FORT SMITH — As director of lay ministry at Immaculate Conception Church, Deacon Greg Pair has been a frequent parish liaison to the homeless community, leading services and ministering to them at the Community Rescue Mission.
On Sunday, Jan. 5, as temperatures fell into the single digits, “A young couple came here just about frozen,” Pair said. “I found them some food, but the Rescue Mission and the Salvation Army were full. I spoke to Father John (Antony, pastor) and asked if we could shelter the homeless in the parish center during this severe cold and contacted our ministries. Parishioners and the Knights of Columbus provided all the food Jan. 5 and 6 — vegetable and potato soups, chili, chips, cupcakes, sandwiches and drinks — and volunteered to help serve and clean up. I stayed both nights.”
The parish center hosted 12 homeless men on Sunday and 24 on Monday night in a brightly lit, warm room with plenty of food. The men set up sleeping bags in the corners of the room, along with their backpacks and personal possessions. Volunteers set up a supply table with extra blankets, clothing and sample sizes of toiletries.
On Monday night, some of the guests were gathered around the television to watch the Florida State-Auburn football game while others played cards and dominoes. A few, tired from the frigid temperatures, settled into their sleeping bags for the night.
Each morning the parish served cereals, donuts and fruit with juice, milk and coffee. The homeless left by 8 a.m. in the morning to allow the parish to use the facility for other scheduled programs.
Ron Davis, only homeless for a week, was trying to get back home to Missouri from Texas. Before the cold spell, he was living in “South Camp” by the Arkansas River, where some of the residents helped him get a tent and showed him where he could get help. Reed thin and needing a shave, Davis spoke about the events that led to the loss of his home.
“I was in the Marine Corps in Afghanistan, and even though I have PTSD, I only have a 20 percent VA disability. I was working as a bounty hunter for bail bondsmen but had to stop working after I had three strokes. My doctor told me I couldn’t be a bounty hunter anymore — you never know what the person behind the door might do to avoid capture.”
Donny Ray “Gunner” Bailey, a former gunnery sergeant in the Marines, doesn’t call himself ‘homeless.’ He considers himself and his friends to be ‘temporarily displaced from society.’ He serves as a spokesperson and ministers to his peers, three of whom share his large tent. He helps the newly homeless to navigate the system and get the services they need to survive.
“In my 17 years as a Marine, I was in five military conflicts — Beirut and Grenada in 1983, Somalia in 1984, Bosnia in 1985 and the first Gulf War in 1991. I have two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star,” he said. “I get medical and cash benefits from the VA, and I sometimes work at the Rescue Mission doing laundry.”
In his years as a Marine, Bailey said that 99 percent of the military chaplains were Catholic. “I’ve been to many different churches,” he said, “but I’ve never felt more comfortable than I do here tonight. Deacon Greg comes to the Community Rescue Mission and talks to all of us who live here on the river. I told him I wanted to join this church and be an active member of this community. I’m going to start instructions with him tomorrow, and I’m bringing four of my friends with me.”
“All of our RCIA presentations are on CD,” Pair said, “so if Gunner and his friends want to come a few days a week we could possibly cover all the classes by this Easter vigil.”
Fort Smith has recently made some strides in sheltering the homeless. The Old Fort Homeless Coalition has begun a project, Riverview Hope Campus, to consolidate all of the city’s homeless services in one location. The Catholic community has been active in supporting current services, such as the Sack Lunch Program at Next Step Day Room and in building homes for homeless women with children and homeless veterans.
Pair is grateful for his parish’s generosity.
“Looking back on the events of the past week all I can say is ‘Wow,’” he said. “The outpouring of love from our parish community was God working through each and every one of them.”
