The Rev. Gretchen
van Aken stands at Eighth and Hubbard streets, watching a few
dishevelled men rummaging through a trash pile across the street.
As they depart, two stop and speak to the Methodist minister.
They're deferential and talk softly. One is 60ish, says he has
cancer but is holding his own. The other, a younger man, says he'll
be in to pray later. Van Aken, upbeat as usual, jokes with the men,
staring them in the eye and leaning in close to share stories.
When the men leave, van Aken is smiling, squinting into the sun.
There are tears sliding down her cheeks toward her priest's collar.
"You know, when they pray with our men's group, they are very
sincere," she said. "All the men are. There are such strong
spiritual moments in that room. You can hear a pin drop. You can
sense the depth of their feelings. They are not just going through
the motions."
|
The old post office
building on Eighth Street in Springfield is almost done with
its conversion into The Sanctuary, a downtown ministry.
-- Bob Self/staff
|
Van Aken is
standing in front of the newly restored Old Springfield Post Office,
new headquarters for the ministry she directs.
It's a new beginning for the ministry in other ways, too.
It even has a new name, The Sanctuary of Northeast Florida, which
replaces Urban Ministries of Springfield. There's a sense of renewed
enthusiasm, van Aken said. But the mission remains pretty much the
same: to reach out to the many Springfield children and adults who
need some attention and support, but just can't afford it.
"We'll still focus on our after-school programs for children,"
she said. "We'll continue our adult outreach efforts. But we really
want to become much more proactive in meeting the needs of families.
We're optimistic about making our new location a real community
center that will help us create an environment where we can empower
the people of Springfield to reclaim their lives."
|
Sarah Smith, the
administrative assistant for The Sanctuary, takes notes from
the phone answering machine. The Presbytery of St. Augustine
provided money to start restoration of the building, which was
once a post office.
-- Bob Self/staff
|
The nearly
restored Old Post Office, now headquarters for The Sanctuary, was
built in 1928. It's 9,000 square feet and surrounded by a large lot
that van Aken believes will be "a wonderful grounds for the children
to play and a good community gathering place."
Funds from a variety of sources were used to restore the
building, which is nearing completion -- although it may take future
restoration projects to renovate the upstairs and complete some of
the facilities.
The Presbytery of St. Augustine provided the money to get the
ball rolling on restoring the building, now on the National Registry
of Historic Places. There were also private sponsors, a state grant,
support from the United Way and lots of support from the city of
Jacksonville, particularly through its Community Development Block
Grant program.
The building now has a huge multi-purpose room, an area to
prepare snacks for kids in the after-school programs, administrative
rooms and several meeting rooms that will serve as classrooms and
gathering places for adults in the outreach programs.
There's even a huge, walk-in "very retro" metal safe that van
Aken jokes may serve a purpose beyond storing valuables.
"I think if we even hint that this is the new 'time out
room' we may see a whole new level of discipline in the after-school
sessions," she said. "Of course, I'm only joking. In these
politically correct times one has to be careful."
But van Aken pretty much says what she thinks. And feels. And she
expresses herself with a sense of drama that may stem from the 20
years she spent in New York performing in numerous Broadway and
off-Broadway productions, peaking, she said, as longtime understudy
to Georgia Brown's lead in Oliver!
Hanging out in Greenwich Village, she was gradually drawn more
and more to social activism. She got involved in church theater.
Eventually, she attended Yale Divinity School and was ordained a
United Methodist minister in 1988.
She made her way to Jacksonville in 1995 and was school chaplain
at Jacksonville University and the University of North Florida.
During that time she was invited to sit on the board of Urban
Ministries, and two years ago was asked to become executive
director.
She mostly depends on volunteers, although she does get help from
an administrative assistant, Sarah Smith; a kitchen manager,
Geraldine Sulton, who's been with the ministry for 10 years; and a
school psychologist, Heather Bloome.
She still needs volunteers to work as tutors. She still needs
furniture for the building, still needs computers to help the kids
ease into the information age.
Van Aken hopes soon to put a big sign -- "The Sanctuary" -- on
the old red brick post office building. A lot of the old folks in
the area, she said, remember when the spot was a real hub of
community activity. Van Aken hopes it will be again.
"I so enjoy the sense of community here," she said. "Many people
here don't drive. They walk here and they intermingle. When people
really need each other, they bond in ways that many of us have
forgotten. With serious economic and social struggles comes a
togetherness that springs from need."
Of course, just a glance out the windows of the Hubbard Street
building is a reminder that there are still serious and chronic drug
problems in the community. There's prostitution, blight, persistent
unemployment and homelessness.
But, van Aken said, there's also hope.
"People do try. They do turn their lives around," she said. "But
there are so many needs that run so deep that it takes time. I'm
learning a lot about patience. But I'm not going to let people just
turn away and blame the victim. We're going to address the needs of
this community one day at a time. When we try, good things have a
way of arriving in the most unexpected ways."
Staff writer John Carter can be reached at 359-4539 or jcarter.
