Progress 2018 -- Making a Difference: Angel of Slocumb Street
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on February 23, 2018 11:38 AM
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Submitted photo
Pictured is the inside of the shelter run by the Community Crisis Center that contains several bunk beds and other basic furniture.
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Eva Howell, Adeen George and Betty Armstrong serve lunch at the center in 2007.
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Students and teachers attend a GED meeting at the Community Crisis Center in 2005. In addition to providing food and clothing need George and her staff work with those in need to get help with education and getting jobs to change their way of life.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Adeen George organizes the shelves of the clothing pantry of the Community Crisis Center. Following the recent Point in Time event, the center is in need of clothing for both children and adults to replenish their supply.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Adeen George poses for a photo in the pantry of the Community Crisis Center. George has been working for the center for nearly 40 years, providing food, clothing, showers and support to the needy in Goldsboro and Wayne County.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
A plate of food is passed through the kitchen window of the Community Crisis Center as lunch is served.
Adeen George has been called the angel of Slocumb Street -- a visionary who saw beyond the crime and chaos in the neighborhood where she grew up.
For the past 37 years, she has championed those who may not otherwise have known where to turn, giving them a sanctuary known as the Community Crisis Center.
Health issues recently have caused her doctors, and her family, to caution her that it may be time to retire.
That is not even on her radar.
"This year I will be 80 and my health is not as good as it has been, and my doctor has asked me to think about giving it up and get some rest. I have cut back on my hours, but I am still working," she said. "I have been here too long. I'm thinking, I go in every day, and I do a little bit, make sure everything is going like I want it to go.
"Like the poem by Maya Angelou, 'Still (I) Rise,' it sums up my story over the past 37 years."
She faced adversity head on from the moment she started the ministry of the Holy Ghost Drawing Center, she says.
"We started in a small frame building with no resources, a few faithful prayer warriors and a strong will to do the work of Him who sent me," she said. "I have faced every adversity imaginable building this ministry but God has sustained me through it all.
"It seems as though every time I wanted to throw in the towel, God would throw it right back at me."
She actually had a day job, working at O'Berry Center in the 1980s, she said, when she felt the nudge to work with the "street people."
A high school graduate, she had no college education. Just the strong desire to be of service in her community.
"I saw mothers pushing children out the doors, cussing them and them living in the streets," she said. "I said, 'Lord, I just wish I could put them in my back yard. Maybe I could give them a sandwich."
The desire haunted her, even though she had no idea how to go about it.
She found the plot of land where the center now stands, but the price tag was too steep -- $35,000.
Even her husband balked when she began hinting at what she wanted to do.
"He said, 'Don't leave your job for street people,'" she said, adding that when she wound up leaving O'Berry, "I gave up my retirement.
"My husband said I was crazy but somehow God opened up the hearts of people."
In 1981, she established the Holy Ghost Drawing Center, housed at her church, New Stoney Hill Holy Church on Poplar Street. One year later, nearly three acres of land were purchased on the 600 block of S. Slocumb St.
Construction for the non-profit began in 1994. But before it could be completed, it was destroyed twice, by high winds and building mishaps in June and again in December.
The community rallied behind George, with area churches providing financial support and contributing items. Brick masons provided free labor, and nearly two dozen airmen from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base were among those who donated their time to help.
Then in 1995, two local construction companies stepped up to reconstruct the building -- R.N. Rouse for the exterior and D.S. Simmons for the interior. Construction was completed in March 1997.
The 15-room facility contains a soup kitchen, food pantry, clothes closet, counseling rooms, multi-purpose room, waiting area, bathroom with shower stalls and offices.
It has not been a smooth or easy journey, though.
"I thought the most devastating loss was the building falling two times. But I rose and rebuilt over the years," she said. "I have agonized over the lack of financial support, but somehow God opened the hearts of people and still I rose to be able to continue the work and paid off the mortgage.
"Recently, I have lost key people who helped me build this ministry -- my intake specialist, Margaret Braswell, my financial secretary for 37 years, and Carolyn Buffalo passed away a few months ago. Again, I wanted to throw in the towel."
New personnel have stepped up to assist.
And the ministry services to the residents in that part of town have been able to continue.
"Every day we provide hot coffee and a continental breakfast to homeless men and women," she said. "We feed approximately 200 to 275 meals weekly to men, women and children. Food baskets are provided to those in need.
