Ready, Willing & Able | The Doe Fund

On March 25, 1999, at The Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, it celebrated the success of over 150 formerly homeless individuals that secured full-time employment and permanent housing. This celebration marks the fourth of its kind since the program was started in 1990.

Mrs. Harriet McDonald opened the graduation by telling the audience that "Tonight is a very special night for The Doe Fund Family. The people in this group know that we are really a family and we have a lot of people to thank tonight. I'm Vice President of The Doe Fund and I know that many of you have your families here tonight and they should be very proud of you for all your hard work." (The audience applauds.)

Mrs. McDonald presented Takeshi Nagaya, President of Toyota Motor Corp., Services of North America, Inc., Nancy A. Zweng, Chairperson of The Doe Fund, Board of Directors and Martin Oesterreich, Commissioner, Dept. of Homeless Service, to the podium and they gave their remarks and congratulations.

Mr. Louis Valazquez, one of the Harlem graduates, also spoke to the audience and said, "I didn't have my life together, but then The Doe Fund arrived... My first caseworker name's was Donald Pendelton. We decided it was in my best interest to try The Doe Fund's way. My first field assignment was HPD. From there, I was assigned to our Jersey City facility. Working under the supervision of Margaret Booth and Donald Pendelton, the responsibilities got to be more and more. Then, I was called in one day and offered a Security Guard position at our Harlem facility. It took a couple of days for it to sink in, but I realized that I would be able to give something back. So this is my time to give everything back to all and everyone [who believed] in me. (Audience applauds). I thank you for believing in me." (Audience applauds.)

Mr. William Williamson, one of the Brooklyn graduates, started off by saying "It is a pleasure and an honor to be here. You know for so long, almost 11 years, I didn't care about me, my family or anything, just using drugs. I became homeless, jobless and hopeless. I was tired of living the way I was living. I begged with cups, I did anything I could have done to get drugs. I hurt myself. I hurt my immediate family. They couldn't help me. I had to go through everything on my own.

"I went to Ready, Willing & Able and I put on that blue uniform, you know. When I went to the street with that broom and the dust pan and as I started sweeping, I realized that the cigarette butts I picked up and the papers that I picked up, I once picked up those cigarette butts to smoke. And the papers that I picked up, I once hoped that I would find something in that paper or if the paper was worth anything. But today, I was picking it up for my life. And it was worth picking up every bit of it. And as I went through a block, I would turn around and look back to see how clean it was. And I realized, just as that block got cleaned, so was I. (Audience applauds)

"This program is definitely a good program. It's about saving lives, about giving [people] back their lives and putting them back with their families. I also want to say that when I was out there cleaning the street, when George took the time to shake our hands and ask us how we were doing, I knew that [he] was giving me a chance to show me what I could do for myself. Now, I do what I got to do to think about staying clean by helping others and by remembering one day at a time. Thank you very much." (Audience applauds)

Mrs. McDonald then introduced the President, George McDonald. She explained how he was a successful businessman who gave that up to feed people in the Grand Central Terminal and SRO's; he really wanted to understand what it was that was needed to assist the homeless. It was because of his love for the homeless that The Doe Fund was founded.

"I began my career as a corporate executive. I was successful. One night, I took clients out to an expensive dinner and on the way out stepped over a homeless man, cold, dirty and hungry, begging in the doorway. This affected me and I realized that I had to redirect my life's energy. My career was financially lucrative but it left me empty inside. I knew I could do more and I wanted to figure out how.. ..how I could bring about the change that the homeless and hopeless desperately needed.

"I first looked to politics as a way to help the homeless. I thought that as an elected official I could advocate on behalf of these thousands of voiceless men and women. I started to go out amongst the homeless, to talk to them, to hear them and to show them that I was on their side. To my surprise, they didn't believe in the sincerity of my efforts and told me that I was looking for a nomination and a chance to see my picture on the television. This criticism made me realize that the best way to help these people was to stop raising money for myself and to begin raising it for them.

"For 700 consecutive nights I handed out sandwiches in Grand Central Terminal. I fed the same people repeatedly but saw that the sandwiches did nothing to address the underlying problems that trapped them in a cycle of dependency. I have always been a patriot and have always embraced our democratic system which promises every man the right to pursue happiness and self sufficiency. From my homeless friends, I learned that what they wanted was a job and a room that they could pay for out of their own wages. The answer I had been searching for was clear: my mission was to provide them with an opportunity to enter this system of American democracy and to become providers for themselves and their families. I founded The Doe Fund on the premise that work works, that if you give a man a job he will use it to climb the ladder of success.

"Tonight, you should know how proud of you I am and how proud you should be of yourselves. This evening celebrates the successful conclusion of your time in the program. For 18 months you held down a full time job, paid for food and rent and kept a savings account. You demonstrated that YOU CAN succeed on your own. You can hold your head up high and say I am Somebody.

"As you move on from Ready, Willing & Able to meet the challenges of every day life, do not forget that we are and always will be a source of support. Our Alumni Association is in place for this purpose - so that you may always