“There is no us and them, there’s only us.”
That’s what “Sr.” Ruth Raichle, a member of the Dominican Order and former member of the Dominican Sisters of Bethany, which runs the Bethany House Hope Chest in Millis, says. The Hope Chest, which she founded with Franciscan Sr. Kathleen Denevan, is now celebrating its 30th year.
“At the Hope Chest, we help a lot of people get a new start in life,” says Raichle, whose ministry works with people in transition looking for a positive path. She believes, “We demonize people, because we don’t like what we see in them, often because we have it in ourselves. We (put) them in mental institutions or prisons instead of really getting to know them as our brothers and sisters. Once we put a face on them, attitudes change.”
Raichle recalls an epiphany a member of her Communications without Violence group in prison that had stuck with her. At the end of the 3 month cycle one of the prisoners shared with Ruth that“’I love you as I love myself, because I am you.’ That’s the heart of Bethany, we are each other. We’re the same, there is no difference,” explains Ruth.
Sister Ruth came to her work through an interest in the writings of Dominican Father.John Joseph Lataste, who pioneered the idea of a creating a community of grace showing God’s love and mercy for a group of women prisoners during a retreat at the women’s prison in Cadillac, France in 1864. Fr. Lataste told them that God does not look at what we have been but who we are and he saw in them that “ the greatest sinners have within themselves the makings of the greatest saints.” Like Fr. Lataste, Ruth experienced her conversion, she says, the first time she accompanied the Sisters of Bethany, who had settled in Millis in the 1960s, to the women’s prison in Framingham. “I thought I was going to be taken hostage,” she says. Instead, she experienced warmth, welcome and love from the moment she was greeted and I found the Christ I wanted to bring in the lives I wanted to bring Him to.”
“You’re so much more than the worst thing you’ve ever done. Every one of us is so much more,” says Ruth. “At Bethany, we call people to be the best person they can be by assisting individuals being released from jails and prisons to successfully reintegrate into the community by assisting them to receive community based services such as substance abuse treatment, support groups, employment, education, housing and family reunification.” Within the institutions, the ministry provides therapy groups, religious groups, spiritual groups and theological education. It also provides holiday packages in four correctional institutions for 2,700 inmates each year.
Ruth says that once people who hit bottom, “like so many have, they can experience God’s love and God’s love from the community.” Many, she says, are out doing well. One man helped by the Bethany community many years ago has even opened a halfway house. “He’s giving what he received,” she says.
Even the shop, Ruth has found, provides that welcome place for the community.
It’s more than a shop.“It’s a place where people feel comfortable, a welcoming place. People will come and talk about their problems,” she says. In fact, in 2007 Raichle and Denevan were awarded the Peace Abbey’s International Courage of Conscience award, which recognizes humanitarian and peace activism, along with local, grassroots, unsung heroes of social change. The two women joined the ranks of Mother Theresa, Maya Angelou, Thich Nhat Hanh, Mohammed Ali and others who received the award. That same year they were both awarded the Paul Mcdevitt Humanitarian of the Year Award by Prisoners’ Legal Services.
Members of the Life Experience School in Millis, which works with adults over 22 with developmental disabilities, work in the shop a few times a week.
Ruth explains that the Life Experience School students also embody the concept of “us.”
“These folks, too, we’re all one,” says Ruth. “We’re all handicapped in some way.”
Lewis Randa, Peace Abbey founder, who runs the Life Experience School with his wife, Meg, says working at the Bethany House Hope Chest aligns with the organization’s inclusive, peace-oriented mission.
“It’s a match made in heaven,” says Lewis. “For our individuals to come as special members to serve the community reflects the desire to live an altruistic life. It’s empowering for (them) and reinforcing their belief that their role in the community is productive and appreciated,” Randa says. “Our greatest involvement is with peace and social justice groups.”
The Bethany House Hope Chest is located at 1134 Main Street, in Millis. Bethany House Ministries is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization and all donations are tax deductible. For more information, or to schedule a pick-up, call (508) 376-0824. Find them online at http://www.bethanyhouseministries.org/the-hope-chest/