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CNN Live Saturday

Interview With Mary Jo Copeland

Aired July 20, 2002 - 12:29   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, she is described as a kind of saint to the homeless. Mary Jo Copeland of Minnesota. She's also won approval for a controversial orphanage, and Copeland is the subject of a story in tomorrow's "New York Times" magazine. And she joins us today to talk about her many accomplishments. Thanks very much for joining us.

MARY JO COPELAND, SHARING AND CARING HANDS: Thank you, Fredricka, for having me. I'm just glad to be on the show today.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. You really have this undying spirit to try and do for so many people who particularly seem to keep falling through the cracks. You eventually opened up a facility so as people -- homeless people, particularly -- could enjoy so many things that so many of us take for granted. Just, you know, taking a shower. Why is it that you found that there was a need, given that you were a volunteer yourself in many charitable organizations? What did you notice that you felt was being unmet?

COPELAND: Well, Fredricka, there's so many organizations that are good, but the paperwork gets in the way of meeting the needs of the people. People fall through the cracks of the system. You got policies stating you can't do this because, because, because -- and so many people are here in a world through no fault of their own. And I figured that we're a nation of referrals and the buck has to stop somewhere, so I prayed real hard to God and his mother and I said, let me have a place to volunteer. And I received a local award and opened a little storefront in 1985 to help the people that truly need the help and have fallen through the cracks of the system.

WHITFIELD: And when you opened up that storefront and started your own charitable organization, what were some of the needs that you put in place that you felt like other organizations were not addressing?

COPELAND: Well, there were so many people that -- let's say they needed eyeglasses and they were not covered medically. It's so many organizations you have to go through, so much paperwork, whereas if the person needs an eye exam, let him get it today and get the glasses tomorrow. There was dental needs that needed to be met, that I saw that people could not get their teeth taken care of. So many children.

We just had a dental expose of 95 kids that needed their teeth cleaned and fixed and cavities -- those were some of the things that the people that maybe needed to get to a job that didn't have a bus card or a bus token, and so much of this has to happen right in the moment, instead of say, well, we'll discuss it in a meeting. By the time you get to the meeting, the person lost the job. Give them the bus token, give them the bus card, help these people get on their feet. There is thousands all over the country.

I wish we could bring Sharing and Caring Hands all over, and then we'd have no poor.

WHITFIELD: And then you got to a point where you realized there were so many people in need, more than you even anticipated. Even outgrew your space, didn't you, and you had to find a way to expand.

COPELAND: Yes, I did. I started out with a little storefront, got another place and raised about $400,000 to build that, and built a new Sharing and Caring Hands here about five years ago. And it just kept growing. I put in showers and bigger clinics. And soaked a lot of blistered feet. A lot of these people had bad feet. A lot of these people can't get to a funeral. People -- any crisis in people's lives, they're just a paycheck away, the working class poor. So I am able to handle all of those things and give the people the dignity that they're entitled to, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Now, you finally got approval for an orphanage. Why was it so controversial at the start?

COPELAND: Well, there is so many people that don't feel an orphanage is something that is needed. But there are so many children falling through the cracks of the system. There is no voice for our kids. There is no transition for some of these kids out of foster care. Foster care is not all bad, but there is not enough foster care homes.

You know, I deal with 400 kids every day without transitional housing. So many of these kids have come that have been split up. These little siblings at the courts sit there and the parents can't handle their kids, so they take these kids and they split them up. Kids need to be kept together, Fredricka, and they need to be stabilized and given spiritual nourishment and taught how to pray and love.

And I want to do this, but every city, I kept going -- I went to six cities and finally got approval on the last one. And I was never going to give up. I prayed as hard as I worked, and there is a children's home needed in every city, an orphanage tat takes care of the kids that have fallen through the system, and there is a lot of them that go through one foster care home after another, repeated foster care. That can't be. Kids need to be loved and stabilized. And I am going to do this with the gift of Mary, in honor of the blessed mother.

WHITFIELD: And you're doing this because you have a big heart and you're doing this as a volunteer. So how -- your story obviously inspires so many of us, but how can those of us who are not volunteering start? What is your best advice? COPELAND: The best advice is for everybody to give a little bit. God has allowed everybody in this country, no matter who I'm talking to, to have gifts to share. We can't leave those just bottled up within our own families. There is organizations that are waiting for mentors. There is all over the country some of the senior citizens out there can go and say, could I read to a child a week. Go to a nursing home and just spend 10 minutes with somebody tat normally wouldn't have anybody to visit.

God has called us to share. And all of it's out there, we are responsible for the effort of our lives of giving what we can. Not the outcome. The outcome is in God's hands. What's in ours is just to serve and to share and to love each other. It's such a need. And we need to pray. All of us need to pray to answer God's call to whatever we are called to do in our lives. You, Fredricka, and all the world.

WHITFIELD: Thank you very much. Mary Jo Copeland, your story was so inspiring, it caught our eye in tomorrow's issue of the "New York Times" magazine. And it was so great of you to make it in your time to join us this Saturday. Thanks very much. Appreciate it.

COPELAND: God bless and thank you for having for me. Goodbye now.

WHITFIELD: All right. Bye-bye. Thanks.

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