Last year, Connie Hardison saw a movie that would change the way she looked at life. Little did she know how much she would have in common with the film just one year later.
After watching the film “Same Kind of Different as Me” with her prayer group, Hardison found herself longing to find her purpose in life. Not long after that, Hardison said she found herself at a soccer game complaining about how cold it was outside. It didn’t take long for her to recall the female character in the film that helped others by volunteering at a homeless shelter.
“It just hit me like a ton of bricks–but you’ve got a warm home to go home to,” Hardison said. “I feel like God was like, ‘You need to do something.’ I’ve always felt like God had a place for me, but I didn’t know what it was. It was like I hadn’t found it yet.”
After she left the soccer game, Hardison said she texted Harry Pedigo, Jr., the director at St. Benedict’s Emergency Shelter for Men. After speaking with Pedigo, she purchased hats and gloves and headed down to the shelter, not realizing that the guys were not able to enter until 6 p.m.
Hardison said when she pulled up to St. Benedict’s, the men were all sitting outside, so she opened up her trunk and quickly began handing out socks and gloves until she ran out. After running out, she drove back to the store to buy more.
“I went home and told my husband, ‘I found it,’” Hardison said. “I told him, ‘I’ve always felt there was something I’m missing and I found it tonight.’”
Whatever ‘it’ was, it continued to inspire and motivate Hardison to speak with Pedigo and soon assume the role of planning Christmas for the guys at the shelter. Hardison compiled a list of sizes and necessary items needed and began posting the needs to Facebook. She said the “response was amazing.”
So amazing that she and her family, including her husband and three children, asked to be at the shelter on Christmas Eve to help hand out gifts. Hardison said she wanted her children to have a better understanding of the realities these men were facing and be able to answer their questions. It was important for Hardison to explain to her children, that, while some people do make poor choices, sometimes life just happens and people need a second chance.
“People always assume it’s drugs and alcohol and they’re lazy and just need to get a job,” Hardison said. “What people don’t understand is that life has happened to these people, and some of it is out of their control.”
Hardison was so driven by the feeling she received from serving at the shelter that she asked, “What’s next?” Pedigo responded with a request and Hardison soon found herself working with her church Sunday school class to clean and prepare the veterans home for move in.
Just a few short months after getting the veterans moved in, Hardison would learn that she had more in common with the movie that inspired her than she realized. In the film, the woman that volunteers at the homeless shelter is diagnosed with cancer. On March 1 of this year, Hardison met that same reality when she was diagnosed with aggressive Stage 1 breast cancer.
She opted to have a lumpectomy (with clear margins), followed by chemotherapy and radiation. Surrounded by friends, she had her hair cut short, before losing it altogether, and was ready to meet cancer head-on.
Hardison soon adopted the attitude of “Why not me?” and used the prayers of those around her to propel her forward. She also told Pedigo that she wasn’t going to let cancer stop her, “It just slowed me down a little bit.”
On Nov. 1 of this year, with new hair beginning to take root, Hardison resumed her roled as St. Benedict’s volunteer Christmas coordinator. She began reaching out to contacts and getting the word out, and found that, in two days, 27 of the 60 men at the shelter were fully sponsored.
Hardison said she continues to find it exciting when people ask, “What can I do?” She also said the answer can be quite simple. Although sometimes a gift card or clothing item can make a big impact, Hardison said it doesn’t always have to be gifts–sometimes it might be a visit or a conversation that means the most.
Now that she has completed chemotherapy and radiation, Hardison is currently looking forward to a healthy future. The last year has presented its challenges, but she is confident that she has finally found her place in the world.
“This is where I’m supposed to be,” Hardison said. “This is what I’m supposed to be doing.”
St. Benedict’s Emergency Shelter for Men is located at 1001 W 7th Street 270-541-1003
For more information visit their website.
