Angels
House
© 2007 by Tony Hearn
Illustrations
Two of the many homeless persons eating at The Open
Door in the Fall of 1982 at Saint David's Church in downtown Austin. In the center
is Brother Tony Hearn who was the director of Homeless Services at the church
and the founder of Angels House soup kitchen and street ministry. Photograph by
the Austin American-Statesman
Interior of Angels House shortly after it was opened
at 908 East 1st Street in August 1983. Signs quoting Bible scriptures were
posted on the walls for "guests" to read while they ate bean soup and
bread. They were seated at restaurants tables until the crowds became so large
that the interior was closed and food was served through the window onto a
patio with picnic tables. We learned to improvise as we went along.
After serving "customers" to Angels House
in the front room of the building, a faster way of getting food to the
"eaters" was to let the "guests" eat at picnic tables set
up on a pre-existing concrete slab next to the side door. Their names were
recorded on a roster. Afterwards, that roster was discontinued.
Three volunteers and a "hanger-on" who was
as ready to embrace our willing workers as he was the free food. These three
young volunteers were from a church on Austin's West Side. They are standing in
front of the window out of which the food was served.
Out in front of Saint David's Church after The Open
Door was shut down. Kathy Mudd, a most loving alcoholic who lived on the
street, always led a black dog on a leash. His name was "Blackie." We
fed the pets of our "clients" at Angels House.
A street person who ate a noon meal at Angels House
with Brother Tony Hearn who began to enforce rules of conduct on the indigents
who gathered around the soup kitchen in an attempt to keep the neighborhood
around 908 East 1st Street from descending into chaos.
Some of the users of Angels House in the Fall and
Winter of 1983 through the Summer of 1985. Most of these men were homeless
alcoholics Brother Tony actually physically hauled from behind and even within
dumpsters. He eventually closed down the soup kitchen and moved on to other
attempts to help the so-called homeless accomplish rehabilitation, or die on
the street.
A visiting priest from Belgium outside Angels House.
A steady stream of visitors arrived at the soup kitchen to eat the food, to
serve the food, and to just marvel at what was going on.
Going in the trusty Datson for bread given to Angels
House by a popular bakery. The Datson had been given to Angels House by Jack
and Jill Nokes, members of Saint David's Church.
A retired Navy navigator named Dan Henshaw, stirred the beans before a meal at Angels House. Dan gave Dabney
Cauley my name. It was Mr. Cauley who paid the $80,000 to purchase the property
at 807 East 1st Street. They were both members of Saint Matthew's Episcopal
Church. Mr. Cauley drove around in a very expensive car. I told the homeless
men who came to Angels House to respect every driver of a Mercedes Benz.
"That person may have just bought your lunch," I said.
A street person, Kathy Mudd, brings two young
charges to the serving window at Angels House for meals at noon. Kathy always
called me "Father Tony" and I always told her, "Kathy, I'm only
a lowly brother." She died one night huddled in a packing box while
holding on to a chipped and battered statue of the Virgin Mary.
The three Angels House, Inc. members of the board of
directors: Pastor Reinhard Wuensche, Sr., Bob Conklin, and Martha Hummel, and Brother
Tony Hearn, behind.
A workday for youth of Hope Lutheran Church arranged
by Pastor Wuensche. The fence was constructed by Pastor Wuensche and the youth painted
the fence and performed other chores on Saturdays. I asked Pastor Wuensche to
build a gate for the fence at the entrance to the parking lot behind the soup
kitchen. "This gate will need to last for ever," I told him. "I
would be surprised if that gate is no longer there. He built it like it was across
the front of the Kingdom of God. It was sturdy!
Pastor Reinhold Wuensche rebuilding an interior wall
of Angels House. He was an amazing man. He was beneath the soup kitchen
repairing the plumbing, fixing sagging doors, and rebuilding the roof. He was
all over. He was sent from God Almighty. He also served as a member of the
board of directors, selflessly.
Giving thanks, with a local pastor in Austin, over a
sack of spilled pinto beans in the kitchen of Angels House. Many pastors
brought volunteers from their congregations to cook the food and then to serve
it.
My business card. I used a rubber stamp. It was
simple. I never had cards printed. They cost too much, and I could more easily
change my address and phone number.
A photocopy of the lease purchase option for 908
East 1st Street (now East Cesar Chavez Street) in East Austin. The property was
bought for use by Angels House, a non-profit charitable corporation. The man
who paid the purchase price of $80,000 was Austin philanthropist Dabney Cauley.
Brother Tony was offered the money, but he said he did not want to own the
place, just use it. Angels House used the property, day to day, for several
years. The soup kitchen was closed down by Brother Tony in 1986. The Angels
House ministry moved to another location in Austin to conduct a rehabilitation
program for indigent persons. Brother Tony brought a willing buyer (his friend
Cynthia Perez who wanted to use the place to produce frozen foods off-line from
Las Manitas) to Cauley with $1,000 earnest money and the offer to purchase the
property for $90,000, a potential profit of $10,000. Cauley rejected the offer.
He ultimately gave the property to Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church.
A column by John Kelso of the Austin
American-Statesman newspaper published shortly after the Angels House soup
kitchen began operation in early August, 1983.