This column normally deals with those who own homes and the Realtors who place the homeowners into their homes. This week the story is of the person who almost single-handedly put more people into housing – temporary or permanent – than any Realtor in history.

Charles Strobel, the founder of the Room in the Inn Program, died Sunday at the age of 80 leaving a historic legacy of service to the homeless that is unmatched in the city, and quite probably the world. The program began when Strobel, then acting as a pastor, noticed several homeless people in the parking lot of the rectory.

He had some peanut butter and jelly and thought to himself, “If I give them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches tonight, I will be doing this for the rest of my life.” He invited them into the sanctuary and knew that he would need to care for them for the rest of his life. And that is what he did. It became his mission.

In December 1986, Strobel opened the Room in the Inn program with four congregations on board. By the following March, the number of participating faith-based organizations totaled 37. It has since grown to more than 200.

The program is ecumenical and had no denominational boundaries with various groups providing travel to their places of worship where the guests – the homeless – are offered a hot dinner, shelter, breakfast and a sack lunch for the next day. Many offer showers and laundry services.

The program now serves more than 1,500 members of the community each year with over 7,000 local volunteers. Under the mentorship of Strobel, the program has been expanded into dozens of cities across the country and into Canada. With 38 years of serving the homeless and often housing 200 on a night, the program’s numbers could hit as high as 500,000 nights of shelter and food.

Charles was born in 1943 to Martin and Mary Catherine Strobel and lost his father four years later. His father worked for the fire department and, upon his death, the fire chief hired his mother, making her the first woman to work for the Metro Fire Department. She worked there from 1948 until 1977.

Strobel

She was a champion of the poor and needy and instilled that love into Charles, who would often quote her as saying: “People don’t have to be nice to you.” Consequently, he and his mother were nice to everyone. In 1983, when the Loaves and the Fishes program began, Mary Catherine was an omnipresent force at the Holy Name parish, where her son was the pastor.

Mary Catherine Strobel was murdered by a transient escapee in December 1986.

Because of her work, the Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards were established in 1987. Following her death, Charles and his family met with the district attorney asking that the killer be spared the death penalty.

After her death, the Room in the Inn program grew as different opportunities availed themselves and evolved into the Campus for Human Development in 1995. And in 2010, a 45,000-square-foot building was opened that included 38 apartments to assist the homeless transition into permanent residences.

Also included in the Campus was the Guest House that assisted those with addictions on the road to recovery. When the homeless were arrested, rather than spend the hours and the city’s dollars booking them in jail, the officers could take them to the Guest House, where the intoxicated would receive treatment and the officers would not have to spend hours and hours booking them. Some in the government felt this saved Metro millions oof dollars.

Former Mayor Karl Dean was a huge supporter of the Campus and had this to say: “Charlie Strobel will be remembered as a great humanitarian and a city leader who led by the example of his kindness and grace. Charlie should also be remembered as a baseball fan and a humble man with a great sense of humor.”

There are those who consider housing a privilege rather than a right. Strobel did not agree with that philosophy. In a recent conversation, Strobel explained that the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25 states: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care.”

For those unfamiliar with Strobel, it should be noted he could spew quotations of this type from memory for hours on end, before lapsing into a quick Yogi Berra tale to balance the moment.

“Whatever constitutes being ‘human’ constitutes a ‘human right,’” he said. “Having steak to eat does not constitute a human right,” he would add, “but having food does.”

As an advocate for the homeless, he said “anything less than having or basic human rights secured comes at a great cost to the human spirit, and denial of these rights makes us subhuman. And allowing others to live in subhuman conditions is unreasonable, unethical and, for believers, immoral.”

He never lost his passion. He never gave up the fight.

Richard Courtney is a real estate broker with Fridrich and Clark Realty and can be reached at [email protected].