Family, faith, volunteerism form Heuss’ foundation
A Catholic convert, Lynn Heuss has gone from stay-at-home mother to a social activist who works as executive director of the Connection Café, a collaboration of several Greater Des Moines churches that provides lunch to the homeless three days a week downtown. Her life as a “perpetual student” encouraged her to work on her master’s degree in theology at the University of Notre Dame in the summer and teach classes for the Des Moines Diocese. She is constantly inspired by the many people she works with and for, who she says are all fascinating in their own ways.
Was a spirit of volunteerism impressed upon you as a child?
No. This is totally antithetical to who I was as a child. I grew up in the church, but in a pretty sheltered world. My initial baptism into volunteering was with the Catholic Worker House, and I was petrified. But I fell in love with it. I knew that that’s who I was and I knew that my call would somehow be in social activism.
Has being a woman inspired a great deal of your activist work?
Gender has played a huge role for me. I am a feminist, but not a femi-Nazi. And I don’t even like to be tagged a feminist because I want to go back to the fact that I’m a Christian. I think Jesus was a great leveler. He didn’t get hung up on gender, he didn’t get hung up on ethnicity, he didn’t get hung up on age. He just looked at people.
For you, has your work been less about pushing for women’s rights, than about creating more equality?
I don’t want to push the envelope for women’s rights. I want to push the envelope for respect and dignity of humankind. I want people to be recognized based on their own merit. I think it’s wonderful when people can be seen for the gifts and skill sets that they have, and their genders don’t influence that.
When you were a child, what did you aspire to become?
I grew up in this tradition where family was so idolized, and I don’t mean that in a good sense. You, as a woman, had choices of teacher, nurse, but really you should be a mom at home with your children. But the really cool thing is, I did stay home with my children for 14 years, and I loved it. There are days when you realize that the last time you bathed was 36 hours ago and you think you’re wearing new pajamas, but you’re not sure and you wonder if that’s spaghetti on the wall or if it’s the paint.
Why did to decide to work toward your master’s degree in theology at Notre Dame?
Learning about my faith from an academic or intellectual perspective has never just been about getting letters behind my name. It deepens my faith. It makes me live more deeply into who I think I am called to be, because the more I learn about God, the more impressed I am. The more I know about Jesus and recognize what the Eucharist is, the more empowered I feel by going to Eucharist. And the more I learn about the spirit, the more I feel like I have something that actually enlivens me and captures me.
Who are your role models?
Mr. Rogers had it together. He’s my hero, he and Dorothy Day [co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement]. I love Mr. Rogers. I’m not afraid to admit it, but sometimes I turn on the TV and watch him. He had so many good premises to live by. If on my tombstone it said, “She was like Mr. Rogers,” I’d be thrilled out of my mind. I’d say, “Thank you. Open the kingdom.”
How would you describe your work with the Connection Café?
I just don’t limit myself, and I think you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to. And I really believe in a God of abundance, so it’s not my deal to worry about where it’s going to come from. I started Oct. 16, 2003, and we opened in January, and the first day we had 16 people. The next day we had 32 and then we had 54. Our average in February was in the 50s, by March it was in the 80s and it reached the 100s in April and we’ve been there ever since. We had 154 on July 29 and that was our high.
What do you expect of people who come to Connection Café for lunch?
I am very clear about rules and very authoritarian. You have to have strict boundaries so that people are reminded that they have to care about each other. I remind people that when you walk through that door, you walk into a place of justice, which means we are all gifts and we are all equal. People get it and we just don’t have trouble because I raise the bar, and I expect people to behave appropriately and lovingly and kindly, and they do.
How would others describe you?
I have a friend who calls me a blowtorch and says that I’m usually on high. There’s a sense of energy, but it’s a gift. So it’s not something that I want or ask for. I really believe in making the world a better place. I’m a total idealist, a complete optimist, but I’m also a realist.