THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 18, 1996 TAG: 9601180442
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
When Maria Santos learned last week that the two houses she had planned to buy to help the homeless had been purchased, she was distraught. ``I lost my cool, got upset with the Lord, said, `I don't understand, I do everything I can and they buy the houses. . . . We've been praying about these houses. What are you going to do, Lord?' '' Santos had $21,000 in contributions - more than enough for the down payment on the Indiana Avenue houses, which together were priced at $148,000. She had put down $1,000 earnest money and, thanks to public support, lacked only another $10,000 for an escrow fund to satisfy the mortgage company.
Since November, Santos' plan to help the homeless has touched the hearts of many, resulting in cash and checks from nearly 200 individuals. Most contributions have come from local residents, but people in 24 states also responded after her story was aired by the Christian Broadcasting Network.
Santos' vision of shelters was a natural extension of her hands-on work with the homeless. Daily for nearly two years, the Salem Lakes Navy wife and mother of four has cooked up pots of stew and soup and baked loaves of bread to feed the homeless in Virginia Beach.
Her grief over the apparent failure of her housing plan was short-lived. This week she was again exuberant, for Santos said she received another message from God.
``I go to church this morning and the Lord gives to me to read Habakkuk,'' she said with glee in her thick Portuguese accent. ``It says, `For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry.' ''
As always, when Santos recounts such messages, her voice trips over itself; she simply cannot get the words out fast enough.
``I've been praying and crying to the Lord, but today . . . when you know God is speaking to you, well, look what he's given me.''
Now, Santos is again actively searching for suitable housing and more funding. The money already raised has been placed in a bank.
Donations may be sent to Love and Caring for the Homeless Inc., 4109 Stillwood Court, Virginia Beach, Va 23456. Santos may be reached at 495-5200. ILLUSTRATION: Maria Santos says, ``I lost my cool. . . ''
by CNB