Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 5, 1995 TAG: 9511060005
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: G-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEANNE HOWARD ROPER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For some years, I've taught a course at Virginia Tech involving issues of homelessness, and through this course, I came to know Hayden and his family soon after they founded Justice House in 1985. A few years ago, I became part of a small group of citizens from Roanoke and communities in the surrounding area who formed a support group for Justice House, which had begun to experience severe financial and emotional stress. That a community made up of extremely poor people should experience great stress was, of course, completely understandable, and the support group did what little it could do to help. All those involved in this effort came to know well both the public Hayden and the Hayden who lived his personal life as a resident and member of the Justice House community.
His public presence in Roanoke was that of an uncompromising (and very often confrontational and antagonistic) advocate for the poor. However, those who had the opportunity to spend time with the community are aware of another side. Hayden and his family lived 24 hours a day in the community, were thoroughly immersed in its life, and knew its members well. His care, warmth and genuine concern (I hesitate to use the word "love,'' but it's the word that comes to mind) for the residents of Justice House was consistent and obvious. In helping them to deal with their many problems, and in the struggle to form a genuine community from this group of very distressed people, he was thoughtful, constructive and immensely kind - although in no way a pushover.
By last year, it was clear to everyone who knew him that he was quickly approaching exhaustion, and the news that the Roanoke Area Ministries was open to the possibility of assuming responsibility for the operation of the community was welcome news. I wasn't involved in the discussions between RAM and Justice House, and cannot comment on the content of the negotiations. But I can say with assurance that Hayden was convinced from the beginning that in relinquishing his role in the community and moving to a new life in Floyd County, the leadership of the community was indeed passing from himself to RAM. Despite his state of exhaustion, I'm convinced that he wouldn't have left the residents to fend for themselves without resources, and with a severely deteriorated house as their only shelter, if he hadn't believed that help was immediately at hand.
The work of Justice House is known throughout the United States. It has provided many people with a vision of a community in which extremely poor people are provided with a setting wherein they make decisions and assume responsibility for their own lives. Clearly, it's a supremely difficult thing for people who live in economic deprivation and who are at the lowest emotional point in their lives to form a functioning community in a complex urban setting such as Roanoke. Hayden spent the past 10 years of his life in an extraordinary effort to make a reality of this vision of a community. I'm grateful to him for his work. As it turns out that the residents of Justice House must move, I hope they can at least carry some of this vision with them.
Jeanne Howard Roper works in the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning at Virginia Tech's College of Architecture.
by CNB