After a communication snafu that left me catching up with Tim and the Morning Watch van half an hour late this morning he had already picked up the lady we usually check in on at Westlake Center and we got her to the shelter for breakfast before heading off again.
I can't remember if I've mentioned this is an earlier blog but this lady has a severe addiction to something and has her good days and her bad days. On one of her better days she was telling me how she wanted to write a story about her life and how she was frustrated by the lack of resources to do so. I've been thinking about what it would take for her to get access to the technology to write her book and I realized that people used to write books before computers existed...I know, and I don't even have a degree in history or anything! It probably won't amount to anything but I think I'll bring her a notebook one of these days so she can start writing. I'll get one of those fancy looking ones that look like they're bound in leather or something so that maybe she feels different about it, or treats it better than her other possessions...and maybe that'll help get her focused on writing her life story like she wants to. Then, if she gets started, I'll be able to help her transcribe it electronically if she wants. I am doubtful that she'll be able to focus on it over her addiction well enough to make any headway but who knows, maybe all she needs is the means to do it and a little encouragement.
We didn't see anybody else until we got down to the waterfront where we met a man who just moved here from Boston a little over a week ago. He wasn't homeless in Boston most frequently, had been before though, but for whatever reason he chose to come here and start over. We found him wrapped in blankets on the stairs of Waterfront Park by the fountain. After we got him into the van he said that he'd been praying for help just before we got there, it's nice to think that we could be the hands and feet of God for some of these people who need help. We introduced him to the welcome center staff at UGM and he went in for breakfast. Hopefully they'll set him up with a bed and give him the help he needs to get off the street quick.
While driving back up under the viaduct we saw another friend of ours that we've brought coffee to on several occasions. He's severely disabled, both overweight (3-400+?) and missing a leg from poorly controlled diabetes and past drug use. He now gets around in a wheelchair and sleeps on the concrete. We got him some coffee and talked with his friend. They are heading down to Portland so that he can get some other care. I'm not sure what he can get down there that he can't get here...not sure they are sure either, sometimes it seems easier to grasp at straws than it is to accept reality and find a way to cope with it...though that is a harsh judgement of this situation because I really have very little information.
We helped the friend jump his van because the battery was completely dead and then we went on our way.
We saw a few more folks down at the waterfront but they just took some coffee, told us we should bring sack lunches with us and kept on sleeping for the most part. And that was the morning.
I headed down with a coworker to get lunch near the convention center today. I went to Subway and saw my old friend Marc begging outside the Cheesecake Factory again...he's there quite often. I had them double my order and brought him a sandwich. He's a bit of a talker and I didn't want to keep my coworker (who went to a different sandwich place) waiting so I just said hi, told him I couldn't chat and gave him his sandwich. He was very grateful and remembered the cake I had bought him. He felt bad he couldn't remember my name so we got re-introduced. He looked a little depressed when I told him it was a turkey sandwich, but if he doesn't want it I'm positive he'll find someone who'll eat it...I just didn't want to buy him another giant piece of cake! (which likely would have happened if I'd gone and asked him what he wanted because I can only put my foot down so hard).
Showing posts with label Morning Watch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Morning Watch. Show all posts
Monday, August 8, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Morning Watch 7/20 and 7/21/11
7/20/11
After my excellent vacation it's time to get back into the swing of things. Tim is out of town for a few days so I'm filling in today and tomorrow as best I can solo. It was a pretty slow morning really. I did manage to give one man a ride to breakfast from Waterfront Park but nobody else needed anything today.
It's definitely a different feeling out there without anybody else to work with. It's more lonely during the driving so I find myself looking forward to the brief interactions I have with the people on the street a little bit more. And it's admittedly a bit scarier approaching strangers by yourself because, lets face it, they aren't all going to be exactly civil. But I recommit to every individual, reminding myself that they don't deserve to be on the street any more than anybody else I will see today and then still more often than not I find that they're genuinely quite pleasant.
7/21/11
Another slow morning, missing most of the regulars and driving around in search of people in need. A couple of the regulars may have moved to another location because the spot they were storing all their stuff during the day is now a construction site. They had a lot of stuff too so they probably had to figure out another arrangement.
No rides today, but I did have a long talk with a young man named James on the waterfront. He is a driven guy who's been through programs to get clean and had a job until a couple weeks ago when he got arrested for a week. Without a way to contact his employer he lost his job and is now, as I see it, at that breaking point where something is going to go his way and he'll work himself out of this spot or, if nothing works out for him soon he may get stuck on the streets without a way out. He seemed a well educated fellow and told me that his trade is concrete. Ultimately he'd like to have his own concrete company, pouring foundations and piles. Right now he is struggling to make the step from homeless, without a job to non-homeless with a job and asked me if I knew of any programs that helped with that step when there are no other barriers in the way like mental illness or addiction. Unfortunately I am not aware of anything really but hopefully he gets in touch with the UGM welcome center for more ideas.
It really does seem like there's a lack of continuity in the programs out there for homeless people. There are programs for folks that need food and shelter, not enough but they are there. There are some for people who need mental care and addiction therapy. What James needs is a program to help him get through some court issues, network to find a job and get an affordable place to live.
I had a passing idea for a program I'd call "One at a Time" or something. The program would be an organization of volunteers with resources to support them going to the streets to find a homeless person that has a desire to be off the streets. They would stay focused on that one person giving them whatever help they need until their goals were met if it took a month or 3 years, then going out and finding someone else.
In a more positive and completely unrelated note, I saw Nate Jaqua this morning walking past Waterfront Park. I said "Good Morning" with an undoubtedly goofy starstruck grin on my face. He responded in kind and I kept walking with a smile on my face, proud that I didn't ambush him for an autograph or something completely stupid like that :P Go Sounders
After my excellent vacation it's time to get back into the swing of things. Tim is out of town for a few days so I'm filling in today and tomorrow as best I can solo. It was a pretty slow morning really. I did manage to give one man a ride to breakfast from Waterfront Park but nobody else needed anything today.
It's definitely a different feeling out there without anybody else to work with. It's more lonely during the driving so I find myself looking forward to the brief interactions I have with the people on the street a little bit more. And it's admittedly a bit scarier approaching strangers by yourself because, lets face it, they aren't all going to be exactly civil. But I recommit to every individual, reminding myself that they don't deserve to be on the street any more than anybody else I will see today and then still more often than not I find that they're genuinely quite pleasant.
Most of the regulars weren't there today. A lot can happen in three weeks so maybe they've found a new place to sleep, but I'll hope that they miraculously found a way off the streets until the next time I see them ;)
The Totem Pole for John T. Williams is looking incredible. They've started to paint sections of it since I left and it's beautiful. The Williams family, while they can never be consoled after the tragedy, will at least be able to be proud of the beauty that is being added to Seattle because of their brother's memorial.
7/21/11
Another slow morning, missing most of the regulars and driving around in search of people in need. A couple of the regulars may have moved to another location because the spot they were storing all their stuff during the day is now a construction site. They had a lot of stuff too so they probably had to figure out another arrangement.
No rides today, but I did have a long talk with a young man named James on the waterfront. He is a driven guy who's been through programs to get clean and had a job until a couple weeks ago when he got arrested for a week. Without a way to contact his employer he lost his job and is now, as I see it, at that breaking point where something is going to go his way and he'll work himself out of this spot or, if nothing works out for him soon he may get stuck on the streets without a way out. He seemed a well educated fellow and told me that his trade is concrete. Ultimately he'd like to have his own concrete company, pouring foundations and piles. Right now he is struggling to make the step from homeless, without a job to non-homeless with a job and asked me if I knew of any programs that helped with that step when there are no other barriers in the way like mental illness or addiction. Unfortunately I am not aware of anything really but hopefully he gets in touch with the UGM welcome center for more ideas.
It really does seem like there's a lack of continuity in the programs out there for homeless people. There are programs for folks that need food and shelter, not enough but they are there. There are some for people who need mental care and addiction therapy. What James needs is a program to help him get through some court issues, network to find a job and get an affordable place to live.
I had a passing idea for a program I'd call "One at a Time" or something. The program would be an organization of volunteers with resources to support them going to the streets to find a homeless person that has a desire to be off the streets. They would stay focused on that one person giving them whatever help they need until their goals were met if it took a month or 3 years, then going out and finding someone else.
In a more positive and completely unrelated note, I saw Nate Jaqua this morning walking past Waterfront Park. I said "Good Morning" with an undoubtedly goofy starstruck grin on my face. He responded in kind and I kept walking with a smile on my face, proud that I didn't ambush him for an autograph or something completely stupid like that :P Go Sounders
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Morning Watch 6/21
I feel like one more post before I'm out of touch with the uncivilized world for 3 weeks.
Let me tell you the story of a kind, old Seattle-ite who spent his prime in the service of our city as a manual laborer. Now, due to a minor but influential mental instability he is without work, barely affording to keep his apartment with the social security check he receives on the first of each month; not even enough left over to feed himself.
I noticed the gaunt figure, so skinny it made him look taller than he actually was, as we prepared to leave Westlake Center after having no luck getting anyone to come to breakfast at the Mission. I didn't figure that he would be interested in a ride, he had a far away look in his eye as he searched the public waste bins for something to eat. I mainly wanted to say hi so that he knew that someone was thinking about him but I was pleasantly surprised when he said he would like to come with us for breakfast. We climbed into the van and headed to the Mission making small talk along the way.
He said he has been trying to find work for a long time now. He would like to drive a dozer but it sounded like he was giving that ambition up for dish washing. Considering the snap judgement I made about his mental health I think dish washing would be a better, safer career path...not that he would intentionally do anything damaging, but he may not have the focus to operate heavy machinery safely.
He told us that he hadn't been to eat at UGM in 4 years. When asked why, his response voiced concerns that I've heard a few times lately: he wasn't comfortable with the crowd at the mission. He said it was a more dangerous atmosphere and he tried to stay away from that as best he could.
For your edification, the Mission is run very well and has no tolerance for drugs and violence inside their building. That said, they do seem understaffed and underfunded so they can't catch everything or properly treat every ailment that comes through their doors. Furthermore, the Mission does a great job at keeping their doors open to anybody with needs they can address, so long as the rules are observed.
This brings me to the Catch 22 of welcoming the homeless. Put as simply as I can, most homeless people are that way for a reason. For many, that reason is substance abuse. Being involved in the drug trade gets people carried into a culture of violence and other unpleasant actions and behavior. Therefore, reaching out to homeless people requires that one welcome people who are less than savory. Okay, so I lied, I could probably make this simpler but I like complete logical sequences. Now, remember how I mentioned that "most" homeless people fall into this category. Yeah, all the homeless folks who are not involved with drugs, or in that scene through some other route, - be they simply laid off and out of work or severely mentally disabled, for example - don't want, and work very hard to steer clear of any environment in which a person could get caught up in the destructive world encompassing drugs and their use.
So how can you possibly welcome both groups at the same time? Creating two separate facilities would discriminate against the group who is "kept away" from the other group and have a strongly negative impact on their moral. So the easiest thing to do is to open your doors for all...unfortunately that ostracizes the people trying to keep their nose clean and makes it harder for them to get the help they need.
Okay a bit of my brain just leaked out of my right ear, I think I'll stop this nonsense...for now.
After dropping off our first charge of the day we headed to Pike Place Market where we picked up a couple from New Hampshire. They have been in Seattle for 4 days and came all the way over here to go the the "Rainbow Gathering". As the gentleman in the back of our van put it, "basically just a bunch of hippies." He had had his shoes stolen in the night and was walking around bare foot so we brought him back to the mission, got him some Toms (apparently a very humanitarian minded shoe company) and a bit of breakfast.
It had been a little over half an hour since we dropped off our first haggard passenger so we were amused, and perhaps a bit discouraged, when we saw him poking in another trash can as we drove back past Westlake Center. The guy must not be in that bad of shape because, if you're aware of Seattle geography at all, it's not a short or easy walk from 2nd and Washington all the way back up to Westlake Center...though I suppose he could have taken a bus.
After driving through Bell Town without running into anybody in need of our services we headed down to the waterfront to close out the morning. I had to say hi and explain my impending absence (3 week vacation, if you don't happen to know me...I pretty much assume everybody reading this does though) to the woodcarvers down there and we made our rounds at the other end of the Park as well. One man we spoke with was very grateful for the help he didn't accept. He told us he was in a bad spot after losing his house because he and his wife were poisoned by the well water and had to move, he lost his job and is now on social security but had already spent everything he'd gotten this month.
Then we said hi to our friend with lupus and I gave him a business card for where I work doing autoimmune research. I told him that if he's interested, he could help us out by donating blood to be used in lupus research and he sounded eager to help. I'll be a bit surprised if he actually gets up here to do it but only time will tell.
It was a good day and, while I'm going to have a great vacation, I will definitely be missing driving around with Tim and seeing all the people I know on the streets of Seattle...and my friends and family too, of course ;)
Let me tell you the story of a kind, old Seattle-ite who spent his prime in the service of our city as a manual laborer. Now, due to a minor but influential mental instability he is without work, barely affording to keep his apartment with the social security check he receives on the first of each month; not even enough left over to feed himself.
I noticed the gaunt figure, so skinny it made him look taller than he actually was, as we prepared to leave Westlake Center after having no luck getting anyone to come to breakfast at the Mission. I didn't figure that he would be interested in a ride, he had a far away look in his eye as he searched the public waste bins for something to eat. I mainly wanted to say hi so that he knew that someone was thinking about him but I was pleasantly surprised when he said he would like to come with us for breakfast. We climbed into the van and headed to the Mission making small talk along the way.
He said he has been trying to find work for a long time now. He would like to drive a dozer but it sounded like he was giving that ambition up for dish washing. Considering the snap judgement I made about his mental health I think dish washing would be a better, safer career path...not that he would intentionally do anything damaging, but he may not have the focus to operate heavy machinery safely.
He told us that he hadn't been to eat at UGM in 4 years. When asked why, his response voiced concerns that I've heard a few times lately: he wasn't comfortable with the crowd at the mission. He said it was a more dangerous atmosphere and he tried to stay away from that as best he could.
For your edification, the Mission is run very well and has no tolerance for drugs and violence inside their building. That said, they do seem understaffed and underfunded so they can't catch everything or properly treat every ailment that comes through their doors. Furthermore, the Mission does a great job at keeping their doors open to anybody with needs they can address, so long as the rules are observed.
This brings me to the Catch 22 of welcoming the homeless. Put as simply as I can, most homeless people are that way for a reason. For many, that reason is substance abuse. Being involved in the drug trade gets people carried into a culture of violence and other unpleasant actions and behavior. Therefore, reaching out to homeless people requires that one welcome people who are less than savory. Okay, so I lied, I could probably make this simpler but I like complete logical sequences. Now, remember how I mentioned that "most" homeless people fall into this category. Yeah, all the homeless folks who are not involved with drugs, or in that scene through some other route, - be they simply laid off and out of work or severely mentally disabled, for example - don't want, and work very hard to steer clear of any environment in which a person could get caught up in the destructive world encompassing drugs and their use.
So how can you possibly welcome both groups at the same time? Creating two separate facilities would discriminate against the group who is "kept away" from the other group and have a strongly negative impact on their moral. So the easiest thing to do is to open your doors for all...unfortunately that ostracizes the people trying to keep their nose clean and makes it harder for them to get the help they need.
Okay a bit of my brain just leaked out of my right ear, I think I'll stop this nonsense...for now.
After dropping off our first charge of the day we headed to Pike Place Market where we picked up a couple from New Hampshire. They have been in Seattle for 4 days and came all the way over here to go the the "Rainbow Gathering". As the gentleman in the back of our van put it, "basically just a bunch of hippies." He had had his shoes stolen in the night and was walking around bare foot so we brought him back to the mission, got him some Toms (apparently a very humanitarian minded shoe company) and a bit of breakfast.
It had been a little over half an hour since we dropped off our first haggard passenger so we were amused, and perhaps a bit discouraged, when we saw him poking in another trash can as we drove back past Westlake Center. The guy must not be in that bad of shape because, if you're aware of Seattle geography at all, it's not a short or easy walk from 2nd and Washington all the way back up to Westlake Center...though I suppose he could have taken a bus.
After driving through Bell Town without running into anybody in need of our services we headed down to the waterfront to close out the morning. I had to say hi and explain my impending absence (3 week vacation, if you don't happen to know me...I pretty much assume everybody reading this does though) to the woodcarvers down there and we made our rounds at the other end of the Park as well. One man we spoke with was very grateful for the help he didn't accept. He told us he was in a bad spot after losing his house because he and his wife were poisoned by the well water and had to move, he lost his job and is now on social security but had already spent everything he'd gotten this month.
Then we said hi to our friend with lupus and I gave him a business card for where I work doing autoimmune research. I told him that if he's interested, he could help us out by donating blood to be used in lupus research and he sounded eager to help. I'll be a bit surprised if he actually gets up here to do it but only time will tell.
It was a good day and, while I'm going to have a great vacation, I will definitely be missing driving around with Tim and seeing all the people I know on the streets of Seattle...and my friends and family too, of course ;)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Morning Watch 6/14/11
Seems like I've had a lot of posts lately but it's been a busy time down at the shelter. This morning was the first day we were joined by a new volunteer who has actually been in the UGM Men's Shelter recovery program for the past 11 months and is now tasked with filling some of his time with work, part of which he's fulfilling by joining the Morning Watch van. It was lots of fun to watch him interact with the homeless people we met today because he was so excited to be out there trying to help and was in-tune with their situations in a way that Tim and I, hopefully, will never be able to understand.
Our first stop was back at Westlake Center visiting the lady we see most mornings. She wasn't doing as well today and we never managed to get her up. Part of the problem may have been the method by which her rest was initially disturbed. Just before we reached her, as we were parking the van, I watched a police officer, Officer J. Dotson, approach where she was sleeping, and abruptly remove a piece of cardboard she had on its side shielding her from wind and perhaps a little noise. He grabbed one of her bags and tossed it aside and finally reached down, grabbed her sleeping bag and pulled it down and off her. A complete and absolute disregard for her well-being and lack of any compassion what-so-ever. I don't care what experience you have on the street, I'm sure he sees and deals with homeless people all the time, it makes me sick to think that someone that I trust by default to serve justice in my city, someone that I pay with my tax dollars and someone that should be a role model for the citizens of the city, would treat another person, especially someone so vulnerable, in such a manner. Some kind of sick, disturbing power trip...and from what I've heard this is more than likely the rule, not the exception.
When we finally got to her and introduced ourselves to the officer he smiled without a care or concern in the world, like what he was doing to this poor lady was completely normal and shouldn't cause the kind of shame I expected to see in his eyes when he looked up. Our new volunteer offered his hand and introduced himself and the officer rejected the handshake! He said, "no, I'm okay" and proceeded to ignore our new Men's shelter volunteer. I didn't offer him a handshake after seeing this, though now I wish I had because I'm curious if he'd have accepted it after shunning the man standing next to me.
He left and that frustration was at least passed, if not quite over. After all that we managed to wrangle 3 new folks to take them to breakfast. One of them was in a wheel chair. She could walk but had something wrong with one of her legs so it was with a distinct limp. Fortunately wheel chairs fold up so we were able to fit everybody and their things into the van.
As we prepared to leave a kid approached the van and asked about what we were doing. He said he was starving but couldn't join us because he was with friends and they all had bicycles. We told him how to get to the mission and when breakfast was served and hopefully they made it, though we didn't see them down there after leaving Westlake Center.
Next we took our new volunteer down to the waterfront to see the totem pole and meet our friends there. I told one of the carvers about a laundry service in Belltown because he was asking about options yesterday but he had already figured something out...there is a surprising lack of coin laundromats near the waterfront. We were only there briefly before receiving a call up to the Town Center to pick up the same two older folks we've met there a few times before and from there I just walked to work as it was almost 9am already.
