Years of service from an act of kindness
Years of service from an act of kindness
By Cathy Zollo
Published Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
SARASOTA — The first time Bob and Elaine Kyllonen helped a homeless person was in 1985, when the sprinklers went on outside their church, drenching a woman who was sleeping in the bushes.
FUNDRAISER
The 11th annual "Evening to Remember" on March 12 will be a special tribute to Resurrection House founders Bob and Elaine Kyllonen, who are retiring after 19 years of dedication to the homeless people of Sarasota.
Along with saluting the Kyllonens, the party will include dinner, an auction and entertainment by the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.
Tickets $150.
More information Jean Fulton, 365-3759.
The Kyllonens spotted the woman when they arrived for an evening meeting at Episcopal Church of the Redeemer. They took her inside. Then they and other church members helped her dry off, gave her some food and pooled their money to pay for a hotel for her to stay in that night.
Within a few days the Kyllonens and other church members had started a campaign to help the homeless that ultimately resulted in Resurrection House, a daytime resource center funded by Church of the Redeemer and five other Sarasota churches.
The Kyllonens ran Resurrection House from the day it opened in October 1989, and are now preparing to step down after 19 years. Over that time, the agency has grown into a mainstay in the network of service providers for the homeless. It has a half-million dollar annual budget.
As close as he and his wife are to Resurrection House, Bob Kyllonen, 82, says he looks forward to handing over control to someone else.
"They need some new blood, some new ideas to see if they can take Resurrection House to another level of helping the poor and the homeless," he said.
They leave an agency with a stable foundation.
Resurrection House has a $500,000 endowment, a solid record of fundraising, and owns the 10,000 square-foot building where it is based free and clear.
The Kyllonens believe that God blessed the ministry with the historic Mediterranean Revival structure on Kumquat Court. A developer had bought the building and spent $300,000 renovating it in the hopes of renting to professionals. There were no takers. The building was foreclosed upon by the bank, which sold it to Resurrection House for $100,000.
Every so often, people show up at the building to thank the Kyllonens. Others stop coming because they no longer need help.
"Sometimes we just don't see our clients any more, but that's a success," says Elaine Kyllonen, 81.
The agency started offering services for a few hours each morning from a borrowed office at the headquarters of The Salvation Army. The Kyllonens were an unlikely pair going in.
He was a retired insurance agent; she had worked in a legal office for 20 years.
They had moved to Sarasota from Michigan in the 1950s, opened a building supply business and sold it when Bob went into insurance. They brought up three children in Sarasota and were active in their church, but not on the scale that would come with Resurrection House.
"Bob and Elaine really caught that vision and felt a calling from God to pursue it," says Father Fred Robinson, pastor of Church of the Redeemer.
"They wanted to do something that would not just meet the immediate needs of the homeless but that would help them to break out of that situation so that they could eventually become self-supporting people."
Last year, homeless people made 42,186 visits to Resurrection House.
Just off its sunny common room are three counseling offices where they get direction to social services or help finding a job or a chance, should they need it, at rehabilitation from addiction.
There is a continental breakfast for those who have not eaten and medical attention for conditions such as diabetes and heart disease as well as for injuries: cuts and scrapes from living in the woods and the occasional stab wound.
Clients can get their hair cut, take a shower, drop off laundry and use the ironing boards to clean up for a job interview.
People who work there say the Kyllonens set the tone at Resurrection House.
"I really thought I understood about compassion, about caring for people," says David Proch, who has worked at Resurrection House since 2000 and just took over as executive director. "I've really come to see what true caring and compassion really are all about."
In a garage out back, two men rework the gears and fix flats on donated bicycles. If a client gets a full-time job, he or she gets bike, a bike lock and work boots if needed, explains Jean Fulton, a long-time volunteer and board member at Resurrection House.
From their first contact with Resurrection House, though, they get the intangibles that can be a first step up from the bottom, things like being called by name, eye contact and a smile, a bit of respect.
"We treat them like they are people," Bob says. "We give them back some dignity."
Elaine Kyllonen says their 19 years of service was its own reward, in a way.
"You get more than you give," Elaine explains and shrugs. "You just do."
