Plymouth Street Ministry Journal--Friday, April 17, 2015
What a beautiful day! It was sunny and in the mid 70s when I arrived at the parking lot at 5:50pm. My first thought was that Mike needed help--there was a large crowd around the van. Then, as I got closer, I realized that the crowd was mostly volunteers; Jens, Michelle, Brent and Kaye (who were out volunteering on their anniversary--happy anniversary to them!), and two social work students, Mariah and Sam, were all there in addition to Mike. It was wonderful to see so many people helping--it allowed us to spend more time with each visitor and to listen to their stories without distractions. It was also uplifting to the homeless to see that so many people care about them.
Many people dropped by to see us. A car pulled up with some familiar faces but they brought us some bad news. ND was back in the hospital. Apparently another one of our regulars, who has a history of mental problems, snapped and beat up ND over some trivial matter. ND was already very weak from his several heart attacks, so we were (and are) concerned. Several others came up to us later and told us the same story. Mike and Jens are planning on visiting ND tonight or tomorrow. The other man is now in jail. Please keep all involved in your prayers.
TM also stopped by the van. He told me a long tale. Last weekend he got drunk again, caused more trouble, and spend a night in jail. He spent this week regretting his actions, trying to undo what he could, and trying get back on track while staying away from alcohol. This has been a pattern with TM. He is the nicest, gentlest, humblest man you would ever meet when he is sober. Every two or three weeks, however, he gets drunk again and ends up in a bad situation. He has a court date on Monday, and is trying to stay on his best behavior. I told him that we'd be thinking about him and praying for him, and I ask all of you to do the same.
The end of this week got a little better for TM--he finally got back to his temp job at the dump, where he helps with various tasks. This week it was putting in fence posts. He said he enjoys the work, although fence building was more tiring than usual. Brent came over and joined our conversation. Brent told TM that he is a recovering alcoholic himself and that he understood how hard it was. (Brent told me that it was ok for me to write this.) TM was interested and started asking Brent questions about his experiences. Brent told TM that he could contact him if TM ever needed to talk. I decided that it was best to leave the two alone--I could tell the Brent was relating to TM and was serving as a very positive role model. The two talked for a very long time, and I think Brent made quite a positive impact on TM.
Two women with very young children, one only a baby, dropped by. I believe they are staying at Beacon House, a nearby shelter for families. Many of the volunteers and visitors alike spent time holding and making smiley faces at the baby, who smiled back a lot and helped out everyone's mood. Two other women also dropped by and talked with Kaye, Michelle, and Mike. I don't know the details, but I think the listening was helpful, since the conversations ended with hugs.
I didn't keep a careful count, but I'd guess we served between 20 and 30 people tonight. To most we gave our usual bag of food, some candy, bottled water, and juice pouches. It's nice that we no longer need to include hand warmers! We had many volunteers tonight, but that is the exception and not the rule. We can always use more help! We packed up and left a few minutes past 7pm as the shelter across the street opened for the evening.
Please pray for, and care for, the poor.
George
What a beautiful day! It was sunny and in the mid 70s when I arrived at the parking lot at 5:50pm. My first thought was that Mike needed help--there was a large crowd around the van. Then, as I got closer, I realized that the crowd was mostly volunteers; Jens, Michelle, Brent and Kaye (who were out volunteering on their anniversary--happy anniversary to them!), and two social work students, Mariah and Sam, were all there in addition to Mike. It was wonderful to see so many people helping--it allowed us to spend more time with each visitor and to listen to their stories without distractions. It was also uplifting to the homeless to see that so many people care about them.
Many people dropped by to see us. A car pulled up with some familiar faces but they brought us some bad news. ND was back in the hospital. Apparently another one of our regulars, who has a history of mental problems, snapped and beat up ND over some trivial matter. ND was already very weak from his several heart attacks, so we were (and are) concerned. Several others came up to us later and told us the same story. Mike and Jens are planning on visiting ND tonight or tomorrow. The other man is now in jail. Please keep all involved in your prayers.
TM also stopped by the van. He told me a long tale. Last weekend he got drunk again, caused more trouble, and spend a night in jail. He spent this week regretting his actions, trying to undo what he could, and trying get back on track while staying away from alcohol. This has been a pattern with TM. He is the nicest, gentlest, humblest man you would ever meet when he is sober. Every two or three weeks, however, he gets drunk again and ends up in a bad situation. He has a court date on Monday, and is trying to stay on his best behavior. I told him that we'd be thinking about him and praying for him, and I ask all of you to do the same.
The end of this week got a little better for TM--he finally got back to his temp job at the dump, where he helps with various tasks. This week it was putting in fence posts. He said he enjoys the work, although fence building was more tiring than usual. Brent came over and joined our conversation. Brent told TM that he is a recovering alcoholic himself and that he understood how hard it was. (Brent told me that it was ok for me to write this.) TM was interested and started asking Brent questions about his experiences. Brent told TM that he could contact him if TM ever needed to talk. I decided that it was best to leave the two alone--I could tell the Brent was relating to TM and was serving as a very positive role model. The two talked for a very long time, and I think Brent made quite a positive impact on TM.
Two women with very young children, one only a baby, dropped by. I believe they are staying at Beacon House, a nearby shelter for families. Many of the volunteers and visitors alike spent time holding and making smiley faces at the baby, who smiled back a lot and helped out everyone's mood. Two other women also dropped by and talked with Kaye, Michelle, and Mike. I don't know the details, but I think the listening was helpful, since the conversations ended with hugs.
I didn't keep a careful count, but I'd guess we served between 20 and 30 people tonight. To most we gave our usual bag of food, some candy, bottled water, and juice pouches. It's nice that we no longer need to include hand warmers! We had many volunteers tonight, but that is the exception and not the rule. We can always use more help! We packed up and left a few minutes past 7pm as the shelter across the street opened for the evening.
Please pray for, and care for, the poor.
George