By Lori Anne Oliwa |Correspondent

St. Anselm Parish once again served as a place of welcome and a haven to homeless families in need.

For one week, from Aug. 4-11, the Wayside Catholic faith community participated in a unique program managed by Family Promise of Monmouth County, which pairs people in need with host parishes and congregations who pledge use of their facilities.

Sue Bove and Irene Esposito, who co-coordinate the Family Promise initiative for the parish, noted that St. Anselm Parish has been active with the outreach effort since August, 2001. Both women, along with their pastor, Father Gene Vavrick, acknowledged the extensive commitment of time, talent, resources and, most importantly, the significant number of parishioners who step up to volunteer with the effort.

“It’s exciting to see the building transformed into a safe place for the families and especially the children,” said Father Vavrick.

The mission of Family Promise of Monmouth County, which is a local affiliate of national non-profit Family Promise, is to sustain an integrated approach to poverty and to help people achieve independence while addressing the root causes of poverty, according to the website, www.familypromise. org. Faith communities are an integral part of the mission – called Interfaith Hospitality Network – and serve as temporary shelter for the ‘guests.’ Bove explained that dozens of volunteers – as many as 80 or more get involved during a single hosting week with details such as preparing the classrooms, inflating the air mattresses that the guests sleep on in the classrooms, arranging the parish center where meals are served, coordinating breakfast and dinner menus and purchasing and preparing the food. “There are a lot of people involved with a lot of details,” said Bove.

“We have probably trained about 300-400 in the 12 years the parish has been involved, but we get a lot more than we give. The generosity of the congregation is amazing,” she added.

Bove reflected that as important as food and shelter are to meeting the immediate needs of the families, is the caring and concern that the volunteers show for their brothers and sisters in need.

We train volunteers not to ask personal questions, but we do interact with the families and especially concentrate on entertaining the children,” said Bove.

“However, it is okay if nobody talks during dinner or the guests do not want to share their stories,” she added.

Bove expressed empathy for the families who remain in the program for 90 days and travel to different parishes or other houses of worship every week. They visit a day center during the day and return in the evening to sleep in the host parish. A van transports them back and forth. “How difficult this must be to go into a different church with different people every week,” she said.

Esposito acknowledged the caliber of parishioners who volunteer their time, including a pediatrician who is available to help if any of the children become ill and several registered nurses who have volunteered to be evening and overnight hosts.