Listen to this article
It’s no secret having a safe and stable place to live is at the very foundation of overall health and well-being.
That’s why, in The Salvation Army, there’s no such thing as no place to go.
We uniquely understand the statistics on those experiencing homelessness—which by the latest counts means tonight in America more than 421,000 people are without a place to call home. We also know that number doesn’t provide a full picture of need.
With one in 10 people living in poverty today, housing insecurity is not limited to a certain “type” of person.
Need can affect anyone.
That’s why each year, The Salvation Army provides over 10 million nights of shelter to those in need.
From emergency shelters to utility assistance or permanent supportive housing, we are working to meet the need for refuge.
And in Seattle, Linda Byrd is one of the people helping to welcome those guests and make them feel more at home.
But for Linda, being a shelter monitor for The Salvation Army is more than a job. As she says, it gave her a purpose. It gave her a reason to live.
Show highlights include:
- Why Linda Byrd felt like she had no purpose and what her conversations with God were like at the time.
- How she came to work for The Salvation Army.
- What her interactions are like with the shelter guests.
- Why this work is meaningful to her.
- How God showed her a purpose for living again, and how she defines that purpose now.
- Her message to others who might also be looking for their purpose or a way to feel like they are making a difference.
Listen and subscribe to the Do Gooders Podcast now. Below is a transcript of the episode, edited for readability. For more information on the people and ideas in the episode, see the links at the bottom of this post.
* * *
Linda Byrd: My name is Linda Byrd and I choose to have hope because without hope, and which I have lived that, without hope there’s no purpose in life, no reason to live. That’s the way I was feeling. I worked at The Salvation Army in Fresno, California for two years, but I worked in the retail department and I had retired from my job and I moved up to Seattle and my son and I got a place together and my son and I were extremely close and my son would not take the COVID shot and so he caught COVID and my son passed away.
Christin Thieme: I’m so sorry.
Linda Byrd: And when I moved up here, I had been gone for eight years, and I moved back to Seattle and I had a year and a half with my child before he passed away, and I told God I didn’t have a reason to be here. What was my purpose? He was my purpose for living. I had no purpose and I had lost a lot of my spirituality and my beliefs and I kept praying, still trying to get myself back, and it was really, really tough, and I didn’t want to live anymore. I quit going to church, but it’s hard for me to go to bed without praying ’cause I’ve been doing it all my life.
So anyway, one of my friends told me about this job and I came here to cook ’cause I’m a cook, but they closed the kitchen and so they ended up putting me as a monitor. And through this job and I’ve seen what The Salvation Army, God was doing, it gave me back my faith. It gave me something to get up and do every day. I cook for a lot of people in here. They serve them breakfast, lunch and dinner, but if someone tells me that they miss their home, I ask them what they like. I go home and fix it and bring it back. If someone tell me they haven’t had this in so long, I go home, I fix it, I bring it back.
If someone I can see in bed and not getting up and I know this is not them because I’ve been here now for nine months and I’ve learned the client, and so when I can see something wrong, that’s what I do. I go home and I ask, “What do you like?” Someone is trying, a lot of these people are kicking habits. If someone is trying to kick, I try do whatever I can for them. I’m talking to them, I’m catering to them. And so this job gave me back my beliefs, my purpose to make me feel good, to know that I’m helping somebody and so I’m able to get up every day and come in here and I’m happy and I like working with the people. I know I’m helping them. I’m 73 years old, so I’m vibrant. God has kept me healthy and I just thank him every day now for allowing me to be healthy, allowing me to help others and showing me the purpose that while I’m here.
Christin Thieme: That’s amazing. I can only imagine how meaningful it is for people too who feel seen by you and feel taken care of when maybe they haven’t been in a long time. So I’m sure that that makes such a big difference for so many people, just that little bit of care. I’m wondering for somebody who has no idea about that shelter, what it is, what it does, give us a little window into what exactly is it and what does it offer, what is going on.
Linda Byrd: They bring the people in here. It’s a respect that they demand that we give these people both ways. They have to respect us and we respect them. I love that. Because of being homeless and kind of out on the streets, people can disrespect you and just get a first impression. It’s total respect in here. They serve them breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They don’t want for anything. And a lot of people come in here, find jobs and get their self together, and we help them to get housing and jobs and so it offers a lot. This is a safe zone, a safe environment. I love it, I love it here. It gives people purpose. Just like it gave me a purpose, it gives other people a purpose too. And I talk to them. My manager, Sky always tells me that I got that motherly instinct ’cause I can go through this facility. Everybody thinks I’m really tough, but everybody knows I’m really nice too, and I can go through this facility-
Christin Thieme: The mama bear.
Linda Byrd: I went through the facility and said, “We need a cleanup job in here and everybody needs to get busy and I will be back through” and one guy say, “Whoa, Ms. Linda, I’m scared of you.” He says, but, and I feel-
Christin Thieme: But I bet he does it.
Linda Byrd: He just playing, that’s all. But he say, they know that I mean what I say. So this is where I belong. I found a place. The Salvation Army is the place where I belong, where I fit in. I said I should have been here years ago.
