Cathy Sutton sat on the steps of St. Francis Church in midtown Sacramento admiring one of the best gifts she’d ever received—a simple hand-crafted green vase.

It was Sutton’s birthday and the vase was a gift from her friend Mary who had recently arrived in Sacramento with not much more than the clothes she wore and with no place to live.

Mary had spent one night at the bus depot, another night trying to sleep at a 24-hour fast food restaurant and some time at a shelter for the homeless.

She had just about given up finding a safe place to sleep when she met a woman in a wheelchair about seven blocks from St. Francis Church.

“When I asked her if she knew anywhere I could sleep, she told me that at St. Francis they let you stay on the steps. There was a group of people there who were concerned with each other,” Mary said. “That makes all the difference in the world.”

What she found was the step ministry, a program given wings by Sister Claire Graham, director of the ministries of care at St. Francis.

Sister Graham, a Sister of Social Service, began noticing about two years ago that there were a growing number of homeless people who were sleeping near the front doorway of the church. She began thinking—aided by some divine inspiration—that maybe something could be accomplished by having volunteers open up the bathroom doors at night and get to know the step people.

“There are not many places in our lives where we have the opportunity to be equal,” she said. “Circumstances make us different. Our commonality is our heart.”

Sister Graham has been on the front lines for some time when it comes to the homeless. In 1987 with Sister Catherine Connell, she co-founded Wellspring Women’s Center, a drop-in center serving women and children in the Oak Park area of Sacramento.

The step ministry, which includes about 20 lay volunteers, is not about feeding or clothing the homeless. Volunteers typically show up at the steps for a few hours of conversation—a kind of camp out on God’s doorstep.

The people who find their way to St. Francis, said Sister Graham, are men and women down and out on their luck, each with “some brokenness in their hearts,” for whom shelters are not a good fit.

“The steps are a safe place; the church is their sanctuary,” she said. “We make sure they’re safe and people aren’t going to hurt them.”

Another component of the ministry is making referrals to such area agencies as Francis House, Quinn Cottages (for transitional homeless), Sacramento Food Bank Services, Wellspring and mental health agencies.

“We can’t have a family living on the church steps,” Sister Graham noted. “We use every resource we can to help people.”

Franciscan Father Kenneth Laverone, pastor of St. Francis, is a regular visitor to the steps and has seen what can happen when unconditional love comes into play.

“The people on the steps are building a sense of community among themselves and with the people of the step ministry. There’s a bigger stable community they connect with,” he said.

There are people like Grace, 64, who arrives at the steps each night with a shopping cart loaded with books, notebooks filled with poetry she has written and a few articles of clothing. It would not be a stretch to say that for Grace, St. Francis’ steps are sacred ground.

“I need to be with people,” Grace said. “Getting to know these people I can understand more about me. Right now the steps are people who care and I haven’t had a lot of that.”

Bob started spending the night at St. Francis before the ministry began. He says he’s noticed a change.

“People who have nothing and those who do have something began talking, telling stories, and it got to be like family,” he said. “With family, the love kind of spreads.”

Life changes have occurred among the volunteers too. A member of the ministry from its start, Sutton was confirmed last Easter and has become a member of St. Francis Parish. She says the step ministry has helped her examine her faith.

“It was difficult for me to look at what I believe and how I believe. When things were hard I’d go hang out at the steps and things made sense,” Sutton said. “It really centered me.”

Step volunteer Carol Spinella also recently became a Catholic.

“It was like a cleansing process for me,” said Spinella, who admits she had previously feared homeless people. “I found an appreciation for the people on the steps, just sitting there listening to them.”

Al and Eulah Pierre commute from their home in Elk Grove to St. Francis Parish where Al Pierre serves as a deacon and both serve as step ministers. Eulah Pierre has made a special friend of a woman who was very much a loner, had been abused and always slept apart from the rest, until the night Pierre took her into her arms and sang to her.

“I thought to myself, that could be me,” Pierre said. “I sit on a blanket and listen to their stories.”

There has been a bump or two along the way for the step ministry. For a time there was concern about the homeless ministry from some parents at adjacent St. Francis School. So guidelines were set up requiring the homeless to arrive after 6 p.m. and leave by 6 a.m. Penny Tafoya, a member of St. Francis’ pastoral council, explained that the step ministry is living out the church’s mission of reaching out to all people.

“The ministry started to assist people who sleep on the steps recognize this as a safe place, that they are a part of the community and have responsibility for their space,” Tafoya said. “We also recognize this is an opportunity to help children understand these are children of God.”

Karen Flynn, the parent of a first grader at St. Francis School, agrees. “It’s a great program based on Franciscan spirituality and assistance to the poor,” she noted. “Social justice is what the school teaches too.”

The Winn Park-Capitol Avenue Neighborhood Association’s boundaries include St. Francis Church. Board member Karen Jacques says the step ministry is quiet and doesn’t create disturbances. She said her personal concern for the homeless is that they be referred on to other social services so they are no longer homeless.

“We need to provide solutions—whether it be mental health care or housing that they need,” Jacques said.

Sister Graham says the overall response from parishioners and neighborhood residents to the doorstep ministry has been both positive and non-judgmental.

“This is how St. Francis lived life,” she said. “Everybody’s impacted that comes to the steps.”

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