‘They help bring out a better me’

Brian and Belinda Owens have found their '“home” working with The Amigos at The Dwelling Place.

Watching The Amigos share hugs and friendship at church every week, Brian Owens thought it would be fun to be part of the Dwelling Place team who care for and hang out with the guys.

In 2013, Brian and his wife, Belinda, had moved from Bellingham for Belinda’s job as a home health nurse, and Brian had found a job at a hotel. His prior career was in shipping for an international scientific society, but he gave that up so the couple could pursue their dream of relocating to the small Bavarian mountain town of Leavenworth.

One day at church, prayer was requested for The Dwelling Place staff. Brian wondered if they were praying for existing staff, or because they needed more staff. When he learned there was an unfilled overnight position, he applied and was hired. Belinda joined him as a volunteer.

“A year before I got this job, if you had told me I would have been doing something like this, I would have said, ‘No, that’s crazy,’” Brian said. “I always wanted live in a small mountain town and have a job that has meaning. and that’s what I’ve done.”

“It’s like a family in a way,” said Belinda. “We got married late, so neither of us have children. 

“Now we have five,” Brian joked.

On a typical day, Brian arrives around 4 p.m. and starts preparing for the evening. Tina, who is on the day staff, has dinner ready. Brian helps set the table and serve the food.

The Amigos, the staff and any friends who stop by to eat with them catch up over the meal, concluding with a short Bible devotion and prayer. Some evenings, everyone just relaxes afterward. The guys might watch TV in their rooms or together in the common area. Other evenings, Brian takes The Amigos to choir practice, basketball, or swimming. Wednesdays are for running errands, such as going to the grocery store and library.

“Everywhere we go, people know them,” Brian said. “That made us more visible, because we were still new at the time. One time I took them to Safeway, and I heard two clerks talking to each other, saying, ‘This is my favorite time of the week when these guys come in. I just love these guys.’ I think they make people feel important. At church they will look for people and go and hug them. I think that means a lot to people.”

“People say, ‘You work with The Amigos, right?’” Belinda added. “We’ve met people in town through them.”

The staff and The Amigos function as a family, sharing experiences, and being there for each other through life’s ups and downs, the couple says.

For instance, the hardest thing for everyone was when John Bangsund, who founded The Dwelling Place with his wife, Kathy, in 2002, lost his battle with cancer in 2018. Not only was he a pillar of Leavenworth, having an outsized impact on countless people, he had helped run The Dwelling Place’s day-to-day operations. One of The Amigos, Matt, is John’s son.

“My dad had died right before I started working here,” Brian said. “There would be many nights when Matt would come up and he would cry and I would hold onto him and let him cry.”

As “brothers of the heart,” The Amigos inspire Brian and Belinda with their love for one another.

“They get each other,” Belinda said. “They know each other’s personalities and it’s accepted.

They do a good job forgiving. One time, they were supposed to be in their rooms sleeping. Christopher was upset. I said, ‘What’s going on?’ He said he’d upset Alex and Alex needed to forgive him. I said, ‘His light is off, Christopher. He’s asleep. You need to deal with it tomorrow.’ He said, ‘My mother said you don’t go to bed with somebody mad at you.’”

Belinda relented, and took Christopher to Alex’s room to apologize. “They worked it out and they were both happy.”

Like many others who know the Amigos, the couple are amazed at how deeply the guys understand one another, even when articulating themselves is difficult. They also find creative and surprising ways to express themselves. Brian and Belinda chuckled over the memory of one day a guest who was staying at the home’s AirBnB room brought a drone and was flying it outside. The Amigos were enthusiastic about watching the drone, running around to see it. At the same time, the doorbell rang. One of The Amigos pounded down the stairs to answer the door. It felt to the couple like a rare moment of chaos in the Dwelling Place’s normally routine days. Matt, who is nonverbal, ran up to Brian with a DVD from his room.

“The name of the DVD was Never a Dull Moment. He was laughing.”

Belinda said The Amigos have had a profound impact on Brian.

“I can say, and our friends can say, Brian is a different person today. He has skills and talent that I don’t think would have been developed in his other job. He’s more confident. It’s almost like they bring out the best in him and he brings out the best in them because of their personalities and relationship.”

Belinda said she’s changed, too.

“They make me more aware of my actions and they kind of help bring out a better me,” she said. “I think it’s helped me grow in ways I wouldn’t have.”

Matt serenaded Belinda for her birthday, with the song “I Can Only Imagine,” by Mercy Me.

“He has this mic and he puts on the music and he’s holding my hand, and he’s singing the whole song,” Belinda recalled. “I’m trying not to have tears in my eyes. He’s looking at you like he is actually wanting to say those things. God can use them, because they’re just listening.”