Caring for the ignored

Hony works to help homeless

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

One woman, Lori Hony of Prince Frederick, the house manager for Project ECHO, treats them like they are her family.

Hony has been with Project Echo from its inception in 1993. A soft-spoken and petite woman, she became the house manager on March 15, 1995, and hasn’t looked back.

‘‘When I was up in Baltimore,” Hony said, ‘‘I worked in the school system with slower kids. My daughter is an only child and I didn’t like being separated from her.”

Hony’s boss and president of the board on Project ECHO, Bill Stanton, sees a lot of good in her. Stanton, who has been with Project Echo since 1997, knows that Hony is a great person to work with and is very knowledgeable when it comes to the ins and outs of her job.

‘‘I think Lori has a sense of the folks that come to the shelter,” said Stanton of Port Republic, ‘‘including those who sincerely make an effort and those who do not.”

Stanton also added that when it comes to contacts — the Department of Social Services and United Way, to name a few — to help out clients, Hony is the go-to person to get things done for them.

‘‘All that institutional knowledge is important to run a shelter because people come in here with a myriad of problems,” Stanton said. ‘‘You have to know who to go to and you have to be even handed in dealing with people.”

Hony grew up in a large family in Illinois. Her six brothers and sisters made her feel loved and wanted. They never needed anything and always had each other.

‘‘We pretty much were the neighborhood,” Hony said. ‘‘We also had a family next door to us with nine children.”

Hony feels for the people that live in the shelter. According to Stanton, Hony refers to Project ECHO as ‘‘her house.” She sympathizes with most of their situations, because she went through several rough patches in her life as well.

‘‘I’ve walked in a couple of my clients’ shoes,” Hony said. ‘‘I am a single parent and I went through a divorce.”

After her divorce, she and her young daughter picked up and moved on. She lived in Baltimore and wanted to move out of the city. Hony joined Project ECHO because she wanted to give back to the community.

‘‘I saw an ad for volunteering for Project ECHO and I thought that it was a time to change,” Hony said. ‘‘When we first began in 1992 we were at the Linden House. It was an eye opener; back where I came from it [homelessness] wasn’t talked about.”

When she first volunteered, she worked a lot in the evenings. According to her, that one night turned into four days.

She interviews each of the clients herself and she does the intake herself. This gives her an understanding of what each client needs and what she can do for them.

‘‘I relate because of some of my struggles in my life, and I have my mom’s strength,” Hony said. ‘‘I see my clients have talent and I think they need that push. If you find your strength, you can do anything.”

Hony’s mom was always encouraging her children and Hony encourages her daughter as well as her clients.

Hony’s clients at Project ECHO have a deep respect for her. The clients participate in a 90-day program where they have a warm bed, a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs. They have 90 days to find a job and secure some kind of housing.

Kenny, one of Hony’s clients, participates in Project ECHO. He has known Hony on and off for the last dozen years and has come to respect her. Hony even sits and talks with her clients during the dinner hour.

‘‘She helps me out a great deal,” Kenny said. ‘‘You don’t want anyone to disrespect her. If people do, then they don’t belong here. She is a really good person and has a great heart.”

Hony’s coworkers are also amazed by her abilities, especially with keeping track of all her paperwork in her cramped office quarters. Kathy Tress of Huntingtown has volunteered on Fridays for the last six years.

‘‘She has a knack and patience to work with her clients,” Tress said. ‘‘She is an inspiration and has a passion for this place. She helps with resumes, where to find babysitting, writing letters and more.”

Although Hony’s is a 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.job Monday through Friday, she doesn’t leave her cares at work. She does go home at night and worry about how her clients are doing. At any given time, there are 18 to 22 clients staying at the shelter.

‘‘The hardest part is watching them leave and I know that some of them are not ready,” Hony said.

Hony has had success stories with her clients. Some of them come back and let her know how they are doing out in the real world. One of her clients now lives in Waldorf and is trying to become an art teacher. She also gets help from the churches and the community. The biggest gift the shelter received were two transitional houses from St. John Vianney.

‘‘There is no normal day at the shelter, every day is a challenge, that’s why I like it,” Hony said. ‘‘You have to make the people feel at ease. Once you walk through my door; you become part of our family.”

In addition to being the shelter manager, she is also going back to school to get her degree. On her weekends, she reads and watches NASCAR.

Hony said the next big thing she is looking forward to is the upcoming marriage of her daughter and going to the Caribbean with her sister in June.

‘‘I’ve been blessed and the most challenging part of my job is making a difference,” Hony said. ‘‘They make an impact on me and they know where to go if they need help.”