You Learn Kindness..

Life has taught me a lot.

One thing I’ve learned is that people can go through very difficult times. I know that because I’ve been through some difficult times myself. Looking back now, I realize how many people stepped into my life when I needed them most. If it hadn’t been for them, I don’t know where I would be today.

When I first came to Assisi House, I was in a severe depression. I was trying to find a routine and figure out what my life was going to look like. I would get on the bus every day and just keep moving. Little by little, I started getting to know people.

I got to know Father Vince.

I got to know Linda.

I got to know Bill.

I got to know Darlene.

I got to know Jim.

I remember thinking, “These are really kind people.”

I’d never met such kind people in my life.

Living here, you’ve got so many good mentors. You watch Father Vince giving so much of himself. You see Bill outside shoveling snow. You see Darlene taking people to the grocery store. You see volunteers painting, fixing things, working in the gardens, doing things they don’t have to do.

They don’t need to be doing this for us.

But they do.

You start learning that it’s not all about you.

That was one of the biggest lessons of my life.

When people are kind to you, it makes you want to be kind to somebody else.

That’s why I like helping around here. I like working in the garden. I like weed-whacking and taking care of the property. I like helping keep the houses looking nice.

When I go outside and do those things, I feel like I have value.

I think we all need to feel that we have value.

One thing that makes people depressed is feeling like they don’t matter anymore. Going outside and helping, doing something for somebody else, reminds you that you ARE worthwhile.

Everybody needs to know they’re worthwhile.

When women first come here, I usually give them space.

They’re carrying a lot.

A lot of them are lonely.

Christmas comes. Easter comes. Birthdays come.

Not everybody has family coming to pick them up.

Not everybody has somebody calling to wish them a happy birthday.

You can see the loneliness.

I try to be like a big sister.

Sometimes people don’t need somebody telling them what to do.

Sometimes they just need somebody to remember their birthday.

Sometimes they need somebody to make them a sandwich.

Sometimes they just need somebody to sit with them.

Little things matter.

Those little things tell somebody they belong.

I always tell the women here that they’re just as valuable as anybody else.

You can’t help where you came from.

You can’t help what opportunities you had or didn’t have.  You didn’t choose your parents.

That doesn’t make you less than anybody else.

Everybody deserves dignity.

Everybody deserves kindness.

When you’re a house manager, you’re mentoring people every day, whether you realize it or not.

People watch how you live.

If you treat people kindly, they notice.

If you don’t tear people down, they notice.

If you help somebody who’s struggling, they notice.

You teach by the way you live.

I’ve learned that healing happens in community.

Assisi House becomes family.

We celebrate birthdays together.

We help each other.

We eat together.

We look out for one another.

That’s what family does.

One thing I wish every donor and volunteer knew is how much they mean to us.

When I see people come here to paint, work in the garden, fix a house, or give their time, I think about the fact that they don’t have to do any of those things.

They choose to.

People donate money they worked hard to earn.

People give their time when they could be doing something else.

That means something.

It teaches us something.

It teaches us to give, too.

I always tell the women here that we should carry it on.

Help somebody else.

Work in the garden.

Help around the house.

Encourage the next woman who comes through the door.

Carry it on.

When people are kind to you, it rubs off on you.

You learn kindness.

I feel blessed to be here.

Assisi House has given me more than a place to live.

It has given me community.

It has given me purpose.

It has reminded me that I still have something to give.

If I hope people remember one thing from my life, I hope it’s this.

Everybody deserves dignity.

Everybody deserves kindness.

When somebody is kind to you…

carry it on.

—Linda Broch

 Linda is pictured here with a new garden tool (pole saw) she purchased with her own money for the garden and grounds of Holy Cross Church in Baden.