By Mary Lynberg

One bitterly cold night four years ago, someone broke into the Jonesboro Presbyterian Church seeking shelter from the cold.

The locks were changed, but a church member pointed out to Rev. Oliver Wood that the church should be a refuge for the homeless.

Thus it began, very slowly, with a few volunteers from the Jonesboro United Methodist Church and St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church.

From St. Philip, Judy and Bob Carroll, John Bray and Mary Iezzi spent many hours in developing the project. As volunteers at the Central Presbyterian Church and St. Anthony’s Night Shelter in Atlanta, they were fully aware of the hard work involved. Their experience with Saint Vincent de Paul also helped.

It was slow going those first years, getting volunteers, meals for unknown numbers and even alerting the public as to the availability of a night shelter. But gradually the word was out. Homeless persons released from jail, families whose cars had broken down on I-75, persons evicted from apartments, and battered women sought shelter.

Not only did they find a warm place to stay, very simple at first, but warm meals and open arms to give them warmth and fellowship. It was a sharing experience, where jobs might be found, clothes given, comforting words, so often lacking, spoken.

There were disappointments when volunteers failed to appear but the determination was there to make a success of the night shelter.

The following year, Judge Eugene Lawson of Clayton County Probate Court and the Samaritans Together, a group of concerned citizens, joined the effort. Pallets were purchased and more churches became involved.

Through it all, Mary Iezzi shared herself tirelessly. She gave food to the hungry, a hug to the lonely, offered words of hope, and admonished those who needed it. Through it all she felt that Jesus was always at her side. She spoke of it very easily, saying and believing that “we don’t know in what form He will return.”

Going to work at her job with J.C. Penney after a night at the shelter was not easy. But her fellow workers recognized her dedication. So much so that she was awarded the highest award given for a volunteer in the company. This earned her a trip to New York to receive the honor. She has frequently been cited on the local level by Penney’s and citizen’s groups.

The limelight does not sit comfortable on Mary. So much so that when Judge Lawson nominated Mary for one of the Journal Constitution volunteer awards for Clayton County he started his conversation with, “Don’t be mad at me but…”

This year the night shelter completed its fourth and most successful year. The statistics are many… the 47 churches that now participate, the 12,000 meals that were served…it goes on and one.

“Beautiful people” is Mary’s favorite phrase for the people she helps and the volunteers who help her to help. Effervescent and a non-stop talker, she works unceasingly for others, a family in need of a home, someone who needs food from the parish food pantry.

Recognizing that mental illness afflicts so many of the homeless, she has become active in the “Friends of the Mentally Ill” and is working closely with the Clayton County Mental Health Association. She recently represented the association at a workshop on the mentally ill in Boston.

Mary was one of the “Vincentian People” singled out in the June 1986 issue of the Ozanam News published by the National Office of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul as a member whose works are a testimony to her belief in the goals of the society.

When two children were given up to foster care because a parent was unable to care for them and seek work, Mary began planning again.

She has begged, pleaded and cajoled and things are falling into place. This November, when the night shelter opens its doors, there will also be a facility for children, a day shelter.

Mary says the Knights of Columbus Council in Jonesboro has committed $400 a month for the new shelter. Needed are beds, cribs, highchairs, playpens and small toys.

She is particularly anxious to get senior citizens involved in work at the day shelter which she hopes will be open all year round eventually. But not only the senior citizens. “I think we have to get all of our people involved. We need our senior citizens, we need our youth and we need our little people. That’s when you become strong in community, coming together, praying together and doing God’s work together.”

Mary is involved in another ministry as co-director with B.J. Honeycutt of Habitat for Humanity in Clayton County. She views this as another family-oriented effort particularly appealing to youth with its emphasis on teaching and sharing building skills in providing decent housing for low-income people.

Will it work? Mary is trusting that God will guide her “beautiful people” to give of themselves. “It has to work,” she fervently declares. You know, it probably will!