By Danielle Cutillo
Shawn has been following us on Facebook and saw we were looking for someone to provide dinner one Sunday. “I know it was short notice but we put it together because Hotel Grace gave us a lot. Hotel Grace gave us our life back.” Tammi and Shawn explained between Richie, Father Madden, and all of the volunteers, they were treated with such respect and dignity. “There was a phrase that Richie said one time that stuck with me forever; ‘You may be homeless, but you’re not helpless.’ I went by that, I may be homeless, but I’m not helpless. Hotel Grace has done an amazing thing for the homeless population in the city. I can’t say enough about it. To be able to give back a small part made us feel good tonight,” said Shawn. Shawn and Tammi said they still talk to Pastor Richie once in a while. They expressed how excited they were to donate a bunch of clothes to the pantry too.
Fighting back tears, Shawn said, “I really appreciate the fact that we’re in the position that we could do this tonight.,” said Shawn. “We owe them so much,” said Tammi. Shawn reminisced about their first day in the shelter back in 2016. “When we went down to the shelter for the first night, they had these little cots. I sat down and it flattened out. Everyone helped me out and not one person laughed. You know when someone falls and someone chuckles, but nobody did. Then the second night, I flattened out again and I was sitting on the floor. All of the volunteers rounded me and literally picked me up off the floor and lifted me up. That was the start. The staff, the volunteers every night, Richie’s words every night, meant a lot to me. Still today when I think about it, I’m emotional. It was a journey in our life that happened but we came out of the other side of it stronger.” “What he forgot to mention was the reason we became homeless was because we are both sick,” chimed Tammi. “It snowballed from that. We couldn’t work anymore. Unfortunately the people who owned our house had to sell it. We didn’t fight it because they had been so nice to us. So we packed up our belongings into our truck,” said Shawn. “With the medical problems we had we thought maybe we’d be homeless for 6 months. 25 months later…” Shawn reminisced. “When I see the people who are even older than I am that are facing this, it is heartbreaking. I saw a Veteran here tonight…why is he homeless?” Thank you Shawn and Tammi. Your story inspires us. You will always be part of our family.
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By Danielle Cutillo I first became involved with Net of Compassion in 2019 when my cousin read on Facebook that a local nonprofit was looking for a photographer for their benefit. Turns out, it was the 2019 Bread of Life Benefit. Richie’s speech and the video that they put together really touched my heart. I wanted to stay involved, so I started volunteering at Grace Pantry on Wednesdays. After volunteering for a few weeks, I knew my background in journalism, social media management, and photography could help me tell their story and spread the word of the Net of Compassion mission. My favorite Net of Compassion program is the seasonal shelter, Hotel Grace. I could go on and on about why I love this place and community. From day one, I knew it was special. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming. I love sitting with the guests and hearing their stories. I love joking around with the staff, who have become my dear friends. It is unlike any other shelter I have ever seen or heard of. It’s a family. Over the months I had a ton of real, great conversations with so many people. Surprisingly, in March of 2021, a new opportunity came up for my photography career—I couldn’t pass it up. I made the tough decision to leave my new-found family to travel back to Haiti, a place I have dedicated my life to since 2017. On my last day at Hotel Grace, I gave a short speech after dinner to let the guests know how I had loved getting to know them and I will be praying and thinking of them daily. After spending most of 2021 in Haiti, I returned to Worcester. I was excited to get back to Hotel Grace. Like the Net of Compassion Founder, Pastor Richie Gonzalez says, “I’m not happy you are homeless, but I’m happy you are here.” This is how I feel. I am not happy they are struggling or for their situations but I am happy they ended up in our Hotel Grace family. I was happy to see familiar faces and I wondered how the others were doing that weren’t there. I had the chance to meet new people and was surprised to meet a few who are around my age, in their late 20s. Homelessness affects people at all ages but the majority of those at Hotel Grace are older adults. Christmas may be the one day each year when the guests can forget their struggles for a few hours. I was eager to get to the shelter because I knew I would have serious FOMO (fear of missing out) if I didn’t get there. Everyone was so upbeat and happy. I teared up a little watching the guests and staff dance together, without any care in the world. The volunteers that day showed up with so much joy and love to serve. A group of friends and family brought a hot dinner and gave out a gift bag to every guest with an array of items; candy, crossword puzzle, and more. I was smiling the whole day.
As great as that day was, the best part of the weekend was Sunday, December 26th. I arrived at the shelter around 4:00 pm to help with intake and other tasks. One of the guests who has spent many days at the shelter came up to me and said, “Danielle, I told Pastor Richie that was the best Christmas I’ve had in 57 years.” Another guest pulled me aside. With tears in his eyes he said, “Yesterday was one of the best days of my life. After the birth of my children, that was the best day. I’ve had a rough year. I usually go into depression around the holidays. But yesterday there was so much love in that room.” I was supervising the room and another guest was standing close by with a few others. He looked at me and told the other guys that I sang Mariah Carey (All I Want For Christmas is You is the ultimate karaoke song). I laughed and said, “It was a good day!” Everyone agreed and the guest said, “Yeah I was surprised to see you! I knew you were going away and didn’t know when you would be back.” I replied, “Well I hope it was a good surprise!” Quickly he said, “Yes. It meant a lot to me and the others that you were here. We were even talking about it!” I was speechless after that. He has no idea how much that means to me. I realized just by showing up for them is sometimes the best gift I can give. I never know the details of the battles the guests are facing everyday. Kindness has the power to change lives; it happens at Hotel Grace.
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Danielle CutilloDanielle was the Media Coordinator for Net of Compassion in 2021/22. Born and raised in Worcester, she is a traveler, a portrait photographer, and an advocate for nonprofits. Want the
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