National Health Corps (NHC) members serving with Miracle Messages

National Health Corps (NHC) member, Joanne Lum, blogs about her experience serving with Miracle Messages to reconnect neighbors experiencing homelessness with their loved ones.

During one of our monthly group service projects, seven of our ten NHC members went to Dolores Street Community Services shelter (1050 S Van Ness Ave.) to support Miracle Messages for a group service project.  Dolores Street Community Services shelter is the first LGBTQ shelter in the United States and was founded in 2015. Miracle Messages is a nonprofit reunion service for our neighbors experiencing homelessness to reconnect with their loved ones.  After receiving consent, one simply fills out a paper form and records a message—written, audio, or video—using the Miracle Messages app and submits it.

When we arrived at the location, the executive director Jess Donig gave us a warm welcome, an introduction, and a brief training on howto talk to our neighbors.  Soon after, we also met with the founder and CEO, Kevin F. Adler, who showed us around the place. We observed how they approached the people and talked to them, and then we went ahead and did the same.

At first, we were hesitant to interrupt people while they ate dinner in the dining hall as we did not want to come off as rude, but we were told that was fine to do.  We were also afraid people would not be very approachable, but they quickly proved us wrong. While not everyone was interested in reconnecting with a loved one, people were generally friendly and respectful.  Even though some kindly declined our service, they were still open to chatting about their day and anything else that came to mind. We split up into pairs to talk to our neighbors so that we wouldn’t overwhelm them with a large group.  Another member and I ended up talking to a man who seemed receptive of a conversation. We wrote down the necessary information, recorded a video, and submitted it on the Miracle Messages app. It was late in the day, but the time seemed to pass by quickly.  Before we knew it, it was already time to say goodbye to our neighbors. We hope to see them again another time, and we wish them all the best of luck in reconnecting wh their loved ones.