It was a typical day at Samaritan House.
We prayed part of a Divine Mercy Chaplet together. We shared stories. I looked for new shoes, a backpack and other items for some children who came in. A homeless man knocked on the door and we were able to give him food from the pantry. We enjoyed a meal together. Everybody spent time shopping!
We gathered together as a family—the Samaritan House family.
On June 26, we had one last party with our volunteers and friends in the store, to provide closure for all of us as one chapter ends and another begins.
At one point in the party, we opened the floor for anyone to share memories, stories, and thanksgiving. Again and again this is what I heard: the little thrift store and food bank on Washington Street was so much more than just a store – it was a home and a place of refuge for many. It was a place where anyone could come to share their struggles and receive prayer. And the family that was formed there was so much more than a group of volunteers and workers—it was a place to find support and brothers and sisters to help through hard times and joys.
Tony, our Samaritan House “Dad”, started working at Samaritan House eleven years exactly before the closing party. He shared how he got to watch a lot of us sisters “grow up” from being postulants and novices to being full-fledged sisters in habit. I myself started working there as a novice, then returned to run the store for three years as a junior sister. This past year I was blessed to work at the store once a week until it was closed in March for COVID-19.
Miss Vicki was also fondly remembered – Victoria Knox had volunteered at Samaritan House for 15 years, even longer than we sisters were there! She and her son Michael passed away on June 18, just a week before Samaritan House officially closed its doors. We offered prayer for their souls as we gathered.
I was so grateful for each person there and how so often they were vessels of the Lord to me. The Lord spoke to me through them sometimes when they didn’t even realize it.
The sisters and I all ended up in tears as we shared and listened to our volunteers and friends speak of the work God has done at Samaritan House.
I recently read a reflection on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The author said His Heart is a refuge for us. I couldn’t help but think how appropriate it is that His Heart is the symbol for Samaritan House, displayed on the front door and throughout the store.
I know it’s going to look different, but I believe the family we formed at Samaritan House will go on and it will get bigger and go deeper. One of the longtime volunteers, Brother Bill, prayed with us at the end of the party. He said that closing Samaritan House isn’t an ending, but a new beginning. It’s a home, but the home is more than just a building. I don’t know what our ministry downtown will look like, but I hope that these relationships can continue and we can invite even more people into our family.
Read more about the changes to our ministry in downtown Steubenville in our August newsletter.
-Sr. Sophia Grace Huschka, T.O.R.
