AREA STUDENT AND TEACHER SERVE UP GOODWILL TO HOMELESS IN WASHINGTON, D.C., SHELTER

Amy Arteme doesn't know where Billy may wind up. But she's hopeful that good things will come his way.

"He's a great pianist," said Arteme. "He can't read music, but he plays by ear."

Arteme met Billy at a SOME (So Others May Eat) Center in Washington D.C., a non-profit homeless shelter that daily serves more than 1,200 hot meals to homeless men, women and children.

Billy was down on his luck for awhile, said Arteme, who recently completed a week's mission at the SOME Center as a volunteer. "He talked about getting together with some of his friends for a band," she said.

Arteme, 20, and Chris Moore, 25, were impressed with the SOME programs in Washington.

"We assisted staff members at the center," said Moore. "We worked in a number of areas, assisting with meals, doing light housework, performing some clerical work. This gave us an opportunity to talk with the poor, the homeless and the hungry."

A day in the kitchen at the homeless center usually begins about 7 a.m. with breakfast.

The center provides two meals a day to the poor.

"We helped in the kitchen and helped serve the food," said Moore. "We never really knew what would be served, but it was always a nutritious meal -- with meat, vegetable and fruit."

Beside meeting with shelter clients, Arteme and Moore also met other volunteers. In the Washington area, it's not unusual to see some corporate employees at the center who turn out to serve food and help with other chores.

"I've always been interested in mission work," said Arteme, who is majoring in dietetics at Southeast Missouri State University and eventually hopes to engage in more long-term mission work.

Arteme, of Benton, and Moore, of Cape Girardeau, have helped with some Salvation Army programs in Cape Girardeau.

"When we heard about SOME, we looked into it," said Moore. "We made some contacts, and arranged to volunteer for a week's work in Washington."

Moore, who is a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University in education, teaches school at Sikeston.

"We hope to participate in a mission project in southern Florida in August of this year, just before school restarts," Moore said.

The experience in the nation's capital was an eye-opener for the couple.

"Living in Cape Girardeau, you just don't realize how big the homeless problem is," said Arteme.

"The SOME program started as a soup kitchen in the 1970s," said Moore. "The program has expanded now to include rehabilitative services and permanent housing."

The program is designed to lift people up and help them regain control over their lives -- helping homeless people help themselves.

With the aid of donors and volunteers, SOME now operates over 15 programs for the homeless in the Washington area, including residential addiction treatment, job training and a socialization program for the mentally ill.

SOME also provides services for the elderly, including two day-center for seniors, a shelter for abused elderly and a caregiver program for homebound elderly people.

Moore and Arteme say they saw many homeless people in the Washington area. Some were sleeping in cardboard shelters, others in cars, some on benches.

Many people make up America's "working poor," people who have jobs, but can't afford housing. One in six full-time employees earns less than poverty-level income. Many of the workers at the various centers in Washington are among the former homeless people.

Some of the centers are designed to help the poor prepare for a better life.

John D. was one such person.

SOME opened doors for John, giving him an opportunity to get his life together. He told Arteme and Moore that when he was out on the streets, he had no hope, no job, no home and he was hungry. He needed help, he said, but was too proud to ask for it. He eventually did and was sent to a transitional center. He recently said he is ready to move into his own house now and can pay his bills.

The work of SOME is impressive, say Moore and Arteme. The organization annually serves more than 400,000 meals, provides more than 7,000 medical and dental visits, and houses over 200 men, women and families a day, offering a broad scope of social services. More than 500 families are on shelter waiting lists.