Pilgrims of Hope, Episode 3: Walking with the Unhoused

Conversations about Finding and Sharing Hope: A video series for the Jubilee Year 2025

Hosted by Fr. Ron Will
Welcome to this third episode in a series titled, “Traveling with Pilgrims of Hope.” We will post a new video in this series throughout the jubilee year on the last Tuesday of the month.

Fr. Ron Will: Our mission statement that The Renewal Center says that we are a safe and sacred place offering healing and hope, renewal and reconciliation for all people. So we are committed to bringing and offering hope to all people. Recently, Pope Francis declared the year 2025 is a jubilee year with the theme Pilgrims of Hope. So the theme of this jubilee year dovetails with our mission statement of bringing hope.

In declaring the holy year, Pope Francis names various groups of people who especially need hope in order to deal with difficult and challenging situations in their lives. And he asks that the rest of us walk with them. He says in his letter, “We must fan the flame of hope that has been given to us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit and a trusting heart and farsighted vision.”

So in this series, I am visiting with people who bring hope to others.

Today I am visiting with Doug Langner, whom I consider a pilgrim of hope because of his longtime ministry with the very poor and neglected in the Kansas City area. I learned of Doug’s ministry at Hope Faith in Kansas City serves the unhoused and the neglected poor. Thank you, Doug, for joining me today.

Doug Langner: Yes, thanks, Fr. Ron. Great to be here with you and all your listeners. You’re right. I mean, hope is where, of course, our organization begins. I’ve been executive director at Hope Faith, and have been really blessed to be there, for the past three years. We provide people who are experiencing homelessness in Kansas City care, rest and work. I’m really glad to be with Hope Faith. It’s an amazing organization with a great mission.

Fr. Ron Will: About how many people are you able to care for?

Doug Langner: We have overnight accommodations during the winter. In the next few years, we would like to start providing overnight shelter year round. Other than that, Hope Faith is a day campus for services. People can come for showers, to have a mailbox where they can have their mail sent, [receive] haircuts and clothes. We also have a work program.

You mentioned earlier that this is a jubilee year. I would say people experiencing homelessness are the true modern day pilgrims that we need to learn from, especially how to see the hope that God brings all of us.

Fr. Ron Will: How many people approximately do serve?

Doug Langner: In the overnight shelter, we normally have 130 [per night], but on some of those cold nights, we wouldn’t turn anyone away, so we had upwards of 160. We also are what’s called an access point so that other people can come and be transported to other shelters that are our partners of ours, such as women go into a women’s shelter and families. So on any given night, about 300 people would come not necessarily to stay at Hope Faith but at our place and at our partners places. Then during the daytime, we serve about 225 people a day. We serve breakfast and lunch every day.

 

Fr. Ron Will: What does your work program include?

Doug Langner: We have a work program called Cleanup KC. We hire people who have been homeless or just out of homelessness. They make $18 an hour and work part-time for about three months. We help them if they still aren’t housed, to get them housed. Many of them have recently become housed, and so we’re trying to help them find a full-time job.

You know, one of the groups that Pope Francis talked about is prisoners, as a focus during this Holy Year. Many of the people we serve have some type of criminal background in their history. For them, finding work is tough. They’re amazing workers. They just need a chance. We’ve seen some great hopeful successes from the work program, while also cleaning up the east side of Kansas City in, in ways that haven’t done in years.

Fr. Ron Will: I know from experience of prison ministry that when people are released, trying to get a job, trying to get orientated and become self-sufficient, is a tough job. You deliberately work at that. Tell us more about how you do that and how are you able to connect.

Doug Langner: Our faith tells us that all are children [created] in the image of God, and their value is immense in God’s eye. We’re trying to show the great gift of their life. Sometimes people come and they’re a little bit depressed because, you know, they’ve been in jail or they haven’t been able to keep up with their responsibilities, they’ve been disconnected from family. We try showing them the dignity of work and to rekindle [their sense] of dignity so that they can start doing things to move their lives forward.

I had a great encounter. I was with my wife and we were going to Crown Center [hotel and shopping complex] over the holiday season, and a gentleman came up to me. He was in our program early on, and now he’s a custodian at Crown Center. He told me, “This is the first year in years that I’ve been able to buy my kids Christmas gifts.” That little quick story, I think is one snippet of how hope is realized in somebody’s life,

Fr. Ron Will: That had to be a tremendous boost to his self-image.

Doug Langner: Big time. … That’s why I think these things like the Holy Year are important for us all to remember. We can be a part of that spreading of hope. And probably in our own lives we have a deficiency of that hope and need to realize that as well.

Fr. Ron Will: I would imagine that seeing that many people at your door looking for help day after day kind of drains your own energy. How do you keep up energy, keep up your hope?

Doug Langner: I’m lucky. I live downtown, about a 10-minute walk from Hope Faith. So when I walk [to work] I often I journey with someone that’s walking to Hope Faith, they’re coming for help. Some of the conversations I’ve had, I’ve seen people at their lowest, and I remember Romans 5:3-5, “We boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance,

and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”

Hope doesn’t disappoint. That’s a mantra I tell myself every day

We may not see that hope today. We might not see that hope tomorrow, maybe not even in a year in some people’s case, but those planting of seeds of hope will produce fruit and, and we just have to keep at it. That’s what we tell our staff. I tell them that they’re seed planters. You may not get to see the harvest. Sometimes those seeds won’t grow, but just keep throwing seeds. Keep throwing seeds. And sometimes we get a story like I just shared that shows the blessings of hope.

