(BEDFORD) – The outpouring of love and respect for Father Rick Eldred was still fresh in the minds of Linda Fitzpatrick and Corina Hayes.
Many individuals from Lawrence County came out Saturday afternoon to tour the home of Fitzpatrick.
With no public mass conducted for the community to show proper respects and appreciation for Father Rick, Linda Fitzpatrick decided to open up her home and garden and support the two main causes that Father Rick was committed to.
Those two missions are the Men’s Warming Shelter and Becky’s Place.
Both Fitzpatrick and Hayes described the type of man that Father Rick was to them and to the community he loved.
“Father Rick was my dearest friend; he was a priest for the whole community,” said Fitzpatrick. “He loved everybody and exhibited our patron saint, St. Vincent when he cared for the poor,” Fitzpatrick said.
“Father Rick was an inspiration,” said Corrina Hayes of Becky’s Place.
The Saturday evening event was well attended with many people leaving donations. The money raised will be split between to the two charities.
One of the previous clients of the Men’s Warming Shelter was on hand Saturday afternoon and described how the shelter impacted his life.
26-year-old Jeremiah Turner says the Men’s Warming Shelter saved his life. Turner was a heroin addict who’s drug use started when he was ten years of age.
“Through the support of the people within the shelter, I was able to get clean,” said Turner. Turner is now eight months sober and fully employed with his own residence.
Turner has a full-time job and sometimes works seven days a week. He says he is now getting ready to work at Crane.
Turner is also in the process of getting his son back with full custody. Turner started supporting the efforts of the shelter and helping others who are in the same place he was in.
On Saturday, Turner was baptized into the St. Vincent Catholic Church and excited about what his future holds for him.
“I am a strong supporter of both Becky’s Place and the Men’s Warming Shelter. It is the right thing to do to promote ‘Unity In The Community’,” said Bedford City Councilman Brad Bough, who also attended the event.
Both shelters need the financial support of the community to provide a valuable resource for those that are in need of shelter throughout the year.
