Live Generously: Meet Rose

For many women in the Tenderloin, isolation is a familiar feeling. After experiencing trauma, it’s natural to build walls between oneself and others as a defense mechanism to prevent further hurt. But healing only happens in the context of loving, supportive friendships. Developing these sorts of relationships can be challenging for Tenderloin women living in single-room apartments or on the streets. And when COVID hit and we were all forced to self-isolate, it became harder for women to make relational progress.

At Because Justice Matters, we’re all about deep, lasting, transformational relationships. Pre-COVID, a walk down the street in the Tenderloin meant an opportunity for staff to renew friendships and check on women. Time for a hug and a “How are things?" But suddenly, we couldn’t walk down the street, and we couldn’t host our monthly Nail Day that had been an oasis for many women, including our friend Rose.

Nearly four years ago, we met Rose at Nail Day. She lived in a single-room apartment and often felt isolated, but she thrived in our community. Rose started imagining a brighter future for herself, and then she made it a reality.

She started volunteering at Nail Day as our hospitality extraordinaire, joining us for intercessory prayer, preparing food, and greeting every woman who came through the door with a smile and invitation to some good food and good company. We couldn’t do Nail Day without Rose.

As shelter-in-place began earlier this year, our women’s ministry staff innovated new ways to connect while safety and health required disconnection. Regular phone calls and food drop-offs seemed like the best way to continue friendship. When our staff checked in on Rose each week, even just for an air hug and a “I love you, I miss you,” we were inspired by the way she combated isolation with the same hospitality she had exhibited over and over again at Nail Day. 

Rose has always been a generous member of our neighborhood, and she ramped up her generosity when she saw the needs that were amplified due to COVID. Whether preparing tasty breakfast burritos for friends who eat at City Hope or preparing grocery drop-offs for elderly members of our Tenderloin community, Rose is constantly giving. She shows us the power of imagining generosity in a time of scarcity. It would have been easy for Rose to give in to the feelings of isolation so many Tenderloin women know all too well, but she faced this challenge with grace and courage. She knows what God has in store for her and for the Tenderloin is even greater than we could ask or imagine.

We couldn’t have imagined all the challenges 2020 would bring, but our God is in the business of bringing unimaginable beauty from pain. This season of giving, would you join us in imagining the bright future God has for all of us, especially for Tenderloin women like Rose? Visit bjm-imagine.funraise.org to join our community as we imagine together.