Help for the Homeless

One Sunday in 1997, Marjorie Wilson overslept. With no time to get to Saint Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue and West 53rd Street, Wilson decided to try someplace closer to home, the Church of the Holy Trinity. The East 88th Street house of worship has been her home ever since, and Holy Trinity"s homeless shelter has become the beneficiary of her regular volunteer services. â??It was a needed job, Wilson said. â??I think it"s God"s work to be of help to your fellow man. However modest she may be, Mark Roshkind, Holy Trinity"s shelter site coordinator, happily sings her praises. â??Marjorie Wilson is a superb volunteer, he said. â??She repeatedly demonstrates her commitment and responsibility to the men who we accommodate at the shelter site. Marjorie strictly adheres to the rules and protocols of the shelter site, yet her compassion for the clients is boundless as well. Wilson generally volunteers once a week at the shelter, which accommodates up to 15 people per night throughout the year and is operated by the church in partnership with the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter. Every evening around 7 p.m., a bus from the Grand Central Neighborhood Social Services Corporation"s Mainchance Drop-In Center rolls up to the parish hall. Wilson is usually there at 6 p.m. to make sure the hall is clean and that a spread of food's everything from cold cuts to cereal and pudding's is available. After eating, clients get a few hours of leisure time before lights-out at 10 p.m. The bus returns at 6:45 a.m. the next day to bring the homeless back to the center. Some stay there for counseling, while others go to various jobs. â??They"re always polite, they say â??hello" and â??good-bye" to me, Wilson said of the shelter"s clients. â??I think most of them have just had bad luck, whether it"s a rotten marriage, family problems, they"ve lost their job or taken to drink. I have a lot of hope for them. She feels special gratitude for her fellow volunteers, and for Rev. Michael Phillips, who provides space for the initiative. â??We wouldn"t have a shelter if it weren"t for him, she said. A native of Vancouver, Canada, Wilson trained as a nurse in London. When she came to New York in 1961, her initial intention was to â??have a look and stay for a few months. She wound up taking a job in the delivery room at Doctors Hospital (now Beth Israel Medical Center), where she remained until 2004. Wilson, who never married and has no children, has lived in the same York Avenue apartment since her arrival 49 years ago. She remains devoted to the church she came to, quite by accident, 13 years ago. â??The church is a significant part of the community, for all ages, she said. â??We have a wonderful choir and two exceptional organists. We have Saturday night dinners, Tuesday lunches, several programs for children and a beautiful garden. It"s such a vital part of the neighborhood.