The Long Loneliness Cure
“We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love
and that love comes with community.”
–Dorothy Day
My first Catholic friend, Vicky Martinez, from New York City, helped put a human face on this vast institution. As children of religious parents, we both learned about Jesus, yet we remained in our separate spheres. She was no more comfortable in my plain, “shoe-box” church than I would have been in her ornate Catholic sanctuary.
Stuart and I lived in a community house for two weeks with the SOOP (Service Opportunities with Our Partners) program. SOOP has provided Mennonite retirees opportunities to combine travel, sunshine, and service in the winter time. Pastor Peter Wiebe had a vision thirty years ago that continues:
“Retirement in good health is a gift of God, and our gratitude should be expressed in loving service to God and His people.”
The Mennonites are a small minority in the huge Sun Valley of Arizona. But they have made a mark. Trinity Mennonite in Glendale, just down the street from the SOOP House, is connected to several nonprofit organizations, including the SOOP House.
Monday night dinner: L-R Trudie, Shirley, Ruth Ann, Kim, Stuart, Peter, Bertha, and Tim. Four of us are from Pennsylvania. Three from Steinbach, Canada. One from Ohio. One from Phoenix. Volunteers take turns preparing meals and cleaning the house. They also pay a modest fee for their room and board. Bob Wybel photo.
When we, as newbie volunteers, showed up on the St. Vincent de Paul campus, we got a royal welcome. The director greeted us personally and hugged our director Kim Kellogg. “We love SOOPers!” she said. She tallied the hours SOOP contributed in 2026: 1500. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to the need, but every drop is necessary. “Volunteers make it possible” is the motto printed on their t-shirts, along with a four-word mission statement:
Feed, Clothe, House, Heal
Much of SOOP’s depth comes from the relationships Kim has built with local programs like St. Mary’s Food Bank, and the Vineyard Thrift Store. Kim doesn’t just manage schedules; he also jumps into the fray. Once, when it was clear that a local director was having a bad day, Kim asked if we could pray for her. We naturally clustered around her, joining our tears with hers.
St. Vincent de Paul welcomes all outside the huge campus that houses multiple ministries in Phoenix, AZ.
At the end of this short video is the face that connects all Christian volunteers to each other and to the poor.
For it clothes the naked,
It comforts the sorrowful,
It gives to the hungry food,
And it shelters the destitute.
It cares for the blind and lame,
The widow and orphan child.
That’s true evangelical faith.
But where you hear of a poor, simple, cast-off little flock, which is despised and rejected by the world, join them; for where you hear of the cross, there is Christ. . . . Honor the Lord in the works of your hands, and let the light of the Gospel shine through you. Love your neighbor. Deal with an open, warm heart your bread to the hungry, clothe the naked, and do not tolerate having two of anything, because there are always those who are in need.
Stuart assembling boxes for the St. Mary’s food bank. Photo by Bob Wybel
Three SOOP volunteers, L-R: Shirley, Trudie, Ruth Ann. Photo by Stuart.
Thanks for sharing this experience, Shirley. I have almost finished reading “Five Little Indians” by Michelle Good and it is the heartbreaking story of Indian Residential schools and how badly Indigenous children were treated. It is easy to judge and come to the conclusion that this is what the Catholic Church is all about. I needed to hear another side, another perspective to reach the conclusion that this is only one aspect of failed humanity, which we can find everywhere. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater!