Unity Acres provides peace for the weary: homeless, addicted men find a second chance in community

For the 75 or so men living at Unity Acres, there are at least 75 or so stories to tell. Most of them have a few common elements--addiction to drugs or alcohol and a past that includes hopelessness and desperation. The silver lining to their storm clouds lies in the form of a serene oasis where they can get their heads together, use their hands for work and have hope to erase some of the sadness they carry in their hearts. Unity Acres in Orwell, N.Y., was founded more than 35 years ago, and there is still a sense of wonder about a place where the philosophy is "the men are free to stay a day or a lifetime." It is a home for men who have no other place to go.

There have been changes over the years. Unity Acres was founded by Fr. Ray McVey and Kate Stanton as an alternative to the city's homeless shelters. McVey was a peace activist and a priest of the Syracuse, N.Y., diocese who could call Dorothy Day a friend. After he died in 1995, there were times when those left behind wondered if the place could stay alive. It has. All the friends of McVey and supporters of Unity Acres pulled together and today the former sanatorium in Oswego County is painted a bright white and reflects all the peacefulness of a retreat center.

Jimmy Francis, 57, has lived at the Acres for a year and a half. He grew up poor on 59th Street in Manhattan in a four-room apartment with his parents and three sisters. His mother taught him how to steal meat and coffee from the supermarket and his father didn't make it to Francis' confirmation because he was drunk. They kept a padlock on the shared bathroom door in the hallway at his apartment building because junkies would use the room to shoot up. Not surprisingly, young Jimmy started drinking and using drugs when he was 14 years old.

He spent more than two decades serving prison time for drug- or alcohol-related offenses. His wife, a nurse, stayed with him for 26 years before finally deciding she'd had enough. Francis said his wife never drank, never smoked and never used drugs.

"She really liked to travel and we'd go all over," Francis said. "Disney World, Vermont ... all these places, and the whole time all I could think about was how I could get high." Francis said that whenever he had the chance for work or a better opportunity, all it meant was more money to buy drugs. He did a lot of Construction work, mostly fitting aluminum siding. He was a truck driver and a gas station attendant, but there was always the allure of heroin in the background.

By the time his wife left him, Francis was ready to give up on life. During one of his jail terms one of the staff tried to help him out with a few dollars and directions to a shelter in Binghamton. Francis spent the money and hitchhiked to Syracuse. He hung out at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and sometimes attended Mass on Sundays. Francis went inside to keep warm, but he said it was a soothing place for him.

He slept in the cab of the U-Haul trucks near Erie Boulevard and stole sandwiches, candles and paperback novels from the grocery store nearby.

"Can you imagine?" Francis asked. "I was sitting there reading a book from the streetlight inside the cab of a U-Haul truck and I actually thought to myself, 'Well, this is pretty good. This ain't too bad.' "Then, Francis said, it hit him. "I asked myself, 'Are you crazy? You're sleeping in the cab of a truck and stealing your food and you actually think it's pretty nice.'"

A cathedral parishioner pointed him in the direction of Jail Ministry in Syracuse. There, Paul Frazier stepped in, took Francis to lunch and connected him with Unity Acres. Francis said that after coming from Manhattan, a place like Unity Acres is hard to fathom.

"There's no pressure here, no stress," Francis said. "I walk to the cemetery every morning and I really can't find words to describe it, but it's spiritual there. I sit on the bench by Fr. McVey's grave and it's just a very spiritual place."

Francis said one of the main reasons Unity Acres works is because of the incredible staff. Steve Dickhout has been working there for nearly two decades. Bill Spurrier has also worked with the men for several years. Fr. Bob Jones celebrates Mass on a regular basis in Sacred Heart Chapel at Unity Acres and Peg McCarthy stays there as well. It is a dedicated core group that treats the men with dignity and kindness.

Francis has had a Couple of run-ins with the authorities since he's been at Unity Acres, most recently for stealing beer while he was out on a pass. The judge told Francis he would need to spend one year at the Acres without a pass and, if he "messed up" again, the judge would make sure that he served time.

"I got out of jail and Steve was waiting for me in the parking lot with a cup of coffee and a cigarette," Francis said. "Can you believe that?"

Newcomers to the staff are Laura Paddock and her brother Mark. They arrived almost three years ago from Tucson, Ariz.