Fr. Ron Will: That’s a good image: planting seeds like a gardener or a farmer. Tell us more about your staff.

Doug Langner: We have 17 staff members for our daytime programs and another 10 who work the overnight shelter. Many of these people are doing it because they themselves have experienced homelessness. I think 73 percent of our staff have “lived experience,” they have firsthand experienced homelessness and, and now they’re giving back. That’s really an amazing thing to see. They’re the best people to say, “Hey, I have truly been there. It’s gonna get better.”

Fr. Ron Will: Wow, that’s amazing.

Doug Langner: I’m in awe by them. They’re the epitome of people who didn’t give up on life. When you learn their stories, it would’ve been easy to crumble under so many things, and they haven’t. My job is to enable them to keep throwing those seeds.

Fr. Ron Will: I’m sure just seeing the light come on in the eyes of those you walk with and traveling with, you start walking with hope.

Doug Langner: Yes, it is. But I also don’t want to sugarcoat it. Sometimes when you walk, you’re meeting people at their lowest. Imagine if you had that rough night’s sleep on a sidewalk or under a bush in 40-degree weather. So sometimes you have to have a lot of patience and just listen. And I’m not always the best listener. I may not have anything to say that can solve any problems today, but I can walk and listen. So whether it’s through the depths of tragedy or the heights of seeing someone move their life forward, being a people of hope doesn’t change either way.

Fr. Ron Will: Part of walking with people is listening to their story. I imagine that a lot of the people who come to your door, society has neglected. Nobody’s really listened to how they got into that situation.

Doug Langner: Yes. Another story. My first day as the executive director was on Dec. 23, three years ago. So I went on Christmas Eve morning, I came in the door where our guests come in. I walked with a woman who just looked tired to the world. We had breakfast, and she was sharing some of the deep, deep tragedies of what had happened recently in her life. After that, I went on to meet staff and introduce myself. Later I saw this woman again, and at first I did a double take. I was like, “Is this the same person?” <Laugh> She got a shower that day, a fresh set of clothing, and her frown literally turned upside down, as they say, and she looked like a new person. Today, she’s been stably housed for two years. She drops cookies by to our staff here and there.

This is just some of those things that happen here, and that it’s why I encourage anyone listening to this if you’re able get involved, not necessarily at Hope Faith, but find a place that speaks to you and get involved. Because these people we serve will enrich your own story in life. Make that a journey of hope in your own life.

Fr. Ron Will: Pope Francis said in his apostolic letter, that we must “fan the flame of hope that has been given to us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart, and a farsighted vision.” I think what you described as the work of Hope Faith is definitely fanning the flame of hope in people’s lives.

Doug Langner: Yes. Our volunteers, you know, they’re the real heroes in this, because at the end of the day, I get a paycheck. The volunteers get nothing in return but fanning that flame of hope. I’m in awe by them. That’s a pretty special thing to encounter.

I just talked to a volunteer the other day that served at our shelter, and she said, “Gosh, when I first came in, there were a lot of people, and it made me nervous. But after about 20 minutes, I realized I’m where I need to be. These people are speaking to me and, and I’m speaking to them, and that’s something I need for my own spiritual life.”

Fr. Ron Will: Is there anything else that you want our viewers to know before we close?

Doug Langner: Don’t let opportunities that are before you now go. It’s so easy to let the busyness of our days and lives make us miss moments of hope, of grace. It’s going to look a little bit different for each person but learn something more about what the word hope means and how you can bring hope to other people that you encounter. If you’re at a stage in life that [work like Hope Faith does] is not possible for you, that’s OK. There are other ways to get involved. If you look, you’ll find it.

Fr. Ron Will: Very good. Thank you, Doug, for taking time from your busy work and to share with us today. Thank you personally for being a pilgrim of hope, for inspiring me and inspiring our listening audience today.

Let’s end with a question for our listeners: What can you learn from Doug that you can apply to yourself?

Pope Francis reminds us of the remarkable resilient power of hope. It’s not something outside of us, he says, but it hides within our life. It is something we carry in us, and it’s up to us to pray, to have it revealed so that we can share it with others. This small flame can become a vibrant blaze if we permit ourselves to trust in how God is working in each of us. Have you ever considered that you carry the seeds of hope within your heart?

Please join me again next month as we continue this series and as we travel with another pilgrim of hope. In the meantime, may God bless you abundantly.

All of the videos in this series can be found here: Traveling with Pilgrims of Hope

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[Fr. Ron Will, a Precious Blood priest and spiritual director, is a graduate of Catholic Theological Union and Creighton University’s School of Christian Spirituality. He has a special interest in helping form intentional disciples of Jesus, encouraging others to go spiritually deep-sea diving to explore a deeper relationship with God, and walking with people as they dive into the ocean of God’s mystery actually experiencing God rather than simply dipping one’s toe into the water.]

Photo Credit: ID 225447647 © Aliaksandr Mazurkevich | Dreamstime.com

Music Credit: “We Are Marching” (Siyahamba). Performed by First Christian Church of Tacoma. Text: South African. Tune: South African. © 1984, Utryck, Walton Music Corporation, agent. Used with permission under onelicense.net, #A-725830

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