William Beaumont
86 Fontainebleau Drive, New Orleans, Louisiana 70125–3443

The lost, sick, abandoned, and downtrodden of all descriptions stream into its compound daily. Their faces scarred and occasionally bloody, their eyes distrustful and fearful, their clothes putrid with the indescribable squalor of the city's dark, damp, deserted areas—such are the clients of Ozanam Inn, a men's homeless shelter in New Orleans.

This beacon of hope exists within a mile of luxurious, world-renowned hotels, restaurants celebrated for their haute cuisine, and prestigious Dixieland jazz haunts for visitors happily "doing the town." Genteel local folk know of, but never visit, this unglamorous refuge for alcoholics, drug addicts, ex-cons, and anyone else stranded in the city called "The Big Easy," which is hardly easy for them.

A high school student and DeMolay interested in social work, I go to the Inn on some weekday afternoons and many weekends. No community service requires me to do this. I just find it inspiring to aid people in such dire circumstances. I answer telephones as well as distribute mail and government checks to individuals whose only address is that of the Inn. Also, I help with "the intake"—registering men staying the night, allocating beds, distributing pajamas, toothpaste, shampoo, and shaving cream, checking that overnighters are current with their tuberculosis tests, and marking envelopes of men's small change with their Social Security numbers.

The Inn passes out clothes (socks, shoes, pants, shirts) to men three days a week. Women and children can get them any weekday and get vouchers to stay in other shelters if they have to overnight. Chaplains conduct an evening religious service, yet no one is required to attend. It is felt that "God extends an invitation, but it's up to each person to accept or not."

At mealtimes, the kitchen's enormous cauldrons on two gas stoves, each with six burners, bubble with food, while volunteers dice, slice, and chop immense piles of vegetables and meat. The Inn provides 750 to 800 meals on an average day. Free to everyone, they are served cafeteria style promptly at 6:00 am, 2:00 pm, and 6:00 pm. People quietly nod and occasionally thank the person dispensing food, then silently take their plates to the long community tables.

Established in 1955 by the late Archbishop Rummel, the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the St. Vincent de Paul Society supply the Inn with minimal operating capital. Private contributions provide everything else. The Inn's three trucks pick up day-old bread as well as tastier fare from hotels, restaurants, caterers, supermarkets, bakeries, and doughnut companies. The Inn also receives contributions from school food drives.

Besides feeding the homeless, the Inn is a 96-bed men's hostel for those who have absolutely nowhere else to go. And if admitted, the men must follow many rules. Before going into the dormitory, residents must put cigarettes, matches, fingernail clippers, keys, and other possessions into envelopes, which are locked up overnight for safekeeping. Not even backpacks or bags enter the sleeping area. A metal scanner searches all residents. Two inflexible regulations are No Alcohol and No Drugs. Managers, some once alcoholics and drug users themselves, are experts at recognizing telltale signs. If there's a question, the Inn has test kits. Fighting or arguing gets people expelled immediately. Residents must take showers and shampoo their hair nightly and have to wear the Inn's clean pajamas. First-time inhabitants receive fresh clothes for the next day. Lights out is at 8:00 pm, and the wake-up call comes at 5:15 am. Most overnighters find this perfect because they haven't gotten much sleep on the streets and are exhausted.

The Inn's philosophy is: "As long as you follow the rules and you're headed toward a positive result, we'll help you." The Inn provides a program to involve residents with the outside world and, hopefully, keep them away from their previous street existence. Once accepted, men must perform chores at the Inn. In return, they receive three meals a day, their clothes washed weekly and, occasionally, a modest stipend. Individuals who voluntarily leave the program or who are asked to leave can have another chance after a period of time. A weekly staff meeting makes these decisions. It's well publicized, though, that being "On Program" is not a revolving door. After locating full-time work, those wishing to remain at the Inn become "Job Programmers." During this time, the Inn continues to furnish them with food and shelter until they are fully on their feet and there is minimal danger of relapse.

I have learned many lessons while working at the Inn. Clearly, rehabilitating homeless persons is extremely challenging. The values of mainstream society are meaningless, even irrelevant, to them. They have deeply ingrained self-destructive attitudes that make rehabilitation "iffy" at best. For instance, upon returning from a six-week out-of-state summer program, I found that some of the Inn's residents, even those on the Job Program, had departed and gone back to their old ways. Although the road is rough and daunting, some individuals make it. Even when they slip, they acknowledge their mistakes and begin anew.

For the forsaken of New Orleans, for those whose most familiar surroundings are derelict cars, burned-out buildings, trash cans, and dim alleys, the Ozanam Inn serves as a quiet haven of peace, cleanliness, order, and hope. It offers a rare opportunity to depart the dangerous streets for a night or for a lifetime. In silent, persistent dedication, this Hospice of Mercy performs no great accomplishments, just small ones with great love.

William Beaumont is a 12th Grade Honors student at Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans. He is a Past Master Councilor Concorde Chapter of DeMolay and plays table tennis, a sport in which he holds a national championship. Mr. Beaumont won a $1,000 Society of Colonial Wars national prize for a paper on the Townshend Acts and has had an article published in Unity magazine about an individual he met at the Osanam Inn.