Public Employee Press

Minister for the poor

By BILL SCHLEICHER and JANE LaTOUR

Before he went to work for the Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development in 1987, Hilario Albert attended a religious seminary and earned a degree in business administration from the University of Puerto Rico. Both were important in his 16 years as a Real Property Manager, running buildings taken over by the city through tax foreclosures.

“There are two ways to manage a building,” he said. “You can focus just on the walls and the pipes, or you can open yourself to the people.” And most of the people in his buildings were poor.

Like many other RPMs, Mr. Albert made it his job to understand the lives of the tenants. “One lady had nothing. It might have been against the rules, but we sometimes went shopping for her, so she would have food,” he told PEP. Finally they helped her get aid from Meals on Wheels.

Organizer
The job was part landlord and part social worker. After making sure a building was safe and had enough heat and hot water, he “sat and talked with tenants and helped them become organized so they would have power to improve their lives,” he said.

Mr. Albert was a member of Local 1219. “My local was like a big family, a place where I had the support I needed to do the work I was doing,” he said.

During this time, he chaired the Hispanic Ministry of the Episcopal Church’s New York Diocese as a lay volunteer.

Then a small act led to a big change. During a meeting, a priest sent him a note asking: “Why do you fight it so long? Join us.” In September 2003, Bishop Mark Sisk ordained Father Albert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Now Father Albert has a new family. All of the values and skills he honed at HPD are brought to bear in his new mission as the pastor of St. Peter’s Church in Port Chester, New York. His training as a priest is used to minister to his flock, while he figures out creative solutions to raising revenue for the church.

Father Albert brings abundant energy and enthusiasm to his new vocation. “Our mission is to be a presence in the community,” he said. “First, we address people’s immediate needs. Then, we have to look at the bigger picture to find remedies.” His parishioners’ worst problem is high rents and low pay. “We serve the working poor, people who often have to choose whether to pay the rent or buy food,” he explained.

Learning from the faithful
Three times a week, the church participates in an Interfaith Soup Kitchen, serving approximately 75 people. As Father Albert views it, his mission is to see God’s face in every person.

Over time, he is learning more about the needs of his parishioners. “At first it seemed that there was no need for the Sunday evening mass,” he said.

“But our people work in restaurants, care for children and do housekeeping. This is the only time they have for worshiping God. They may come late, but they come,” he said.

Many of his flock need legal services. “They work at landscaping and construction as day laborers. They work — but then they don’t get paid. They need someone negotiating for them to get their money,” he said.

Over the last six months, the number of parishioners has tripled. “This encourages me,” said Father Albert. “You know you’re growing when you have more baptisms than funerals. Since I’ve been here, I’ve had two funerals and 12 baptisms,” he said. There are two baptisms planned for Saturday during the Easter Vigil, which will be bilingual this year.

“I love the liturgy of Easter,” said Father Albert. “It’s a time to show the children what true community really means.”