What was once a railway station has been converted into a house of love and refuge for those in need.

A place where the less fortunate can find warm clothes, food to feed their children and a friendly shoulder to lean on.

This month, At Home With. .. takes readers into the small Christian `home' to the homeless -- Hands of Love -- which has helped many a needy person to convert their dire lodging into a real home.

*** From little acorns, mighty oak trees grow What started out as a good deed has grown by leaps and bounds into a two-building organisation devoted to helping Bermuda's less fortunate.

Hands of Love, a Christian Ministry whose focus is Bermuda's homeless people, was created by Fern Wade after she noticed the growing number of homeless people.

Mrs. Wade use to park her car at the old Co-op parking lot and each morning noticed the homeless men in the area.

The scene she witnessed moved her so much she began to bring the men sandwiches and hot tea each morning.

The early morning good deeds soon led her to throw an annual Christmas dinner for the less fortunate on Court Street and from that Hands of Love was born.

Late last year, the charity moved into its current one-room facility on Camp Hill in Warwick. "I actually applied to Government to rent this place when the applications had closed,'' she recalled. "I just put the application in last July, a month late, and I thought I wouldn't get it.

"When they called me in August and said they had chosen the Hands of Love charity to rent the place I was so surprised because I had forgotten that I had applied.'' And later this month, the Hands of Love Headquarters will grow from a one-room operation to a two-building facility with ample space to store goods for an often forgotten section of Bermuda's population.

"We hope to be in by the 18th of this month,'' Mrs. Wade explained. "We are really pushing to have an official opening of our Cedar Hill, Hands of Love Mission. It's at the old Ming Variety on Cedar Hill.

"We weren't really looking for another place but a lovely woman called us up and asked us if we would like to have it,'' she said. "I said to myself, `Lord we do not have any money', but it was an opportunity to provide.

"We are looking forward to getting that open and being of help to those in the Warwick and Cedar Hill area.'' But the Hands of Love tender touch is not limited to this section of the Island, it extends far beyond the Southampton/Warwick area.

"We do have people coming all the way from St. David's right along through to Somerset,'' she said. "We have between 30 to 35 people a day come through here when we are busy and we have people coming by to drop stuff off every day.'' The shelves in small headquarters overflow with clothing of all description and the floors are jam packed with knick-knacks, just waiting to turn a house into a home for someone in need.

The far end of the petite headquarters is devoted to non perishable foods which Mrs. Wade and her assistant, Kenneth Robinson, dole out to the hungry.

During the eight years since its inception, Hands of Love have fed thousands of locals with their Christmas, Mother's and Father's Day dinners.

The charity has also clothed hundreds of school children as a result of their annual school drive to collect used school clothing for needy children.

"The school drive is held every June, July and August, to ensure that children have school clothes for the Fall,'' she said.

Clothing and food aren't the only things that are crammed into the simple one-room building, those in need can also find appliances and furniture.

"We have some furniture, appliances, loose dishes, you name it we get it here,'' Mrs. Wade chuckled. "All anyone has to do is walk in and ask if they can have it.

"But there has to be a need,'' she added. "We just don't give to people who drive up here in a BMW or a new car, there has to be a genuine need there. We usually deal with those that are not working or single mothers.'' And during their first few months of operation in their new headquarters, the pair have experienced it all and have come upon some interesting people in some dire circumstances.

"I've had to stay here nights because we've had people come up here and take things,'' Mr. Robinson recalled. "It's been my job to catch them.

"The other morning I had to go out and stop people from stealing that bed out there. I had to go out there and get in a wrangle with them. I managed to frighten them off.

"It gets rough some times, but I enjoy what I do, I enjoy helping people, nothing compares to it,'' he added. "We help single mothers who have nothing, absolutely nothing. One lady who came in here was tearing up sheets to bath her little children with. We supplied her with everything.

"You hear these stories but there is no substitute for experiencing it. I really love it up here.'' Mrs. Wade added: "This is where the action is. I could write five books right now and they would all be best sellers on the problems and the conditions some people live in.

"We are a mini social services and we are doing a lot here. We put people first, profits are second, people are first. Of course, we need the profits to help the people, but if we had no money we would still find a way to help people.

"We are doing this voluntarily, no help or support, but we just love what we are doing because we are investing in people. The best part of this is seeing people leave here happy and with something.'' Although Hands of Love will always make room for used goods, it is monetary donations that the small charity is really in need off.

"The only thing that we need now is money, with a capital M,'' she chuckled.

"We are very grateful for the support we get. Our support comes from 98 per cent strangers and we do have a few exempt companies and organisations that look out for us.'' To raise funds, the charity will have a stall at the May 24 festivities and will hold their first Tag Day this September.

Mrs. Wade said she hopes one day to have a Hands of Love Mission in every parish on the Island.

"We are looking to one day have a Hands of Love in each parish, that's the dream,'' she said. "So far we are off to a good start, this one is on the border of Southampton and Cedar Hill is in Warwick.'' Hands of Love is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 12 p.m.

to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

Donations to Hands of Love can be sent to P.O. Box HM 3281, Hamilton HM PX.