A Leader in Unexpected Circumstances

This week was by far one of my favorite weeks of my internship. As my internship is coming to a close, I got to do something I’ve really been looking forward to : interviewing some residents. As a permanent supportive housing organization, VSH has a number of buildings that they have lt to house the formerly homeless. The Mission Advancement Team often does interviews to preserve their stories, many of which are particularly triumphant. I had the chance to do a day of interviews.

All of the interviews were amazing. I met a travel enthusiast, drag race super fans, an older man obsessed with his computer, a master chef, and more. But among them all, Mr. Terrell’s story was the one I couldn’t get out of my mind.

Mr. Terrell told me about his life. He described himself as a normal man that worked hard, but after having a stroke and an aneurysm, he lost both of those jobs. He did everything he could to try to make ends meet, but soon found himself homeless. Once he got connected with Virginia Supportive Housing, he was able to move into one of their buildings, and get the support services he needed.

While hearing his story was amazing and impactful in many ways, something else stuck out. One of the things he talked about while mentioning the good things about living at the VSH building was the people he’s gotten to meet. He talked specifically about Reverend Holmes who used t be his neighbor. She was a pastor of a church before becoming homeless. He talked about how great of a pastor he had heard she was while being the pastor of her church. He talked about how everyone loved her and learned so much from her.

After being homeless and then connecting with VSH, she was still a great leader. Mr. Terrell told me so many things that he learned from her that he still does to this day. Ms. Holmes inspired him with her life and the things she talked about, to change his own life and want to be a better person spiritually. He laughed when he told me what she said to him on one of her last days. She told him that he better keep reading his Bible every morning and if he didn’t she would come down from heaven just to smack his bald head. She was joking, and the way she could be lighthearted while she was dying clearly impacted Mr. Terrell. Reverend Holmes died in 2018, but made a lasting impact.

This made me think of the contingency theory of leadership. As a pastor, Reverend Holmes was a leader in her church and in her community. While being a pastor in her church, she led from the front of the church, teaching to people in the pews. While at VSH, that looked a bit different. Even though the situation was different, she impacted Mr. Terrell’s life along with many others. Her situation changed again while she was dying. She couldn’t do anything by herself and needed help doing everything. She knew she was dying. But, she adapted to the situation and kept leading nonetheless.