Generosity Restores Our Humanity: A Story From Nail Day
One of our core values here at BJM is mutuality. We firmly believe that everyone has something to give—the women we work with, our volunteers, and our staff members alike! We’re all transformed in receiving from one another. Hear from Malia McKinney, our special events and Nail Day coordinator, about a time one of our women from Nail Day blessed the rest of the Nail Day community with her gift.
As Julia (our director of women’s ministry) and I walked down Taylor Street towards our office in the Tenderloin, we saw two dirty, bare feet protruding from a doorway alcove. Earlier, I’d seen a woman we’ll call K encamped in that doorway. “She doesn’t look very good,” I warned Julia. “I’m not sure she’ll recognize us.” We approached gently and braced ourselves for disappointment.
K is one of our beloveds who regularly attended Nail Day, but it had been more than a year since we’d been able to check in with her. She’s been busy fighting for her life in an extended battle with addiction, mental illness, and chronic homelessness. I’d seen her several times in various locations throughout the TL, grouped with other unhoused folks, or on her own in a world of her own.
Ellis Street between Jones and Taylor, where the YWAM building is located and Nail Day occurs.
Julia and I stopped at the alcove, extending peace and kindness in our voices and body language. “K, it’s so good to see you! It’s Malia and Julia. Nail Day is tomorrow. Please come!” K looked at her hands and wrists, caked in dirt. “I can’t come like this—but wait, I have something for you!” She reached into her tattered clothes and pulled out a $10 Safeway gift card. “They won’t let me into the store anymore, but here, take this and buy something for the women tomorrow. Don’t tell them it’s from me.” Julia tried to persuade K to let us use the card to get her some food or something else she needed. K refused. “Nope, buy something for the women. And don’t mention it’s from me.”
Homelessness threatens our humanity, both for those experiencing it and for those who walk past it. But generosity restores our humanity. Giving can be a bridge that connects us. Though often, our concept of generosity is limited to a one-way model: I, a person who has, gives to the other, a person who has not. That’s not what we experience at BJM.
Volunteers at Nail Day are always unexpectedly touched by the generosity of the women we serve, who bless us by sharing their stories, friendship, humor, and vulnerability. As we’ve cultivated mutual relationships with the women we serve at Nail Day, several of them have become indispensable members of our volunteer team, giving generously of their time and talent.
Like the widow and her two mites in Luke 21, K surprised and blessed us with her generosity, reminding us that we all have something to give. She demonstrated anonymous, sacrificial love for the ladies of Nail Day, expecting nothing in return.
I asked K as we were ready to leave if I could get her anything. “How about a cup of coffee?” she replied. I had tears in my eyes when I ordered her swanky coffee from nearby Equator. I felt as if I was ordering a cup of coffee for Jesus.
Malia (in the pink shirt) arranges food on our hospitality table at Nail Day.
“For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in. I needed clothes and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” — Matthew 25:42–46
Would you consider blessing our community with your gift this holiday season? Every dollar enables us to continue fostering mutual, transformational relationships with women in our community. Click here to give—we’d be honored to receive from you!