By Cathy Zollo
Published Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
SARASOTA — The first time Bob and Elaine Kyllonen helped a homeless person was in 1985, when the sprinklers went on outside their church, drenching a woman who was sleeping in the bushes.
FUNDRAISER
The 11th annual "Evening to Remember" on March 12 will be a special tribute to Resurrection House founders Bob and Elaine Kyllonen, who are retiring after 19 years of dedication to the homeless people of Sarasota.
Along with saluting the Kyllonens, the party will include dinner, an auction and entertainment by the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.
Tickets $150.
More information Jean Fulton, 365-3759.
The Kyllonens spotted the woman when they arrived for an evening meeting at Episcopal Church of the Redeemer. They took her inside. Then they and other church members helped her dry off, gave her some food and pooled their money to pay for a hotel for her to stay in that night.
Within a few days the Kyllonens and other church members had started a campaign to help the homeless that ultimately resulted in Resurrection House, a daytime resource center funded by Church of the Redeemer and five other Sarasota churches.
The Kyllonens ran Resurrection House from the day it opened in October 1989, and are now preparing to step down after 19 years. Over that time, the agency has grown into a mainstay in the network of service providers for the homeless. It has a half-million dollar annual budget.
As close as he and his wife are to Resurrection House, Bob Kyllonen, 82, says he looks forward to handing over control to someone else.
"They need some new blood, some new ideas to see if they can take Resurrection House to another level of helping the poor and the homeless," he said.
They leave an agency with a stable foundation.
Resurrection House has a $500,000 endowment, a solid record of fundraising, and owns the 10,000 square-foot building where it is based free and clear.
The Kyllonens believe that God blessed the ministry with the historic Mediterranean Revival structure on Kumquat Court. A developer had bought the building and spent $300,000 renovating it in the hopes of renting to professionals. There were no takers. The building was foreclosed upon by the bank, which sold it to Resurrection House for $100,000.
Every so often, people show up at the building to thank the Kyllonens. Others stop coming because they no longer need help.
"Sometimes we just don't see our clients any more, but that's a success," says Elaine Kyllonen, 81.
The agency started offering services for a few hours each morning from a borrowed office at the headquarters of The Salvation Army. The Kyllonens were an unlikely pair going in.
He was a retired insurance agent; she had worked in a legal office for 20 years.
They had moved to Sarasota from Michigan in the 1950s, opened a building supply business and sold it when Bob went into insurance. They brought up three children in Sarasota and were active in their church, but not on the scale that would come with Resurrection House.
"Bob and Elaine really caught that vision and felt a calling from God to pursue it," says Father Fred Robinson, pastor of Church of the Redeemer.
"They wanted to do something that would not just meet the immediate needs of the homeless but that would help them to break out of that situation so that they could eventually become self-supporting people."
Last year, homeless people made 42,186 visits to Resurrection House.
Just off its sunny common room are three counseling offices where they get direction to social services or help finding a job or a chance, should they need it, at rehabilitation from addiction.
There is a continental breakfast for those who have not eaten and medical attention for conditions such as diabetes and heart disease as well as for injuries: cuts and scrapes from living in the woods and the occasional stab wound.
Clients can get their hair cut, take a shower, drop off laundry and use the ironing boards to clean up for a job interview.
People who work there say the Kyllonens set the tone at Resurrection House.
"I really thought I understood about compassion, about caring for people," says David Proch, who has worked at Resurrection House since 2000 and just took over as executive director. "I've really come to see what true caring and compassion really are all about."
In a garage out back, two men rework the gears and fix flats on donated bicycles. If a client gets a full-time job, he or she gets bike, a bike lock and work boots if needed, explains Jean Fulton, a long-time volunteer and board member at Resurrection House.
From their first contact with Resurrection House, though, they get the intangibles that can be a first step up from the bottom, things like being called by name, eye contact and a smile, a bit of respect.
"We treat them like they are people," Bob says. "We give them back some dignity."
Elaine Kyllonen says their 19 years of service was its own reward, in a way.
"You get more than you give," Elaine explains and shrugs. "You just do."
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