Lynda Richards has a hard time throwing away food after her trip to feed the destitute elderly in Africa.

Pictures may say a thousand words, but photos did not prepare Richards for her in-person encounter in 2005 with the homeless population of seniors in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.

She was there volunteering for Michael’s House Inc., a nonprofit organization based in the county that rents a center in Addis Ababa to provide care for older adults in the area.

‘‘I was a little taken a back at the abject poverty,” said Richards, of Ashton. ‘‘It was very powerful.”

Hundreds of elderly visit the day care facility daily to do crafts, sit and talk, shower and wash their clothes, receive medication, or get transferred to clinics for more serious conditions.

People come with blistered and callused feet, Richards said. Being able to use the bathroom in private or take a bath is a luxury for them, she added.

Michael’s House was founded after Burtonsville resident, the Rev. Michael Craig, traveled to Africa in 2003. He was shocked to find that with so many efforts to help children with HIV⁄AIDS, nothing was being done for the poverty-stricken elderly, he said. 
Most of the older people had no support system because they lost their children and grandchildren to the disease, he added.

‘‘They have nobody to take care of them ... and I don’t want them to die alone and miserable,” said Craig, a Catholic priest and social worker.

Michael’s House is not affiliated with the Catholic Church or any other religious group. Craig does the work with the help of volunteers, like Richards.

His visit to Ethiopia and Uganda lasted several weeks as Craig explored what could be done to help. He returned to the United States and worked with a close network of friends to raise money and get a project started.

Since then, the day care center that fed about 15 people once a week now feeds 125 people five days a week, and another feeding center in Ethiopia was opened.

A compound in Uganda was also founded so that 25 children with HIV⁄AIDS could live and attend school there during the week and return to their families on the weekends.

The organization’s name came from friends who, when donating to the project, would say their contribution was for Michael’s house. But Craig likes to tell people it is named after the Archangel Michael, who fought the devil, he said.

‘‘I consider the greatest evil, the devil, to be poverty,” Craig said.

This year, the organization started a pension fund that pays about $5 to $10 a month for a participant to live on.

Almost like a 401K savings plan in the United States, ‘‘we call the pension a 1-4-1 K,” Craig said. ‘‘That’s one for one in kindness.”

Craig said people can come together in a ‘‘circle of giving” to support a pension. A group of people who work at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Silver Spring formed the circle and give a dollar each every month to provide a pension for two people, he said.

About 200 people are waiting for pensions, and nearly 200 will be covered by November, Craig said.

‘‘The people get 100 percent of every penny,” Craig said.

There are no staff salaries or overhead costs because volunteers keep the organization running, he said.

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