I arrived at the parking lot at 5:45pm to find Mike busy talking with a man, Sandy helping two women find clothing, and Brent handing out water bottles and bags of food. Michelle arrived a few minutes later. It looked like it would be a busy evening but turned out to be the opposite. Often the first weekend of the month is not very busy--many of the homeless have some income that arrives on the first of the month, and the number of visitors to our van is lowest then. It was also a beautiful day: sunny, low humidity, and in the the upper 70s. Perhaps that was a factor.
We had about 15 visitors and saw a few of our regulars. An extremely polite and grateful older gentlemen, who had just come back from visiting his family in Louisiana, chatted with me for a bit and then had a long talk with Mike. Our friend who works at the car wash talked with us for a while and told us about his work. He's a clever man--he works with several cognitively challenged employees and trains them in various car wash procedures by making up rhymes that those employees can remember. TM stopped by right around seven and updated us on his situation. He had spent a few days in jail and is now on probation for two years for crimes he committed when he was very intoxicated. He has found work--I think through a temp agency. Some days he works at the landfill and other days at a distribution center.
I started to write that I wish I had more to say, but, on reflection, I'm glad I have little to write about. A slow evening for us means that, however briefly, many homeless folks are getting a respite from some of their burdens, and that is good. Unfortunately, the numbers will likely be up next week. We packed up and headed home around seven.
As always, please pray for, and care for, the poor.
George