Volunteer Stories: A new meaning to the In-Between Shift
My name is Michele Richard and my very first time serving at the St. Joseph’s Diner was on September 19, 2023.
I remember the date well because it was my 50th birthday.
There was a buzz among my friends and family leading up to my birthday about how we would celebrate. While I knew it was a day worth commemorating, an elaborate party just didn’t feel like the thing I wanted to do. My mind went back, as it does every year around my birthday, to a conversation I had about 15 years prior with Fr. Tom Voorhies about how many expectations I had for my birthday and how time and time again, it never felt like enough and always left me empty and wanting. He told me to let go of my expectations because they would always leave me flat and to instead, give of myself to others on my birthday. He promised me that my birthdays would be better if I did that and he was right. So on September 19, 2023 I told my 3 best friends that I would love nothing more than to spend some time together serving at the St. Joseph’s Diner. I had heard about the diner a couple of years prior and how people would go and serve lunch to the homeless and others in need. That seemed fulfilling enough to me so I got online to sign us up. What I didn’t know is that the first shifts to fill up are the breakfast and lunch shifts.
The only shift that was left was the “in between” shift. “No clue what that is but I guess we’ll take it,” I thought to myself.
When we arrived at the diner there were only a couple of other people there volunteering. The breakfast shift had gone home and what was left for us to do was clean up work and lunch prep. If I’m being honest, I felt a little bit let down. I had pictured myself standing in an assembly line, spooning food onto a grateful person’s plate, but the Lord knew I had too much pride for that job. “No Michele, I have an even better job for you,” the Lord whispered to me and He was right.
They call it the “in between” shift because it falls in between breakfast and lunch, but it’s so much more than that…
Many of the people who eat breakfast at the diner linger in the dining room after they eat. Some stay all the way through to lunch. Still others come in and out either to say hello or in search of a kolache or donut that the staff usually has on hand for the latecomers who missed breakfast. My job on that first day at the diner was to clean the dining room. I wiped down tables and chairs, threw away trash, and mopped the floors. I also got to talk to the people hanging out in the dining room. I mean really got to talk. Not the way you get to say hello as they shuffle past you in the food service line. It was a more intentional kind of talking-slow, easy, and personal. Nothing felt rushed because there was plenty of time to get the cleaning done. In fact, I mopped the floors twice just so I could stay and visit with them. I have met some of the kindest and most interesting people during my time in the dining room. I’ve heard their life stories and listened to their favorite Bible verses. They have shared with me their plans for brighter futures and dreams still held onto.
I met a writer and a couple of musicians who were all but eager to share their talents with me.
I celebrated with someone who was finally getting off the streets and into a house of their own.
I have also watched people struggle and hugged them when they cried.
Some have shared horror stories of what their lives on the streets are like and so many have shared with me how grateful they are for having for a place like the St. Joseph’s Diner to come to. The diner is dry when it’s raining, warm when it’s cold, and cool when it’s hot. It’s a place of fellowship around a family table which many only experience here.
The “in between” shift - I can’t imagine a more fitting name. It’s the essence of what this diner is and of who we have the privilege of serving. It’s a reminder that only by the grace of God do I have a home to return to at the end of each day. We all live in the in between. Homeless or sheltered, made in the image of God, we’re more alike than different.
Since my first visit to the diner, I have worked the breakfast and lunch shifts, but always seem to return to the in between shift. It’s where I feel most called. I try to make it over to the diner a couple times a month because I know it’s needed and because it fills my soul. If you’ve never volunteered at St. Joseph’s Diner or if you have but have never done the in between shift, I encourage you to sign up. There’s most likely a spot open for you.
Take Michele’s challenge and schedule your service through St. Joseph Diner or one of our volunteer centric programs by clicking here.
Questions? Reach out to our Volunteer Experience Coordinator, Sarah Baquet, at sarahb@catholiccharitiesacadiana.org or (337) 235-4972 x1222