I've been looking for more blogs like mine so that I can read up on what other people are doing and I've found several awesome sites. One in particular is invisiblepeople.tv This is a great website/feed that interviews homeless individuals on camera and asks them about their stories, how they got where they are, what they are doing to get off the street and the hardest question: "if you had three wishes, what would they be?" There are some very powerful videos up there and I recommend watching a few of them when you get the chance. I may blog about some of them in the future but I'll give some of you a chance to catch up first ...my posts are getting longer and more frequent, I've got to watch that I don't lose anybody because I get too laborious to read.
Peace, and God Bless
Our first stop was back at Westlake Center visiting the lady we see most mornings. She wasn't doing as well today and we never managed to get her up. Part of the problem may have been the method by which her rest was initially disturbed. Just before we reached her, as we were parking the van, I watched a police officer, Officer J. Dotson, approach where she was sleeping, and abruptly remove a piece of cardboard she had on its side shielding her from wind and perhaps a little noise. He grabbed one of her bags and tossed it aside and finally reached down, grabbed her sleeping bag and pulled it down and off her. A complete and absolute disregard for her well-being and lack of any compassion what-so-ever. I don't care what experience you have on the street, I'm sure he sees and deals with homeless people all the time, it makes me sick to think that someone that I trust by default to serve justice in my city, someone that I pay with my tax dollars and someone that should be a role model for the citizens of the city, would treat another person, especially someone so vulnerable, in such a manner. Some kind of sick, disturbing power trip...and from what I've heard this is more than likely the rule, not the exception.
When we finally got to her and introduced ourselves to the officer he smiled without a care or concern in the world, like what he was doing to this poor lady was completely normal and shouldn't cause the kind of shame I expected to see in his eyes when he looked up. Our new volunteer offered his hand and introduced himself and the officer rejected the handshake! He said, "no, I'm okay" and proceeded to ignore our new Men's shelter volunteer. I didn't offer him a handshake after seeing this, though now I wish I had because I'm curious if he'd have accepted it after shunning the man standing next to me.
He left and that frustration was at least passed, if not quite over. After all that we managed to wrangle 3 new folks to take them to breakfast. One of them was in a wheel chair. She could walk but had something wrong with one of her legs so it was with a distinct limp. Fortunately wheel chairs fold up so we were able to fit everybody and their things into the van.
As we prepared to leave a kid approached the van and asked about what we were doing. He said he was starving but couldn't join us because he was with friends and they all had bicycles. We told him how to get to the mission and when breakfast was served and hopefully they made it, though we didn't see them down there after leaving Westlake Center.
Next we took our new volunteer down to the waterfront to see the totem pole and meet our friends there. I told one of the carvers about a laundry service in Belltown because he was asking about options yesterday but he had already figured something out...there is a surprising lack of coin laundromats near the waterfront. We were only there briefly before receiving a call up to the Town Center to pick up the same two older folks we've met there a few times before and from there I just walked to work as it was almost 9am already.
I've been looking for more blogs like mine so that I can read up on what other people are doing and I've found several awesome sites. One in particular is invisiblepeople.tv This is a great website/feed that interviews homeless individuals on camera and asks them about their stories, how they got where they are, what they are doing to get off the street and the hardest question: "if you had three wishes, what would they be?" There are some very powerful videos up there and I recommend watching a few of them when you get the chance. I may blog about some of them in the future but I'll give some of you a chance to catch up first ...my posts are getting longer and more frequent, I've got to watch that I don't lose anybody because I get too laborious to read.
Peace, and God Bless
Monday, June 13, 2011
Morning Watch 6/13/11
This morning Tim and I met a man from Sudan. He has been in Tacoma for 11 years staying with family but has been mostly homeless for the past 3 years due to a drinking problem. He reminded me very much of the man we picked up last week that was found shivering in just an old sleeping bag and his jeans and t-shirt. He had the same forlorn, depressed expression that was bordering on tears because he couldn't get out of his drunken rut. Nothing to do but bring him to breakfast and help him sign up for a bed for the night.
Then we headed to Weslake Center again and met up with the lady we see there most days. This was a somewhat good day for her in that she was in a decent mood but she was complaining about being sick because she injected "something" that wasn't hers. She told us she had a large, painful swelling on her shoulder and wanted to go to the hospital but she didn't want us to take her. We had almost convinced her to come to breakfast with us but then a couple of her friends showed up and distracted her. I hate to judge based on appearance, they could have been good friends of hers, but it seems likely that they were actually her suppliers and before we had finished cleaning the cardboard and trash from her sleeping area Tim and I were pretty sure they'd sold her something. But she ultimately left with another friend of hers that came by and offered to take her for coffee...she was a popular lady this morning, which was pretty cool to see (so long as I assume the first couple were just good friends...)
During our conversation she also mentioned that she wants to write a book. She told us the name of a chapter that she'd just thought up, "Concrete Pillow" and I asked her if she'd started writing it yet. She hasn't and I wanted to ask her if she'd thought about formatting her book as a blog instead since that would be easier for her to manage in her position...I'll ask her next time she's feeling well I think because we got interrupted by all her friends.
Next we drove up to the Stewart street off-ramp, by the Orien Center which ministers to youth, and walked around there for a bit. There were a few young people sleeping under the shelter of an overpass next to El Corazon but they didn't need anything but the coffee we offered. Rounding the corner we saw a young lady that Tim recognized and we talked to her for a bit, giving her information on how to get in to use the emergency room and other clinics that might be able to help her with a problem that she didn't explain to us. Then we told her about a couple of the programs for women in the city, like Mary's Place, and went on our way as she didn't need anything else.
Finally, as usual, we ended our morning at the waterfront. I bought a t-shirt from the John T. Williams memorial (I'd been promising to for a long time but never have any cash...) and we picked up one more gentleman we hadn't met before and took him to breakfast. All-in-all a pretty successful day.
On my walk back up the hill I saw and said hi to Larry for the third time now. He was the man that we tried to take down out of Seattle a ways so he could catch a ride out of Seattle. He was glad to see me again and almost actually remembered me this time without a reminder.
After a frustratingly long time on the phone with Barnes and Noble I headed home in a bit of a mood. I ran down to the bus stop only to see the 522 leaving as I turned the corner and was frustrated because I was in a hurry to get home to meet my Dad. As I awaited the next bus, a tall man, probably about my age, came up to me and explained that he needed $5 to stay at the Men's shelter downtown for the night because they start charging for beds after the second night. I wasn't in a good mood and am ashamed to say I was a bit accusatory when I said that that wasn't true at all...which it isn't for the UGM Men's shelter. Unfortunately he was talking about the Bread of Life shelter so I felt like a jerk. I asked him why he didn't stay at UGM and he told me he would never go there again because people tried to steal his stuff last time and he'd heard rumors about bed bugs...which I don't think is true.... Then I asked him what we could change there to make it better and he said they should be more selective about who they let stay there, "just a little bit more" he said. I thanked him for the info and told him I didn't have money to help him with, forgetting that I had some cash left over from the weekend in my pocket. Remembering this a few minutes later I caught up with him down the block after he'd finished asking some other folks for help and gave him a little cash to help him get a room at his shelter. He told me that he was trying to get back into college, filling out his fafsa and all that because he's had no luck getting work without a degree, and that he had been trying really hard to get things figured out and get off the street. He is very faithful and is eager to follow the will of God, even if it means that he doesn't get off the streets...though he hopes it will. I told him a bit about the program at UGM and encouraged him to give them another chance, talk to the welcome center and see if they can help him out. He sounded like he might be interested in that. I just hope he's able to fulfill his dream, ever so simple, of just getting back into college so he can turn his life around.
