Drinking a flavorful cup of coffee, wearing freshly cleaned clothes, enjoying a hot shower — regular pleasures of life can be taken for granted, but for Tom McGinniss and Karen Kavanaugh, providing these services to the homeless population in Beloit are ways they embrace the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.
In 2022, with the help of the Catholic community in Beloit, the pair opened Stateline Works of Mercy, a homeless day center run entirely by volunteers, to provide basic necessities to those struggling with homelessness in their city.
McGinniss said, “[Stateline Works of Mercy] is critical for the homeless population. . . We’re getting good feedback on the streets — that this is a good, safe, warm place to come to. People can feel comfortable here and trust us.”
Saying ‘yes’
While McGinniss and Kavanaugh did not have experience in homeless ministry or in homelessness themselves, they each chose to say “yes” to this mission.
McGinniss and Kavanaugh are both parishioners at St. Peter Church in South Beloit, Ill., and were asked to join the initiative because of their existing relationships with volunteer organizations.
Kavanaugh is the president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Beloit and has been for the past six years.
She said that being a part of the Society, “You do so much for people in need.”
Stateline Works of Mercy was another way to dedicate her time to helping Beloit’s most vulnerable.
McGinniss was asked to join at a parish Knights of Columbus meeting.
At first, McGinniss said, “No, I don’t want to be involved.”
“Then, my wife heard about it. And the Holy Spirit,” he continued with a chuckle.
He said, “I have zero background in homelessness, in social work. All my life has been out running manufacturing plants. It turns out, that was a great skill to have — who’s going to do what, by when, and, ‘Let’s go.’”
“Once we got rolling and we got Tom [McGinniss] on board and his wife, we said, ‘Okay, let’s do this,’” said Kavanaugh.
“We won’t take, ‘No’ for an answer. We’ll keep organized. We’ll keep pushing forward,” she continued.
From that desire, Stateline Works of Mercy was born.
Community impact
The day center provides basic services to Beloit’s homeless population.
Knowing that simple acts can make a big difference, Stateline’s “two core services are a place to have a shower and a load of laundry done,” said Kavanaugh.
While the day center “started out very small” by only serving two or three people per day, eventually “word got out in the community,” said McGinniss, and since opening, Stateline Works of Mercy “has provided 749 showers, 645 loads of laundry, and 141 meals served to those that stop by for food only,” he continued.
McGinniss said that while the meal number “might seem small,” that’s because “Some people stop by for a meal, only.
“All the people that have taken showers or are doing laundry are also getting meals.”
Today, McGinniss, Kavanaugh, and other volunteers have had more than one thousand guest visits, serving an average of 12 guests per day.
While volunteering, McGinniss has been able to form relationships with some of the regular guests at the day center.
He shared, “A simple thing that happened a couple months ago”.
He continued, “One of our guests has an adult son that comes in with her. He was lying in the chair [in the main sitting area] and looked like he was shivering a little bit.
“I put a blanket on him, and the mom was moved to tears that somebody would care for her kid so much. This kid is six-foot-three and isn’t a kid anymore — he’s an adult — but has some developmental issues. Just that little act, and she started weeping, giving me the biggest hug. Some people say we’re the face of Jesus.
“The fun part for us is that we’ll see people on the street — now they’re not just another faceless somebody without a shadow, drifting in the background.
“That’s Joe. That’s Pete, Terry — that’s somebody. It’s very cool you can say hello and, ‘How’s your day going?’ You can relate to them as another human being.”
A ‘humbling’ experience
Aside from providing showers, laundry, and meals, Stateline Works of Mercy also supports guests by helping connect them with local resources.
McGinniss said, “We’ve been able to help at least four people find housing, [but] it’s incredibly difficult to do these days because of affordability.”
“We also try to refer them to whatever services they need. We’re learning so much about all the services that are out there for people — food, medical, housing, how to get from here to the social security office in Janesville. We’re learning how to care for our guests,” he continued.
Ultimately, “It’s pretty humbling,” said McGinniss.
He added that, “We’ve all made different decisions in life. Some bad things have happened to people. They’ve made some bad decisions as consequences of those things.
“So, [we’re] trying to help [them] out throughout that process, get past that excuse, see that there’s a better way.
“If we can evangelize along the way, that’s our ultimate goal.
“We want to evangelize in two ways. One is to evangelize volunteers from the parishes here — so they can get more involved in this process, so they can feel good about helping somebody else — and then, [two,] helping out the actual guests.”
Stateline Works of Mercy is looking for more volunteers, so it can expand operating hours.
Currently, resources are only available on two days of the week, Tuesday and Thursday, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
In the future, McGinniss and Kavanaugh would like Stateline Works of Mercy to be open on additional days.
McGinniss said, “The key message is this is so rewarding for anyone who volunteers here — the good feeling that you’re helping somebody. I think we all feel so much better when we help someone else.
“Everything just gets better, and that happens here every day — every Tuesday, Thursday, and ideally, if we get enough volunteers, we could open up on Saturday to help families.”
Stateline Works of Mercy also accepts donations.
The organization has a particular need for deodorant, other personal hygiene items, and food to serve its guests.
To learn more about this impactful, volunteer-led organization, visit statelineworksofmercy.com.