"At Thanksgiving we feed over 150 a balanced Thanksgiving dinner. We also give away turkeys to those who have signed up for them."
And men and women can come in every day to get a hot shower and clean clothes, from the clothes closet on site.
There is a counselor on duty to provide counseling, and/or referrals to services and resources the center is unable to provide.
Even though funds are scarce, donations have always sustained the effort. Some are used to purchase medications or help with a utility bill or rent where needed, she said.
Most days, when the center opens its doors at 9 a.m., there are already people lined up outside, waiting.
George may not be there when they arrive, but she faithfully shows up during the midday feed.
"I have to, I'm the police," she said with a laugh.
The facetious comment, once upon a time was not far from the truth.
Early on, she recalls naysayers cautioning her that she would "need police protection to go there." Then, as now, she took on the same stance, "I am the police," even if only to distract whomever was in her path until she could call and summon actual law enforcement.
The 79-year-old may be short in stature, but she takes charge in a way that has earned respect.
"I love every bit of it," she said. "It takes total commitment, love and compassion, dedication to the cause.
"You have to grow to this. I grew to this."
She is determined to remain at the helm as long as there are needs to be met. The mother of five has had several health scares and in 1998, lost her husband. But there is still work to be done, work that she cannot ignore.
Jimmie Ford served on her board of directors for between 10 and 15 years, he said.
"I think a lot of people's lives have been changed because of Adeen George. She is a very kind, warm, compassionate person. She'll do anything in the world for you.
"The saddest thing is her funds come from donations and that's what kind of slowed things down."
To have a place where someone can go get a shower, a change of clothes, a meal and be able to talk with someone about employment, is a gift for the downtrodden, Ford said.
"She's tried several programs through the years, like the GED, something to help that population that has come in for services," Ford said. "But her heart was in it."
The county would be wise to pay attention to the model and to support it, especially if George has to one day turn over the reins.
"It's something I feel Wayne County could benefit from if we had to funds to do any more," Ford said. "I don't think anyone can solicit funds for it like Adeen George.
"We talk all the time. I told her I'd always be there for her. I'd love to continue the legacy that she has established in Wayne County."
Many have been served and encouraged by something at the Community Crisis Center, with still more inspired by its example.
"A lot of people have come from afar, they heard about it," Ford said. "The place has been like a model for others. It's a good place."
Veda McNair is George's pastor's wife but considers herself more than a fellow church member. She is a close friend. George takes it a step further, calling McNair her confidante.
"They call her the angel of Slocumb Street. That's probably the best depiction of her," McNair said. "She has the compassion for people, the underserved, the forgotten, all of those people that the scripture talks about, 'When I was naked, you didn't clothe me, when I was hungry you didn't feed me.' She's just the opposite of that -- she clothes and feeds those people.
"This is the woman that does what none of the rest of us are doing."
Many have excuses -- they work, they don't see the point in helping those who won't help themselves, McNair said. Still others have seen George's efforts as a "thankless job," wondering if the ones who come there are getting any better, she said.
"She can peel off many success stories, but many are looking and might ask if they're really being helped, she has compassion for those people," she said. "She has helped them get housing, helped them get assistance. I think one day she called herself the bootleg social worker.
"There are people who have gone to her that were outdoors, didn't have proper clothing or means or knowledge on how to get help. She has worked on resources, even with her limited knowledge, she'll keep calling to get help for them. She'll find a way to get help."
George's efforts go beyond the scope of the four walls that house the Community Crisis Center, McNair said.
"The Scripture continues, 'When I was in prison, you didn't visit,' -- she'll go down and visit them (in prison) and let them know that somebody cares," she said. "She's certainly the embodiment of that Scripture that speaks to that.
"She calls herself the city pastor for the people."
Those at her home church, New Stoney Hill Holy Church, are very proud of her, McNair said.
And they are not alone, as George's reach over the past three dozen years has garnered much respect and loyal support -- from prayers to donations in many forms.
"There are so many people that admire what she's done, and I think deep down we know that she's doing things that nobody will do," McNair said. "I have assisted her, made donations, volunteered there, but to do that from day and day (is hard) and she does it with such joy.
"She gets such joy when she sees someone getting a hot meal or they come in dirty and get clean clothes. She enjoys helping people. She provides such a safe and comforting place for them."