It is rare when Dianne Noble is not on the move. The East Orlando woman is not the type to wind down after a long work day with a glass of wine and a movie. Instead she spends most of her free time feeding the homeless, counseling battered women and fundraising. “My mom is never home,” said her 29- year-old son, Shawn Noble.
“She works so hard all of the time. It has really become a part of her.” An asthma-induced heart attack nearly killed Shawn more than 10 years ago, inspiring Noble to reconnect with her spiritual roots. Slowly her calendar started filling with events, meetings, and commitments.
Saturday mornings are dedicated to feeding the homeless downtown, weekends are blocked off for retreats to counsel homeless woman, and after-work meetings are scheduled with battered women or those with substance abuse issues in need of counseling. Plus, Noble often makes her personal phone number available to homeless folks she knows well in case they need a ride or a friend.
She is also involved in events like Fashion for Hope, a silent auction that raises money for the homeless. In fact, Noble works with so many churches and ministries throughout Orlando that she has trouble keeping track of everything. “It is like recycling. I hope that if I help one person, they will help someone else,” Noble said.
“I mainly spend time with the homeless — they are my first priority. But lately I have branched out to ministries that treat addictions, battered women and those with AIDS or are HIV positive.” To honor her commitment to the community, her employers at UPS nominated her for the company’s annual Jim Casey Community Service Award.
The nomination read: “Dianne has demonstrated her desire to help the homeless. This year alone, she has logged more than 450 hours of community service and usually logs more than 50 hours each month. Her sacrifice of time is critical in running the programs aimed at bringing the homeless to self-sufficiency.” Noble, a UPS business development administrative assistant, said the company encourages her and other employees’ community involvement.
Pastor William Lowery at Center Pointe Community Church of the Nazarene on Curry Ford Road said Noble has a gift for working with those struggling with substance-abuse issues — one of the congregation’s ministries. “She certainly has a true commitment to working with people who are addicted and to the homeless.
She is a good teacher, a great recovery coach and she sacrifices a lot of her personal time to people who are struggling,” Lowery said. Lowery said helping people with their addictions requires a great deal of patience to navigate through the issues underlying the addiction: a willingness to work with those who are belligerent, foul smelling and angry; and an ability to have hope even when those you are helping do not.
“Helping people in this state can never be about you — it has to be selfless,” he said. “You have to see beyond their shortcomings, their failures, their inadequacies, and see the objective.” Most of all Lowery said Noble’s level of commitment is what sets her apart from the casual volunteer. Only about 10 percent of the 350 volunteers he works with annually are on her level of commitment. “She is committed to transformation — that is rare.
You do not see that level of commitment very often,” he said. “Plus she is a team player, willing to do anything needed to make something happen. She is not looking for the limelight or a pat on the back.” Last year Noble went as far as sharing her home with one homeless woman who showed promise in turning things around.
Anna was living on the street when she came to Church in the Sun’s “Encounter” — a group of volunteers who spend a weekend counseling and pampering homeless women in donated vacation homes. The trip is designed to encourage them to be self-sufficient. Out of the three Encounters held so far, Noble said several women have become more self-sufficient.
After Anna’s Encounter last summer she found a job at the local Salvation Army, but was still living with her boyfriend under a State Road 408 overpass near downtown. Due to Anna’s sincere efforts to improve her way of life, Noble invited her to live in her spare bedroom until she could afford a place of her own.
After about five months Anna moved into her own apartment near work. “I felt like I was meant to meet Anna,” she said. “After the Encounter we stayed connected, watching movies, having lunch at Panera Bread, having barbecues. She came to everything I invited her to. She wanted change in her life.” Noble often invites friends and family out to feedings and volunteer events but many decline, saying the homeless make them uncomfortable.
But to Noble, the homeless lifestyle — whether bearing the cold of winter or battling the summer heat — is too dreadful a thought for her not to lend a helping hand. “Many people say working with the homeless is depressing. I think the opposite because they are all age groups — there is still so much life there,” she said.
“When I go on vacation I actually miss them and when I get back they are really excited to see me too. I cannot wait to get back to a meeting or a feeding to see them. They really start feeling like family.”
