FeedsAgent of change
Plymouth deacon helps Metro Detroit homeless
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Deacon Tim Sullivan of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Plymouth talks to people in a field during the Peanut Butter and Jelly Outreach in Detroit.A chance meeting of a homeless person in Boston led to providing help for the homeless in Metro Detroit.
While accompanying his wife, Gail, to a conference, Deacon Tim Sullivan of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Plymouth noticed a woman holding up a sign that read: “Help Me I’m Homeless.”
It was at that moment Sullivan realized his next mission.
“There’s no difference between any of us,” said Sullivan, a retired agent with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) who believes anyone can fall into circumstances that can lead to living on the streets. “Sometimes we’re up and sometimes we’re down. But we are all still the same.”
In 2002, with the permission of his pastor, Sullivan created the Peanut Butter and Jelly Outreach (PBJ) program and gathered a donation of peanut butter, jelly and bread from the church along with a small team of volunteers. With sandwiches and a table in tow, Sullivan led his band of helpers to the Cass Corridor area of Detroit.
Sullivan selected the corner of Martin Luther King and Third Streets due to the high number of homeless and low-income residents who don’t always secure a meal. On the ministry’s first day, the group fed 50 individuals. Through the years the number has grown to 350 every Saturday morning. Sullivan estimates PBJ has fed and clothed more than 60,000 people.
He said he is amazed by the resiliency of the people impacted by homelessness. Many were caught in the cycle of a bad economy or had nowhere to go after many shelters and mental facilities were closed in budget-saving efforts.
“There’s a certain honesty here, no pretension,” said Sullivan, who gets as many requests to pray with Cass Corridor residents as he does for a sandwich. “They have a tremendous amount of faith, a very deep sense of spirituality.”
Many of the volunteers feel it was their duty as believers in God to help those less fortunate. “We’re doing what God has requested of us,” said Bernie Dodyk, a parishioner of Our Lady of Good Counsel who has traveled with Sullivan to Cass Corridor every Saturday.
“We are told to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty. We are here to fulfill God’s mission,” added the Salem Township resident.
Dodyk also said the group does more than provide the fish; it helps people to become able to catch their own. PBJ provides other wrap-around services including job and housing assistance to those who are in need.
“We are here to provide counseling, comfort and aid. Whatever we can do to help.”
PBJ runs on a strict budget of $125 a week and relies heavily on donations. Warm clothing such as hats, sweaters, and coats are a major need as well as gifts of canned tuna fish and baked beans, bottled water, coffee and hot chocolate. Travel size personal hygiene items such as soap, toothbrushes and feminine hygiene products are also in need.
Despite their small budget, Sullivan believes the ministry will grow as the “Holy Spirit leads it.” He is most thankful for the scores of volunteers who continue to help in various ways.
“Youth groups like the Girl Scouts will come down and the next week, they’ll bring their parents,” said Sullivan who gives the volunteers the credit for the success of PBJ.
Word of their success is spreading as far as Indiana. Sullivan recently returned from training pastors and other church officials in Indianapolis on how to start their own versions of PBJ in their communities.
“It’s so easy to do. It just takes a little bit of effort,” he said.
To make a donation or volunteer with Peanut Butter and Jelly Outreach call (734) 502-1818 or go to www.pbjoutreach.org.
