Kathy Lewis
When it comes to encore work, “what you do has to matter and you have to feel appreciated,” says Kathy Lewis, a volunteer with the Congregational Partnership Program (CPP). A collaborative effort of the Grand Rapids Area Center for Ecumenism (GRACE) and the Coalition to End Homelessness, CPP engages faith-based groups and others to provide one-on-one support for families dealing with housing crises.
Lewis’ work for CPP has ranged from data entry and working on newsletters to recruiting congregations and providing support to families in precarious housing situations. In these varied activities she’s using skills in interpersonal relations, communications, and technology that she honed in 37 years as a high school English teacher and another three years teaching English for Ferris State University.
When Lewis landed at CPP in early 2010, she was still reeling from her husband’s death. She and Larry had been married for 39 years when he died of cancer. “I was really lost,” she says. She was very involved in her young granddaughters’ lives and active politically as a volunteer coordinator for several election campaigns, but she missed the feeling she’d had as an educator—of doing something important and giving back.
Knowing that she needed to get out and “do something,” she forced herself to explore volunteer possibilities—but the first several agencies she tried weren’t the right fit. Then she connected with CPP—and found an opportunity to carry on Larry’s legacy.
“My husband was a very generous man,” Lewis says. “The contrast between the haves and the have nots was very apparent to him.” Larry liked to provide direct support to people in need, she says, recalling times when together they handed out mittens, gloves and blankets to homeless people in downtown Grand Rapids and his tradition of giving each family member a $100 gift for them to “pay it forward.” “He was an inspiration to me,” she says. “He showed me by example.”
Lewis, 67, volunteers 6-8 hours a week for CPP. “I find a comfort here that I haven’t found anywhere else since I lost my husband,” Lewis says. “They appreciate me and they let me know I’m an important part of what they do. I’m doing something that matters again, something that I care about. This gives a shape to my life.
“This is good work. I can see myself doing this for a very long time—as long as they’re here and need me.”
