Mary House Catholic Worker

Mary House Catholic Worker of Austin
http://www.maryhouseaustin.wordpress.com
 
Founded by Lynn Goodman Strauss, this is a quiet unassuming shelter on the corner of William Cannon and 1st Street. As you approach the house from the street, your eyes fix on the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The small garden is a blizzard of flowers and tall grasses. I met Lynn working in the garden when I arrived. Sitting down to coffee she told me all about her work. This is the only shelter of its kind in Austin. It offers medically supportive housing to homeless, indigent adults with critical or terminal illnesses. These are the people who live on the streets and they have nowhere to rest when they are ill. Think of Mother Theresa and the poor of Calcutta and you will get the idea. There are about 12 beds in the shelter divided into a men’s and women’s section. Lynn has been dubbed “the egg lady” by the construction workers downtown. Regularly she is seen walking the streets giving out boiled eggs to the workers to keep them going for the day. I asked Lynn how we could help her organization in a very specific and practical way. Lynn gave me a list of things that she would appreciate help with:

• She needs a couple of people to come regularly to tend her garden. Lynn is now 65 years old and she is finding it hard to bend down and tend the soil.
• She needs people to come and cook dinner for her people. About 12 people sit down to dinner at night. Lynn insists that they serve only organic produce because it is healthier food for people recovering from illness. She would welcome any group of people  – families, organizations, friends, to come and prepare and serve dinner. This could be Mom and Dad and the kids. This could be you with a couple of friends. It will mean even more if you and your friends will actually buy and cook the food as a gift.
• She needs adult clothes and blankets. She is happy if people purchase gently used at Goodwill and Thriftland.
• She needs donations of children’s books/pampers/baby clothes/toys. Lynn passes on donations to a lady in Montopolis who is giving shelter to poor families in her home. 
• Lynn spends $200 on food a week. Money always helps. She only serves ORGANIC food because it is healthier for sick people. She is looking for canned goods/winter clothes, hats (proper warm ones) and gloves/blankets. She emphasized that she needs white socks. 
• Lynn wants to pay off her mortgage. She owes $80,000. Every dollar helps. If you want to give a donation by check, make it payable to: Mary House 
• Lynn said she would love to speak with Engineer types. She wants to reduce her electricity bills. She wants to install water heaters. 
• She wants someone to come and paint the bathroom. She would also love someone to come and help paint the outside of her house. Anyone who can help with maintenance would be very welcome. A perfect Saturday morning job.
• Lynn would love it if you came and just visited the people there. Maybe you could bring a movie for everyone to watch?
• She would love it if someone came once a month and changed her air-conditioning filters.
• She would love someone to come and wash laundry for her. She would love someone to come and help her redo her linen closet. She also asked for new pillows.  
• At Christmas Lynn likes to visit the homeless on the streets and give them Christmas cards to let them know that they are remembered. She is looking for Christmas cards in Spanish so that she can give something to the undocumented living on the streets. 

 Contact information:

Lynn Goodman Strauss – theegglady@sbcglobal.net
Telephone: 512-520-8482
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 684185, Austin,Texas 78768-4185
Mary House Catholic Worker shelter is located on King Edward Place, #711B. Drive along William Cannon toward I35, turn left on 1st Street, turn left on the next left, King Edward Place.

Mary House online – www.catholicworkeraustin.org/
Checks/Donations made payable to: Mary House
 
Note: Make sure that you contact Mary House before you start donating things. Let Lynn advise you about what she needs. We don’t want to inundate her with 300 bags of apples/oranges/bananas and truckloads of clothes.