The first time I met Ted he was wearing a Dallas Cowboys jersey and a cowboy hat. He looked like he’d just stepped off the inbound bus from Dallas. I wasn’t surprised when I found out he’d spent some time in Austin, Texas. He’d recently come to Birmingham to find work and housing. Ted quickly became a reliable presence at Church of the Reconciler, gratefully attending worship on Sunday and participating in the life of the church during the week.
Ted, like so many others who walk through the doors here, found COTR to be a place of belonging and connection. These two go hand-in-hand. We’ve shared previously about belonging; in this blog post, Ted’s story will show how we serve as a crucial place of connection for those navigating homelessness.
Soon after Ted started attending COTR, he signed up to meet with Wiley Waters. Wiley was the street outreach worker for JBS Mental Health Authority - one of our many community partners.* Wiley came to COTR once a week to speak with individuals about the eligibility requirements - such as having a diagnosed mental illness - for JBS’s housing assistance program. Through my partnership with Wiley and relationship with Ted, I knew Ted entered the queue for JBS’s housing assistance program. This involved a three to four month waiting process, being assigned a JBS Case Manager, and several meetings along the way.
One Monday during our bi-weekly prayer circle, I noticed Ted was speaking in a way that was out of character for him and out of touch with reality. Knowing Ted, being in relationship with him, I knew something was off. You could say, to put it bluntly, Ted was not in his right mind. As a result of our partnership with JBS, I knew Ted’s JBS case manager. I called his case manager after prayer circle. Once I explained Ted’s situation, his case manger told me it sounded like he didn’t have his medication and needed to go to the JBS Crisis Center for a few days. The case manager called the Crisis Center to make sure a bed was available, while I talked to Ted about going to the Crisis Center. I found Ted in the sanctuary of COTR and asked to talk with him for a moment. I told Ted it seemed to me that he might not be in his right mind. Ted agreed, acknowledged he’d run out of his medication, and said it’d be helpful to go to the Crisis Center. A moment later, his case manager told me the Crisis Center had a bed and was ready for Ted to come.
Ted willingly spent five days at the Crisis Center. He returned to COTR stable and with a good supply of his medication. Ted didn’t end up spending hours upon hours at the ER or days in the hospital. He didn’t get arrested or spend 30 days in jail for a misdemeanor like “disturbing the peace”. Ted, because of our partnership with JBS and trusting relationships with him, received help in his time of need.
At COTR, we have nearly twenty close partnerships with healthcare, housing, or recovery resource providers. We continue to cultivate these partnerships because they enable us to serve as a central hub for people navigating homelessness. And when an individual is doing the incredibly difficult work of navigating homelessness, which is more difficult than I ever imagined before seeing it first hand, a central hub like COTR is immensely important.
Service providers know they can find people needing the resources they provide at COTR and unhoused folks know we can help them access the resources needed to find stable housing. As a place of connection, we serve an irreplaceable role among the social service agencies working to end homelessness in our city.
Your support ensures that folks like Ted are able to care for their mental health, attend a recovery group, participate in a healing arts workshop, consult with a physician who has the bandwidth to listen and treat them with dignity, or meet in-person with a very hard to get in touch with over the phone housing provider.
All of these connections and more take place weekly on site at COTR. This means each week people find healing, freedom, hope, and help. And each week I get to witness the work of the one who said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed.” (Luke 4:18-19)
Come and witness it for yourself and continue to support these connections through making a regular contribution here or mailing a check to Church of the Reconciler.
Listen to "Rut" by The Killers
* Church of the Reconciler grieves that Wiley Waters passed away on July 30th, 2026. Wiley was incredibly dedicated to persons experiencing the intersection of homelessness and mental illness. COTR will host a Memorial Service for Wiley on October 27th at 5:00 P.M. We’re still in partnership with JBS Mental Authority.