The volunteer coffee breaks on Wednesdays and Saturdays are occasions of respite and nourishment, information sharing and visiting with friends and fellow-workers. When I return home, my wife Wendy often asks, “How was break?” I share a few highlights and mention groups that are on site. On days when the gathering is smaller, I sometimes tell her that those at break were “the usual suspects” (See, Casablanca). She once responded to my observation, “Do you also have a ‘perp walk?’” To which I said, “Yes. At the end of the break, the suspects line up and leave the building to perpetrate good upon the community.”
Thomas Carlyle’s observation about permanence, perseverance and persistence is apt for Habitat Newburgh’s staff, volunteer corps and leadership—for those who labor on building sites and committees, who provide hospitality and counsel partner families, who serve graciously at the ReStore, who witness in the community to the permanence, perseverance and persistence of this “Affiliate of Distinction.” We who, in spite of all obstacles, discouragements and impossibilities, remain Habitat Newburgh Strong.
Yes, we have a “perp walk.” A community of volunteers, home buyer families, donors and other partners who work together to perpetrate good in the community, and in the lives of one another.
I am ever-grateful for the “usual suspects,” and the unusual ones as well. Together, in this time of transition, we persist.
Be well and go peacefully,
Rev. Dr. Deke Spierling, President