Christin Thieme: I love that. When did you first realize that you are directly involved in the effort to provide shelter, provide hope to people in your community where you felt like you were needed? When do you think that moment was for you?
Linda Byrd: Well, I knew that I belonged here the first week after I’d seen what was going on, what it consisted of and how I fit in here and the role that I play and the people that I was helping. People are easy to talk to me. I’m very approachable, very approachable. I reach out for the people who’s having the hardest problems. I’ve always been drawn to those that I see people ignoring. So in here, I find that, and I always tell my manager, “I should have been here a long time ago. I fit so much in The Salvation Army ’cause this is where I belong.” So I’m so grateful and I said, “I’m going to work here till they wheel me out of here.”
Christin Thieme: There you go. So clearly this is not just a job for you. This is something much bigger-
Linda Byrd: This is my life.
Christin Thieme: I’m wondering was it just a natural part of who you are to take those extra steps? Cooking for somebody and bringing that in, what makes you do something like that?
Linda Byrd: It’s who I am. I’m an overly mothering, bossy type, very controlled. I like everything clean. I like everything in order, and I love giving and I love receiving. I cooked for a whole day one day after I told them to clean their rooms and whoever cleaned their room, I would fix them lunch. I went home. I went to the store and I just got some rolls at Walmart and I had 25 people clean their room, and so I made 30 sandwiches and I bought chips and I bought two cases of soda, I made a banana pudding and I made a macaroni salad. They were so grateful and it was so much fun. And so now I just bring my food and I pick and choose who I see is having a problem, or if someone does something for me, like we keep our places clean and we empty our own garbage. I’ll see one guy just come through and keep emptying my garbage, so I want to feed him.
It’s really those who I see are having a hard time or seem like some of them are lonely. I have one guy who doesn’t speak to anybody. It took him six months to speak to me and now he’ll speak. He’s very not, he doesn’t have a lot of conversation for you, but I was surprised when he started speaking to me and he really knows my name.
Christin Thieme: What kind of things do you make?
Linda Byrd: I make everything. I brought all kinds of stuff for pizza today, I’m doing pizzas. But I make a lot of spaghetti. I do a lot of fettuccines. I do chicken, fried chicken. I bought dressing and gravy. I do sweet potato pies, banana puddings. I do greens and cabbage, a lot of them haven’t had that home-cooked meal, pork chops and gravy, rice, mashed potatoes, whatever. But these people are so excited to get it. “God, I haven’t had that? Will you make that dressing again? If any banana pudding left, can I have another serving?” So it’s exciting for me to give to them and to see their reaction, and they come and ask me, “Ms. Linda, can you make me this?” And I sure will make it. This one right there, he loves tuna.
Christin Thieme: You know what they like best.
Linda Byrd: I just learn them and I reach out to them.
Christin Thieme: That’s right. You said God showed you your purpose for living again. How do you define your purpose now?
Linda Byrd: I know that he put me here and that I’m here to help other people get through this phase of their life, that they’re having a hard time. I know that I help a lot of people every day, and that makes me feel good and it helps me. I don’t know, I probably would’ve become a recluse, I was becoming a recluse, and I probably could have just stayed in there until I dwindled away. But The Salvation Army gave me the fight to live again. I work 12 hours. I get off at 6. Like I said, I’m 73. I’m no young buck, and I need to be in bed by 9 so I can get up at 4. But when somebody tell me they want something, I go home, I don’t care if I go to bed at 11 or 12. I’m going to go home and cook it, and my word is my bond. If I tell you I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it.
Christin Thieme: Absolutely. What would you say to somebody else who might be back where you were looking for their purpose, looking for a reason to live, for a way to feel like they are making a difference?
Linda Byrd: Everybody has different drives. Mine is, I’m an overly bearing caregiver, and so this Salvation Army was perfect for me. I always want to let people know that I’m here if I can do anything for you. One thing, you got to have a community, you got to have a village. My friends and my family members were on me every single day, and my friends kept on me, and one of my girls said, “Linda, there’s a job. They need a cook. Why don’t you go do something and get out that house.”
Christin Thieme: I love it. Well, Linda, thank you so much for sharing and for what you do and for showing up for people in the way that you do.
Linda Byrd: I do. I love it. I’m where I belong. I thank The Salvation Army and I thank God for guiding me and it helped me to, even with my son, it eased the pain. I still get very emotional on it, and I’m probably going to be that way till I go home. But there is a bright light if you keep on fighting for it. It’s a bright light at the end of the tunnel. You can keep on, but you have to fight for it. You have to fight.
Additional resources:
- If you are one of the hopefuls, get on the list for the Do Good Digest, our free 3-minute weekly email newsletter used by more than 20,000 hopefuls like you for a quick pick-me-up in a busy day.
- If you are enjoying this show and want to support it, leave a rating and review wherever you listen to help new listeners hit play for the first time with more confidence.
- If you want to help The Salvation Army serve more than 24 million Americans in need each year, give today. Your gift of money, goods or time helps The Salvation Army do good all year in your community.
Listen and subscribe to the Do Gooders Podcast now.
Download this page as a PDF
