I suppose, but who knows?

This week's group consisted of three single-mother and one two-parent families. All were polite and hard-working, but I need to say a word about the family with both a mom and a dad.

Overnight duty--sleeping bag and toys, what more do I need?

Dad wakes at 2 a.m. to take a bus to San Francisco (their car is out of commission) for his job, which starts at 4.

The 16-year-old son rides the bus to school. A junior, he takes AP history and English lit and hits the books (sans computer, so it's not just an expression) each night in the dining hall while everyone else has gone to bed. He also looks after his baby sister when his mother needed a break.

Diane and Leda (again) served on Thursday.

Mom rides the van to the Home and Hope office, where she spends the day with her one-year-old daughter. They were the only family that was ready to leave with the van at the scheduled time, 7 a.m. each morning.

This family looks like they are going to make it, and they're one of the reasons we keep going.

Above My Pay Grade

Like the Mona Lisa, 2-year-old Axel gazes to the left,

his thoughts a mystery.

This week we served dinner to two families at Home and Hope, the network of 30 Peninsula churches and synagogues that provide temporary shelter to people who have been displaced for reasons such as job loss, family breakup, and large rent increases.

I spoke to the Director about the drop-off in applications---usually the organization houses four families at a time, and there had been a long waiting list to get into the program. She said that, for the first time in memory, there is no one on the waiting list.

We have seen "good" declines before--a booming economy enables some homeless to find jobs and housing---but that doesn't seem broadly true based on personal observations. Some potential applicants may have finally given up on making ends meet---I mentioned visiting new two-bedroom apartments that are going for $4,600 per month---and have departed the Peninsula for economic reasons.

But the likeliest reason is that the step-up in immigration enforcement has caused the fearful to leave the area or remain in the shadows. In the circles that I frequent ICE is a dirty word, but if there's less homelessness on the Peninsula, is that so bad?

Potential clients may have moved to other regions, such as Central California, where it's much cheaper to provide housing, medical, and education services. The State of California may protest, but it could be saving money because of the movement of population. That question and its possible answers are above my pay grade, and for the nonce I will confine myself to making dinner, being an overnight monitor, and making light conversation.

The Stewpot Will Be Ready

By Friday the fridge often overflows with leftovers.

Yesterday was our last evening of service in 2016 to Home and Hope, the interfaith local network that provides temporary housing, meals, and other services to four families at a time. Because most of the families arrived after 9 o'clock and had already eaten, we had plenty of leftover food (pictured). It wasn't necessary to cook dinner.

Hank and I stayed till 7:30 a.m.--each of us taking an air mattress--as the two overnight monitors. He is a member of the host church and has thrown himself into the fray enthusiastically. He was up before 6 a.m. and started the coffee, for which I was grateful.

In the morning I chatted with Angelica. She's still in the program and spoke fondly of the stew that I made the last time. Flattery will get her everywhere.

I'm hoping that she will have found housing by the next time we're on duty in March, but if not my stewpot will be ready.

Cheap Date

Diane's finishing touch: gravy for the pot roast.

After a five-month hiatus it was our week to make dinner for the families at Home and Hope. One of the four had two parents; the other three were headed by single mothers with one or two children.

On Tuesday I only had to play chauffeur. The dinner of pot roast, roasted vegetables, Chinese chicken salad, roast potatoes, and homemade blueberry torte was much better than my usual fare at home and, for that matter, many of the restaurants that I frequent.

I had overnight duty, too, and woke up the guests at 6 a.m.
Everyone had gone to work or school by 7:15.

Thursday it was my turn to make the entrée. I slow-cooked a crowd-sized beef finger-meat stew and a large pot of rice. (Finger meat produces a lot of fat, which needs to be skimmed before serving.) Irene chopped the ingredients for a green salad, Jody roasted potatoes, and Judy contributed chocolate chip cookies.

As we were putting the food away (late arrivals often pick up dinner on their own) the last family walked through the door at 9:20 because Robert, 13, plays baseball in the East Bay until 8:45. They finished the leftovers; Angelica said she appreciated everything that H&H does for them, and that she really appreciated home cooking.

Yes, I'm a cheap date. One compliment like that every year keeps me signing up for more.

Recaptured for an Evening

Diane explains a point while I eat the macaroons.

One benefit of volunteering at Home and Hope is the opportunity to engage in conversation with fellow human beings outside of work and family.

Smartphones and other electronics are put away because, frankly, it would be rude to flaunt such devices in front of families (not all of them, to be sure) who can't afford them. So we have to talk....about the weather, about sports, about growing up in the 60's-70's-80's in [fill in the blank], about school and work, but only if the other party invites the conversation.

Between cooking, serving, and cleaning up, not to mention sharing a meal and conversation, the evening went by quickly. We closed up at nine and headed back home. Everyone would be in bed by ten, and so were we, the evening rhythm of a pre-digital age recaptured for an evening.

A Bit Differently

About half became leftovers

After picking up the roast ham in Foster City and the carrot salad in Belmont, I headed over to the church where the Home and Hope families were staying. Susan dropped off potatoes, a salad, and frosted cupcakes, while I contributed chicken, another salad, and ice cream bars. We had to cook for 12 people, eight of them children.

I kept the kitchen open for three hours due to the four adults' different work schedules. No matter, I had overnight duty so I wasn't going anywhere.

Luis, a high student who also volunteers at St. Anthony's in San Francisco, arrived after dinner and was the other overnight monitor. He peppered me with questions about what we had to do and when. It was simple: lock the doors at ten, wake-up everyone at six, set out breakfast, put the dishes away, and make sure everyone had departed by 7:15. Luis said that he will write up his week's activities as a school project and intends to help us throughout the year.

He recorded his thoughts and took a short video with his smartphone. I also did some volunteering when I was in high school, but the kids these days do it a bit differently.

Transformation

He looks like how I feel

Home and Hope could be renamed chasing-down-toddlers-by-tired-adults, but that elongated monicker would not look good on a fundraising brochure.

Ramone looked angelic as he slept peacefully in his stroller at 7 in the morning. Was this the same kid who fought noisily over a blue locomotive (a red one just wouldn't do) on Tuesday night?

He and older brother Raymond will witness wonders that I can only dream of.

Sleep well, little one.