Source: The Plain Dealer

On December 6, 2000, The Plain Dealer reported that "to some people, she is known as Connie the Schlepper; to others, she is the Hospitality Queen. But these names don't begin to describe the lengths to which Connie Hanson goes in helping homeless families. As a volunteer for the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Cleveland, the high-spirited Hanson spends countless hours each week transporting furniture and other donated items to housing for the homeless. The Interfaith Hospitality Network, a national agency that opened a Cleveland chapter two years ago, provides shelter and care for up to four families at a time. At night, the families are housed at local congregations. During the day, they go to a family center at Christ Episcopal Church in Shaker Heights to work with care manager Sandra Jones on three goals - day care, employment and housing - that will allow them to achieve independence and stability...Hanson undertakes a variety of jobs as a full-time volunteer for the network and another charity, the New Life Community. On Saturday mornings, she runs a day-care center for homeless children while their mothers are involved in group counseling. But Hanson's big responsibility revolves around her van, which she constantly fills with donated items that will grace apartments of families placed by the network. Don't ask Hanson to reveal how she comes upon these items. She doesn't really know. 'It's all word of mouth,' she theorizes. 'People at all of the churches and synagogues know me. Schlepping is my life. I just love it.'...'God drops the right stuff in my lap at the right time,' says Hanson. 'I can't say this is a miracle. I feel a calling to do this for God. I don't mean to sound mushy about this. I'm thrilled it's interfaith. We have Catholics, Protestants and Jews.'In total, 38 local congregations are involved in the Interfaith Hospitality Network program - 24 as host congregations (with overnight facilities for homeless families) and 14 as support congregations (providing money, volunteers and household items). In its two-year history, the local network has served 44 families comprising 115 children and 45 adults. Seventy-eight percent of the families who leave the program move into stable housing. Last year, the network had 1,900 volunteers."