Then we headed to Weslake Center again and met up with the lady we see there most days. This was a somewhat good day for her in that she was in a decent mood but she was complaining about being sick because she injected "something" that wasn't hers. She told us she had a large, painful swelling on her shoulder and wanted to go to the hospital but she didn't want us to take her. We had almost convinced her to come to breakfast with us but then a couple of her friends showed up and distracted her. I hate to judge based on appearance, they could have been good friends of hers, but it seems likely that they were actually her suppliers and before we had finished cleaning the cardboard and trash from her sleeping area Tim and I were pretty sure they'd sold her something. But she ultimately left with another friend of hers that came by and offered to take her for coffee...she was a popular lady this morning, which was pretty cool to see (so long as I assume the first couple were just good friends...)
During our conversation she also mentioned that she wants to write a book. She told us the name of a chapter that she'd just thought up, "Concrete Pillow" and I asked her if she'd started writing it yet. She hasn't and I wanted to ask her if she'd thought about formatting her book as a blog instead since that would be easier for her to manage in her position...I'll ask her next time she's feeling well I think because we got interrupted by all her friends.
Next we drove up to the Stewart street off-ramp, by the Orien Center which ministers to youth, and walked around there for a bit. There were a few young people sleeping under the shelter of an overpass next to El Corazon but they didn't need anything but the coffee we offered. Rounding the corner we saw a young lady that Tim recognized and we talked to her for a bit, giving her information on how to get in to use the emergency room and other clinics that might be able to help her with a problem that she didn't explain to us. Then we told her about a couple of the programs for women in the city, like Mary's Place, and went on our way as she didn't need anything else.
Finally, as usual, we ended our morning at the waterfront. I bought a t-shirt from the John T. Williams memorial (I'd been promising to for a long time but never have any cash...) and we picked up one more gentleman we hadn't met before and took him to breakfast. All-in-all a pretty successful day.
On my walk back up the hill I saw and said hi to Larry for the third time now. He was the man that we tried to take down out of Seattle a ways so he could catch a ride out of Seattle. He was glad to see me again and almost actually remembered me this time without a reminder.
After a frustratingly long time on the phone with Barnes and Noble I headed home in a bit of a mood. I ran down to the bus stop only to see the 522 leaving as I turned the corner and was frustrated because I was in a hurry to get home to meet my Dad. As I awaited the next bus, a tall man, probably about my age, came up to me and explained that he needed $5 to stay at the Men's shelter downtown for the night because they start charging for beds after the second night. I wasn't in a good mood and am ashamed to say I was a bit accusatory when I said that that wasn't true at all...which it isn't for the UGM Men's shelter. Unfortunately he was talking about the Bread of Life shelter so I felt like a jerk. I asked him why he didn't stay at UGM and he told me he would never go there again because people tried to steal his stuff last time and he'd heard rumors about bed bugs...which I don't think is true.... Then I asked him what we could change there to make it better and he said they should be more selective about who they let stay there, "just a little bit more" he said. I thanked him for the info and told him I didn't have money to help him with, forgetting that I had some cash left over from the weekend in my pocket. Remembering this a few minutes later I caught up with him down the block after he'd finished asking some other folks for help and gave him a little cash to help him get a room at his shelter. He told me that he was trying to get back into college, filling out his fafsa and all that because he's had no luck getting work without a degree, and that he had been trying really hard to get things figured out and get off the street. He is very faithful and is eager to follow the will of God, even if it means that he doesn't get off the streets...though he hopes it will. I told him a bit about the program at UGM and encouraged him to give them another chance, talk to the welcome center and see if they can help him out. He sounded like he might be interested in that. I just hope he's able to fulfill his dream, ever so simple, of just getting back into college so he can turn his life around.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Morning Watch
6/8/11
Tim and I started this morning at the waterfront to take one of our good friends to the Compass Center where he can take a shower, shave and do laundry. After dropping him off we headed to Belltown where we met Will. Will was shaking violently from the cold during the night, had dried blood from his nose on his upper lip and told us of a severe drinking problem. Last night, while he was drunk, it seems he either misplaced, or had stolen, most of his warm clothes, so all he had overnight was a single old sleeping bag a dirty t-shirt and jeans. Tim mentioned that he was pretty sure the only reason we got him to come into the van to go to breakfast at the shelter was the fact that he was freezing his butt off. He was very grateful for the help and it was sad and a bit emotional for me to leave him, even at the shelter, because I know that he will probably be back on the street tonight in a situation that barely differs from last night. His alcoholic condition makes it next to impossible for him to improve his own circumstances.
Anyway, I was depressed after leaving Will at the shelter and the rest of the morning went by slower than usual because of it. Our next stop was in a seedy part of town where we bring one gentleman coffee and often succeed in bringing another couple of guys back to the mission. This morning we weren't so lucky...
Our two friends were in their usual spot but they appeared hung over and barely stirred when we greeted them. For the first time we saw two young ladies with them, one of them had to be younger than 20, also in the same unpleasant state a person experiences after a night of too much something. On our way back to the van this brought out Tim's rage against drugs and I realized that I was also angry with the guys we usually meet there too. We have started building a relationship but I clearly had unreasonable expectations of, if not their personality, at least their decision making capabilities. It's really terrible that they are homeless but it's far more terrible that they are exposed to these drugs that keep them acting so irresponsibly...and that they would allow two girls to be a part of it makes it much, much worse and definitely crosses several more serious lines.
It's going to be hard to focus on simply helping them and not judging after this but any preaching would fall on deaf ears and only damage what little relationship we are developing. Living as an example is the most powerful way, I think, at least for now, to reach out in this instance.
The rest of the day was more or less uneventful and we finished the day bringing another friend from the waterfront, some lotion because he has Lupus and ran out of his stock.
6/9/11
This morning my path missed Tim's just a bit so I didn't catch up with the van until 7:30am. Then I got to meet another new volunteer, Damien! Nice, tall, young guy. It's going to be fun working with him.
We delivered some coffee first thing and checked in on the guys that were hung over with the young ladies yesterday. They didn't look in much better shape today so we left them to their rest.
