Our House e-newsletter December 2011 | Page 20

Georgia Mjartan A few weeks ago, after a heavy storm, the phones at Our House went down. For 35 hours, every single call to Our House—every call for help and every offer to serve—was forwarded to one cell phone. For the first three hours, that cell phone was mine. On that cold, rainy Monday morning in November, just as the holiday season was beginning, I was given the most wonderful gift—a reminder of why Our House is here. A reminder both of the need and of the outpouring of love, kindness, and generosity that flows into the lives of the poor and needy every day through the conduit that is Our House. Here are a few of the calls that came that morning between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. while so many of us were going about the routine of our week, overwhelmed by a busy day or still thinking about the weekend. Here is what the people calling Our House were saying.