When Gary Byers played high school football at Oxon Hill, his coach would tell him, “If by some miracle you wind up in the end zone with the football, just act like you've been there.”

Byers is now deputy director at the Helping Up Mission shelter, where the Ravens' 23 first-year players visited Monday to meet residents and serve lunch. Even the rookies, Byers figured, are used to being asked for autographs by now.

He wanted to act like he'd been there before.

So he flipped the script: When the Ravens' bus pulled up shortly after 11 a.m., Byers and philanthropy director Kris Sharrar presented each rookie with a white apron covered in signatures of the shelter's residents. That, they figured, would make the experience worthwhile for the rookies.

The Ravens broke minicamp last week, but the first-year players remain at the facility this week for a symposium featuring strength, conditioning and development activities. Monday's event was an extension of the team's enhanced rookie orientation, which began after rookie minicamp in May.

The organization's community relations department, led by director Heather Darney, coordinated with the Helping Up Mission shelter, with which the Ravens have a long-standing relationship. Former linebacker Bart Scott initiated the partnership by serving Thanksgiving dinner at the shelter in 2006. Since then, the Ravens have returned a couple of times a year to the mission, which focuses on long-term recovery from substance abuse.

From the moment they arrived, the rookies were engaged serving lunch in the shelter's cafeteria. Some players dished out food, some distributed plates to residents and some simply sat and chatted.

Offensive linemen Ronnie Stanley and Alex Lewis had participated in community outreach efforts while playing at high-profile colleges: Stanley at Notre Dame and Lewis at Nebraska. Stanley recalled visiting juvenile detention centers and Christmas shopping with less-fortunate children, while Lewis spent time at animal shelters and helped clean up after a tornado.

But Monday was the first similar experience in Baltimore for both players.

“It almost brings you back down to reality,” Lewis said. “It makes you think of the simpler things, especially family. Times like these, there's a lot of people you can lean on. I know some people don't have that opportunity, so it makes you really fortunate for what you got.”

While the Ravens and the guests at the shelter seem so different, Byers sees a connection. The rookies are preparing for the world after college — in football and beyond — while the mission residents are preparing for their next stage, too.

“Our view is that we all need counseling, we all need therapy, we all need help,” Byers said. “So around here, none of us are better than anybody else.”

The Helping Up Mission facility has 500 beds, which are full almost every night. According to Byers, roughly 300 residents are in the shelter's 12-month substance-abuse recovery program. About 100 more have graduated from the program and continue to live at Helping Up Mission while they take college classes or look for work. The rest are night-to-night guests or outpatients at Johns Hopkins Medicine's Broadway Center for Addiction.

They all seemed to appreciate the Ravens' being at the facility Monday. Several players — those who weren't serving food — spent time talking with residents.

Defensive end Bronson Kaufusi visited one table for an extended period. Lewis recalled hearing a man named Joe tell him about road trips he took with his father as a child and similar trips he hopes to take with his son when he graduates from the recovery program.

Another resident, Allen Berryain, who finished the 12-month program last September, has also met Joe Flacco and Ray Rice since he arrived at the shelter 21 months ago. This isn't his first rehab program, but he vows it will be his last.

Jeremiah Graham, sitting next to Berryain, arrived at Helping Up Mission in late May. He's still in the initial 45-day period during which residents aren't allowed to leave the building, so the Ravens' visit was especially welcome.

“It makes you feel like you're not an outcast,” Graham said. “It makes you feel normal and not like you're being ostracized by society. It's really refreshing.”

To Byers — “Pastor Gary,” as he's known to the residents — that's exactly the goal of having visitors such as the Ravens.

“A lot of our guys have alienated themselves from their families,” Byers said. “... A lot of our guys, nobody's paying attention to them, everyone's mad at them, so people like the Ravens come in ... and they just don't feel alone. They feel cared about.”

jlourim@baltsun.com

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