When we woke up our next young man he wasn't interested in any help...but we kind of jarred him from his sleep so after a few minutes he caught up with us and asked what we could do. We ended up dropping him off at New Horizon's Ministries, a UGM-type facility that serves kids under 18.
Finally we found ourselves on the waterfront again to end our morning. Tim and I talked with the wood carvers a bit and then did our rounds of Waterfront Park because I had seen someone on a bench as we drove past. Rounding the corner we were in for quite a surprise as we ran into what can only be called a gaggle of kids and their dogs from around the country. I believe there were 6 kids and 4 dogs. It was getting on to 9am when the last breakfast service is at the mission so Damien and I decided to walk back to work while Tim took the packed van back to the mission to get them to breakfast on time. It was comical to watch the van drive off riding low with the weight of happy passengers who had their own surprise in the form of a warm building, friendly faces and some breakfast. They mentioned before we got them all loaded up that this was the first time they'd encountered a program that came to give them rides to where they wanted to be. And like I said, they were literally from all over the county; they listed California, Florida, a couple others I didn't catch and...Tacoma.
I'll be riding out with Tim again tomorrow so maybe I'll have a couple more stories to share by the end of the day. (oh yeah, the van has a sharps container now too, yay!)
Since I'm new at this I might as well ask while it's not too embarrassing...does anybody have any preference for the format of my posts in this blog? ie. should I have one shorter post per day of activity or should I group a few days together like this for ~1 longer post per week?
Tim and I started this morning at the waterfront to take one of our good friends to the Compass Center where he can take a shower, shave and do laundry. After dropping him off we headed to Belltown where we met Will. Will was shaking violently from the cold during the night, had dried blood from his nose on his upper lip and told us of a severe drinking problem. Last night, while he was drunk, it seems he either misplaced, or had stolen, most of his warm clothes, so all he had overnight was a single old sleeping bag a dirty t-shirt and jeans. Tim mentioned that he was pretty sure the only reason we got him to come into the van to go to breakfast at the shelter was the fact that he was freezing his butt off. He was very grateful for the help and it was sad and a bit emotional for me to leave him, even at the shelter, because I know that he will probably be back on the street tonight in a situation that barely differs from last night. His alcoholic condition makes it next to impossible for him to improve his own circumstances.
Anyway, I was depressed after leaving Will at the shelter and the rest of the morning went by slower than usual because of it. Our next stop was in a seedy part of town where we bring one gentleman coffee and often succeed in bringing another couple of guys back to the mission. This morning we weren't so lucky...
Our two friends were in their usual spot but they appeared hung over and barely stirred when we greeted them. For the first time we saw two young ladies with them, one of them had to be younger than 20, also in the same unpleasant state a person experiences after a night of too much something. On our way back to the van this brought out Tim's rage against drugs and I realized that I was also angry with the guys we usually meet there too. We have started building a relationship but I clearly had unreasonable expectations of, if not their personality, at least their decision making capabilities. It's really terrible that they are homeless but it's far more terrible that they are exposed to these drugs that keep them acting so irresponsibly...and that they would allow two girls to be a part of it makes it much, much worse and definitely crosses several more serious lines.
It's going to be hard to focus on simply helping them and not judging after this but any preaching would fall on deaf ears and only damage what little relationship we are developing. Living as an example is the most powerful way, I think, at least for now, to reach out in this instance.
The rest of the day was more or less uneventful and we finished the day bringing another friend from the waterfront, some lotion because he has Lupus and ran out of his stock.
6/9/11
This morning my path missed Tim's just a bit so I didn't catch up with the van until 7:30am. Then I got to meet another new volunteer, Damien! Nice, tall, young guy. It's going to be fun working with him.
We delivered some coffee first thing and checked in on the guys that were hung over with the young ladies yesterday. They didn't look in much better shape today so we left them to their rest.
When we woke up our next young man he wasn't interested in any help...but we kind of jarred him from his sleep so after a few minutes he caught up with us and asked what we could do. We ended up dropping him off at New Horizon's Ministries, a UGM-type facility that serves kids under 18.
Finally we found ourselves on the waterfront again to end our morning. Tim and I talked with the wood carvers a bit and then did our rounds of Waterfront Park because I had seen someone on a bench as we drove past. Rounding the corner we were in for quite a surprise as we ran into what can only be called a gaggle of kids and their dogs from around the country. I believe there were 6 kids and 4 dogs. It was getting on to 9am when the last breakfast service is at the mission so Damien and I decided to walk back to work while Tim took the packed van back to the mission to get them to breakfast on time. It was comical to watch the van drive off riding low with the weight of happy passengers who had their own surprise in the form of a warm building, friendly faces and some breakfast. They mentioned before we got them all loaded up that this was the first time they'd encountered a program that came to give them rides to where they wanted to be. And like I said, they were literally from all over the county; they listed California, Florida, a couple others I didn't catch and...Tacoma.
I'll be riding out with Tim again tomorrow so maybe I'll have a couple more stories to share by the end of the day. (oh yeah, the van has a sharps container now too, yay!)
Since I'm new at this I might as well ask while it's not too embarrassing...does anybody have any preference for the format of my posts in this blog? ie. should I have one shorter post per day of activity or should I group a few days together like this for ~1 longer post per week?
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Morning Watch Craziness
It's been a couple of busy mornings in downtown Seattle. Yesterday Tim and I spent the first half of our morning helping one of our friends get ready to go to the shelter for breakfast. She has a lot of odds and ends to her name and they took a while to wrangle. Among the belongings, unfortunately, were several hypodermic needles, at least one of which had some substance inside it still. It was not surprising to see this, especially knowing this lady a bit, but it was the first time I'd seen it. I was mostly shocked at the number of uncapped needles she had around her. I don't understand how she can sleep there without rolling over and getting poked, but I guess in whatever state she was in when she went to bed, cleaning up wasn't a priority.
Regardless, she was in a good, active mood - definitely not always the case - and wanted to go to breakfast at the shelter so we spent an hour helping her clean her area and pick up her things. The need for a sharps container in the van became immediately apparent and that's something that will hopefully be taken care of soon as we can't dispose of needles in the trash without imposing significant risk on those people who have to deal with said trash later. The rest of the morning was less eventful though we did meet another couple that we took to breakfast.
Today was crazy. We ended up taking one couple and two other people to breakfast, dropping off almost 10 cups of coffee and taking someone that needed medical attention from the shelter to Harborview. We've been introducing ourselves to police officers along our way so that they know about our program and can offer it as an option for the homeless people they wake up every morning.
During one of our stops at the shelter this morning we saw Larry again; the gentleman that we tried to drop off at a truck stop south of Seattle last week. Unfortunately it looks like he didn't find the ride he was looking for :( but he was still grateful for our attempt.
