Houston Chronicle  Dec. 25, 2008, 11:27PM
Dolores Scott carefully rolled up the cuffs of Willie Wright's khaki pants and helped the 50-year-old man remove his socks and shoes.
Wright sighed as she helped him place his feet in a large bowl of warm, sudsy water.
With a washcloth, Scott gently scrubbed his feet, paying careful attention to his toes.
He closed his eyes, relaxed and leaned back into the chair. Once Wright's feet were clean, 70-year-old Scott powdered, lotioned and slipped them into a new pair of white socks.
Wright smiled.
So did Scott.
And then Wright put on his new knit cap, picked up his bag and headed back out onto the street — his home.
It's a scenario that plays out every Saturday in an entryway of St. John's United Methodist Church downtown. Volunteers welcome Houston's homeless, wash their feet, give them new socks and basic toiletries.
"But it's more than that. It's letting them know we care, someone cares," said Dr. Clyde Owen Jackson.
Fourteen years ago, Jackson was walking through a downtown park while waiting for his car to be serviced.
"I used to go out of my way to avoid the homeless people — I had heard all of the horror stories — but felt like, if I was the person I proclaim to be, I should accept them," Jackson said.

Challenges for homeless
Walking through the park, he stopped to listen to a man reading Psalm 117 aloud. The men chatted, and Jackson inquired about the challenges of being homeless.

"He said, 'I can't speak for everyone, but for me, it's my feet. They always hurt.' And then I looked down at them.
"His shoes were off and his socks were so dirty they were standing up," Jackson said.
He returned a few hours later with a new pair of socks. It troubled him, however, that the man would have to put them on his unclean feet.
"I knew I had to do something. I just wasn't sure what," he said.
He shared his idea with the service station owner, who shared it with another customer.
"So I got a phone call from the Rev. Rudy Rasmus from St. John's, who told me whatever I needed the church would help," Jackson recalled.
Armed with donated items and staffed with volunteers from his congregation at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, Jackson set up shop at St. John's, offering his foot-washing services after Saturday breakfast is served to the homeless.
The first week, "about eight" took him up on his offer, he said.
They now serve dozens each week.

Hygiene kit

Jackson recognizes that washing the feet of his fellow men has deep personal religious significance but is quick to point out that the mission is not to preach.
"We don't go around quoting Scripture or condemning them. We are there simply to serve. Christ washed the feet of others. If he can do it, certainly we can," he said.
Rasmus said Jackson's compassion is key to the grass-roots effort.
"It's such a demonstration of servitude by a man who has reached out to the most disenfranchised members of society. And they are grateful," Rasmus said.
It's a different group each week, and clients are young, old and all races, Rasmus said.
Most are men.
Ervin Jones Jr. has been coming every Saturday about four years, he said.
"And woo-hoo. Now it feels like I'm walking on clouds," he said, smiling broadly after getting his feet washed on a recent Saturday.
As Jones walked out the door and back onto the streets, he was handed a hygiene kit: a plastic bag containing toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap, deodorant and shampoo.
"We add to it what we can. This time of year is the giving time of year. People give us more," Jackson said.
He and the other 12 or so regular volunteers ask friends and family to bring home toiletries from hotels. Various Sunday school classes collect socks and knit caps.
Once a client and now a volunteer, 48-year-old Michael Webb describes the Saturday morning foot-washing as "a blessing."
"When you are on the streets, your feet are everything," he said.
He and the other volunteers form a circle to pray at the end of their time each Saturday. Jackson recently had a special prayer of gratitude for an Oregon woman who sent a check for $100.
"That buys a lot of socks, a lot of caps to keep people warm in the cold," Jackson said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/6181990.html
St. John's volunteers offer a scrub — like Christ once did — and provide simple toiletries for the homeless in Houston

By JENNIFER LEAHY Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle