Dear friends,
So many of you offer support to our residents and our home over the long haul. And slowly but surely we make a difference in our residents' lives and days. It is a joy to do this work together. And we do not take your presence and generosity for granted.
As you will recall, a couple of months ago I wrote about the struggles with the neighbors accepting our home. Many of you reached out to us to impart courage and strength. Our staff members have been leading the residents in making efforts to reach out to the neighbors as well. And some of them have responded positively.
Children seem to be the easiest to reach, across the board, and this has proven true in our case as well. When we have shown kindness to the children of the neighborhood, they have responded in turn. One day they even brought over a huge poster with notes of love and affection on it (see attached photo). Our residents were overjoyed at this gesture of acceptance and kindness.
A few of the adults have responded as well. And we are grateful for these signs of hope on our street. Slowly but surely we are already seeing change. And as you know, change can be hard to come by, so we are grateful for it when it is before our eyes.
Thank you for believing in our work, for welcoming our residents into your hearts. I have taken solace (and I believe that they have to) that even while there is hostility closeby, there has been commitment and acceptance from afar. That is no small thing.
Blessings to each of you,
Natalie
Dear friends,
The following is an excerpt from our summer newsletter (attached).
The Heart of Your Enemy
Bridget Brown and I just returned from a ten-day trip to Armenia. We beheld the fruits of many labors, the work of many hands. We were invited into the family that Warm Hearth has become and held in that sacred space. What an honor that always is, to become family to those with whom you have no blood ties.
As many of you know, we also noticed that Warm Hearth is more isolated than ever before. Our residents are never outside on the streets any longer, playing ball, sitting in the sun, watching people pass on our quiet village road. It has been the slow reversal of a tide, in the wrong direction. And, I know why. It is because the relations with the neighbors are so fraught with tension that our staff want to protect our residents. It is because the neighbors say terrible things and threaten our residents.
But I could not help but grieve at the way in which we have moved backward. The purpose of Warm Hearth is for our residents to have a life in the community and not behind walls. We have spent the last decade trying to reveal the humanity and splendor of our residents. We have spent sweat and tears trying to build bridges for them, but… It is time now to turn toward our neighbors who are also our “enemies.” We must try to understand their vulnerabilities and fears and build bridges to them. We have to see their humanity and find the key that unlocks their hearts. This is our work as a staff, but it also involves the residents. For this, we need bravery. We need strength. We need boldness.
A friend recently sent me a quote: What if the thing you need most is found in the heart of your enemy? While the author is unknown, the task is not. What if the thing we most need to provide a good life for our residents is found in the heart of our neighbors? I believe it is. And, what if the thing our neighbors most need is found in us, in our residents and in our collective vulnerability and humanity?
(To read more, please see the attachment.)
Dear friends,
Dear friends,
In January, I was present at a fundraiser for Warm Hearth in Colorado. I had the honor of meeting two sisters (pictured in the attachment below). I had noticed them in the crowd; they were shining like jewels. We spoke about how to make Warm Hearth more beautiful. We spoke of goats and soap-making, and about the gifts that we receive when we open out hearts to all people whether they have a disability or not.
From our conversation, I could tell that these were people who had lived and breathed the realities of Warm Hearth. They seemed to know what I was speaking about intimately. One of the women eventually said that her sister, standing with us, had a disability and that she was her greatest gift, teaching her what it means to be human, to be vulnerable, to live according to what matters. She said that she knows and lives the reality that one group of people is not strong while the “others” are not weak. She has been transformed by loving her sister, and felt she had received more than she could ever give. We know this transformation intimately at Warm Hearth, but it was a gift to be reminded.
The above excerpt is from our Spring Newsletter. If you would like to read more, please download the complete newsletter below.
Sincerely and With Gratitude,
Natalie Bryant-Rizzieri
Dear Friends,
It is deep in the heart of winter at Warm Hearth. Our residents gather close to the hearth. It is a time to stay close to home in much of the world; it is a time to reach inward and to tend to the work that is always waiting there below our surfaces.
At Warm Hearth, that work means reflecting on our year—the rising and falling, the shining and the muddy. It means looking hard at the faces of our residents to see if the smile lines are deepening and recognizing where there is room to grow.
As I think back to the year, to the ways our grassroots efforts continue to reach for more water and expand, I am in awe of the ways that so many of you have made Warm Hearth yours. You are the ones tending the fire. You are the ones gathering the fruit and holding open hands out to the residents.
A few times this year, as inevitably happens, we have stumbled. We saw a resident lost and then, gratefully, found within 48 hours without harm. We have seen another resident spin out of control and despair and we have not been able to contain her pain within the walls of our home.
At every rising and falling, we try to bless and to hope. We try to remember that this work has a long arc, a trajectory that will extend beyond any of us. And we remember that what may seem final in the moment (for good or ill) is probably not final after all.
It is just one small part of a larger story, and in the meantime our work is to be faithful to today—to the art-making and the fundraising, the filing and the thanking, the loving and the dressing, the laughing and the teaching.
We are engaged in home-making for fourteen beautiful souls, who would otherwise be without. In a world that changes so fast and is fraught with uncertainty, what we want to offer our residents is a forever home.
Thank you for believing in this simple vision. Thank you for tending to their hearth. May we find a way, together, to make more homes in Armenia. And may you feel the warmth of your own hearth with those you love gathered close by.
Sincerely Yours,
Natalie Bryant-Rizzieri (Founder)
PS. To read our entire annual report for 2014, please see the attachment.
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