One young man we picked up today from under the viaduct was a little eccentric. He has been on the streets for the past four months, hitchhiking from the east coast. He walked barefoot, carrying his shoes in his hand. He told us that he had to make some shoes out of cardboard yesterday so that he could use the library because they wouldn't let him in without shoes, but today he had real shoes that he apparently just didn't feel like wearing. While we drove him to the shelter he said something that offered a different perspective. He said that because of the massive waste produced by the US in general, he felt there was a "dignity" to surviving off of that trash. In a way I can see his point: far from creating more waste, you're actually reducing it by the smallest margins, but I told him that I was satisfied by minimizing the waste that I produce and he didn't seem to judge me too harshly.
We ended the morning as we do most mornings, at the waterfront with David, Huey and the totem pole that's being carved in the memory of John Williams. Tomorrow (6/3) I hope to take some friends of mine from work down to the waterfront for lunch and to check out the totem pole. We'll probably be down there at around 1pm if anybody'd like to join us. It is quite a thing to see the totem pole in progress. They are putting it up at the Science Center sometime in August, but now's your only chance to see it unpainted and only partially finished. I highly recommend you check it out if you have the chance, it's always there on the dock just south of the Aquarium in Waterfront Park.
Regardless, she was in a good, active mood - definitely not always the case - and wanted to go to breakfast at the shelter so we spent an hour helping her clean her area and pick up her things. The need for a sharps container in the van became immediately apparent and that's something that will hopefully be taken care of soon as we can't dispose of needles in the trash without imposing significant risk on those people who have to deal with said trash later. The rest of the morning was less eventful though we did meet another couple that we took to breakfast.
Today was crazy. We ended up taking one couple and two other people to breakfast, dropping off almost 10 cups of coffee and taking someone that needed medical attention from the shelter to Harborview. We've been introducing ourselves to police officers along our way so that they know about our program and can offer it as an option for the homeless people they wake up every morning.
During one of our stops at the shelter this morning we saw Larry again; the gentleman that we tried to drop off at a truck stop south of Seattle last week. Unfortunately it looks like he didn't find the ride he was looking for :( but he was still grateful for our attempt.
One young man we picked up today from under the viaduct was a little eccentric. He has been on the streets for the past four months, hitchhiking from the east coast. He walked barefoot, carrying his shoes in his hand. He told us that he had to make some shoes out of cardboard yesterday so that he could use the library because they wouldn't let him in without shoes, but today he had real shoes that he apparently just didn't feel like wearing. While we drove him to the shelter he said something that offered a different perspective. He said that because of the massive waste produced by the US in general, he felt there was a "dignity" to surviving off of that trash. In a way I can see his point: far from creating more waste, you're actually reducing it by the smallest margins, but I told him that I was satisfied by minimizing the waste that I produce and he didn't seem to judge me too harshly.
We ended the morning as we do most mornings, at the waterfront with David, Huey and the totem pole that's being carved in the memory of John Williams. Tomorrow (6/3) I hope to take some friends of mine from work down to the waterfront for lunch and to check out the totem pole. We'll probably be down there at around 1pm if anybody'd like to join us. It is quite a thing to see the totem pole in progress. They are putting it up at the Science Center sometime in August, but now's your only chance to see it unpainted and only partially finished. I highly recommend you check it out if you have the chance, it's always there on the dock just south of the Aquarium in Waterfront Park.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Morning Watch
It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to buy anybody lunch but I've learned more about Seattle's homeless in the last few weeks than you would think possible.
I've gone out with the Union Gospel Mission's Morning Watch van once or twice a week for the past month and I've had a great time doing it. It's amazing the personalities that I meet out there on the streets and its surprising how many names and stories I'm remembering. I'm terrible at remembering names usually but the circumstances in which I've met these people have me thinking about them constantly for hours or days afterward so they stick in my mind like glue.
In my posts about Morning Watch I'll share some of their stories and some of my experiences but I'll keep their names out of it to preserve what little privacy their circumstances allow. Sometimes I'll run off on some personal opinions apparently...as this post seems to have turned into so I hope you enjoy! :)
"Homeless people" is about as bad a generalization as any other standard you can think of, based on race, other prosperity levels, gender, etc. There is too vast a range of personalities and backgrounds in that broad category and I believe that this generalization, as usual, helps the public (non-homeless people) to walk by their homeless neighbors time after time, day after day without seeing the depths of the plight these neighbors are in. This, however, is a rather blatant generalization itself...awfully hard to avoid that.
There are several gentlemen I've met on the streets so far that seem to be perfectly content right where they are. Certainly not a majority, but they are there. I don't know if they like the lifestyle, the sort of pseudo-freedom (from my perspective. From their perspective my freedoms could easily be seen as very demanding and restrictive: job, house payments, taking care of my house, etc.) or why they seem so comfortable but that may just be how it is for them personally.
From where I sit, I think that these folks are probably not quite all there mentally and could actually really benefit from some serious help but there enters a catch 22. I don't think most would accept the help if offered. They are happy to receive the coffee we bring them in the morning especially with the included relationships that we build up over time but if offered anything further they happily refuse, and to impose any sort of additional help that they didn't accept would effectively be removing that last vestige of perceived freedom that they currently experience. In the long run this may be a good thing for them and for society but I can't think of anyone I would trust to make that decision for the friends I've made in Seattle so far.
From the, still generalized, "contented" we can make a hop, skip and a jump over to the other side of the spectrum where we find a decidedly more populated group of homeless individuals that abhor their lives, how they live, what they do and everything else. More often than not, these people have been just as hospitable to me on the streets as the contented group and over a longer period of time (I'm still very new to this scene) maybe the people at both ends of the spectrum can bounce around significantly, switching sides for a month or a year before switching again. It wouldn't surprise me.
For both groups and the majority in between, I think it is our best choice, I may even consider it a duty, to simply make ourselves available to people who may need assistance. We need to do this humbly and patiently so that its obvious that we welcome opportunities to help. In this way when there is a need, someone will be there to fill it. This approach addresses problems directly, creates a trusted community and respects individual liberties...even those liberties that many may consider to be crazy like choosing to live in the streets - not that it is always a choice, only potentially - or the choice not to accept deeply needed help.
To wrap up my rambling - this post did not go quite where I expected - I would like to point out that, while it is a very kind act and should not be ceased, giving money to a homeless person one passes on the sidewalk does not satisfy the duty that I feel people should be called to regarding their homeless neighbors. At least not if that is all that is ever done. If you are honest with yourself when you pass someone starving on the street, whatever you are doing or going to do is very unlikely to be more important than a simple meal to that person who hasn't eaten all day. But the meal itself pales in comparison to what could be accomplished by making yourself available, by stopping and asking what that homeless person needs instead of just moving for the quick $5. Often it won't actually take all that much more of your time or money, while sometimes it will. Either way, more often than not it'll be more valuable for both parties if there is an actual connection made. Simple eye contact, an introduction?, hand shake?, communication: "can I buy you lunch?". These interactions satisfy a different, more important hunger than can't be matched by the fanciest restaurant in the world.
I've gone out with the Union Gospel Mission's Morning Watch van once or twice a week for the past month and I've had a great time doing it. It's amazing the personalities that I meet out there on the streets and its surprising how many names and stories I'm remembering. I'm terrible at remembering names usually but the circumstances in which I've met these people have me thinking about them constantly for hours or days afterward so they stick in my mind like glue.
In my posts about Morning Watch I'll share some of their stories and some of my experiences but I'll keep their names out of it to preserve what little privacy their circumstances allow. Sometimes I'll run off on some personal opinions apparently...as this post seems to have turned into so I hope you enjoy! :)
"Homeless people" is about as bad a generalization as any other standard you can think of, based on race, other prosperity levels, gender, etc. There is too vast a range of personalities and backgrounds in that broad category and I believe that this generalization, as usual, helps the public (non-homeless people) to walk by their homeless neighbors time after time, day after day without seeing the depths of the plight these neighbors are in. This, however, is a rather blatant generalization itself...awfully hard to avoid that.
There are several gentlemen I've met on the streets so far that seem to be perfectly content right where they are. Certainly not a majority, but they are there. I don't know if they like the lifestyle, the sort of pseudo-freedom (from my perspective. From their perspective my freedoms could easily be seen as very demanding and restrictive: job, house payments, taking care of my house, etc.) or why they seem so comfortable but that may just be how it is for them personally.
From where I sit, I think that these folks are probably not quite all there mentally and could actually really benefit from some serious help but there enters a catch 22. I don't think most would accept the help if offered. They are happy to receive the coffee we bring them in the morning especially with the included relationships that we build up over time but if offered anything further they happily refuse, and to impose any sort of additional help that they didn't accept would effectively be removing that last vestige of perceived freedom that they currently experience. In the long run this may be a good thing for them and for society but I can't think of anyone I would trust to make that decision for the friends I've made in Seattle so far.
From the, still generalized, "contented" we can make a hop, skip and a jump over to the other side of the spectrum where we find a decidedly more populated group of homeless individuals that abhor their lives, how they live, what they do and everything else. More often than not, these people have been just as hospitable to me on the streets as the contented group and over a longer period of time (I'm still very new to this scene) maybe the people at both ends of the spectrum can bounce around significantly, switching sides for a month or a year before switching again. It wouldn't surprise me.
For both groups and the majority in between, I think it is our best choice, I may even consider it a duty, to simply make ourselves available to people who may need assistance. We need to do this humbly and patiently so that its obvious that we welcome opportunities to help. In this way when there is a need, someone will be there to fill it. This approach addresses problems directly, creates a trusted community and respects individual liberties...even those liberties that many may consider to be crazy like choosing to live in the streets - not that it is always a choice, only potentially - or the choice not to accept deeply needed help.
To wrap up my rambling - this post did not go quite where I expected - I would like to point out that, while it is a very kind act and should not be ceased, giving money to a homeless person one passes on the sidewalk does not satisfy the duty that I feel people should be called to regarding their homeless neighbors. At least not if that is all that is ever done. If you are honest with yourself when you pass someone starving on the street, whatever you are doing or going to do is very unlikely to be more important than a simple meal to that person who hasn't eaten all day. But the meal itself pales in comparison to what could be accomplished by making yourself available, by stopping and asking what that homeless person needs instead of just moving for the quick $5. Often it won't actually take all that much more of your time or money, while sometimes it will. Either way, more often than not it'll be more valuable for both parties if there is an actual connection made. Simple eye contact, an introduction?, hand shake?, communication: "can I buy you lunch?". These interactions satisfy a different, more important hunger than can't be matched by the fanciest restaurant in the world.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Lent 2011 Part VI
What a great way to start the day. For the past 3 weeks Seattle's Union Gospel Mission has had a new program called Morning Watch. They have a van that they drive around the downtown area to pick up homeless people, give them some hot chocolate and offer to take them to the UGM for some breakfast. Local businesses can call a number to request the van to swing by if they have someone sleeping on their business' threshold. It's a great program that solves several problems with a simple, straightforward system that will hopefully grow with time.
What better way to spend a Good Friday morning than making it my first time volunteering for this great service from 7-9am. It was fun to offer a hand and some company to the guy who's been running it solo for the last few weeks -- a job that would be daunting at best and downright frightening at worst to have to start building relationships with complete strangers in environments that are...not conducive to chit chat. I met several very nice people, most of whom already knew of the service and have come to expect at least the hot drink if not a ride to breakfast. We gave 3 people rides to different places including taking one person to breakfast. The hot chocolate was a big hit, though a couple of the people were much more interested in whether we had socks to give them...it seems with Seattle's general dampness the feet of the homeless suffer more than the rest of them. I think they are going to look into carrying some of those supplies along with us in the van sometime in the future.
Walking back to work I didn't run into anybody needing breakfast so I actually didn't get to buy anybody a meal this week - though I still have to go to work tomorrow so we'll see - but I figure the Morning Watch is a satisfactory filler. I definitely plan on continuing this project since, well, I don't think I could stop now that I feel my eyes have been opened to a problem that I can actually help. I'll try to keep up a blog once a week or so. Thanks for reading and have a happy Easter!
P.S. I'd get more in depth and artsy with the writing but Zakuani just had his leg broken by a jerk in Colorado and I'm in a bad mood now...
What better way to spend a Good Friday morning than making it my first time volunteering for this great service from 7-9am. It was fun to offer a hand and some company to the guy who's been running it solo for the last few weeks -- a job that would be daunting at best and downright frightening at worst to have to start building relationships with complete strangers in environments that are...not conducive to chit chat. I met several very nice people, most of whom already knew of the service and have come to expect at least the hot drink if not a ride to breakfast. We gave 3 people rides to different places including taking one person to breakfast. The hot chocolate was a big hit, though a couple of the people were much more interested in whether we had socks to give them...it seems with Seattle's general dampness the feet of the homeless suffer more than the rest of them. I think they are going to look into carrying some of those supplies along with us in the van sometime in the future.
Walking back to work I didn't run into anybody needing breakfast so I actually didn't get to buy anybody a meal this week - though I still have to go to work tomorrow so we'll see - but I figure the Morning Watch is a satisfactory filler. I definitely plan on continuing this project since, well, I don't think I could stop now that I feel my eyes have been opened to a problem that I can actually help. I'll try to keep up a blog once a week or so. Thanks for reading and have a happy Easter!
P.S. I'd get more in depth and artsy with the writing but Zakuani just had his leg broken by a jerk in Colorado and I'm in a bad mood now...
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