Plymouth Street Journal, March 24, 2015
When I arrived at the municipal parking lot across from the Sojourner house, I noticed a woman sitting on the bench outside of the shelter. I didn't recognize her but before I could walk over to her, she disappeared around the corner of the building. Mike arrived, as did Sharon, and my attention turned to our conversation. It was a decent evening in terms of weather, mid 40°s, with a steady breeze. Michelle also joined us, by the end of the evening we were glad that there were four of us available.
We saw a wide variety of people, at least two women were staying at the Beacon House and one of those women has a daughter with her. The little girl is 10 years old, although she says she's close enough to 11 to "just say 11". While the Beacon House is not far from where we set up and the weather wasn't bad, it was still a surprise that the little girl came to us in stocking feet. She has shoes, her mother says, but chose not to wear them. On the list of their needs the mom noted that the girl is in need of tennis shoes. I'm hoping that the girl has some type of footwear there, we'll come up with some shoes for her for our return on Friday. She's also needing a coat and that item has been located for her.
It wasn't long into our service that the woman I first mentioned appeared. She came across the street looking tired and cold. I asked her to share her situation with me, she said she rode here on a bus from Mississippi with her niece. The niece connected with someone here in WI and left the woman high and dry, she had only the clothes she was wearing, no money and no idea what she was going to do. Her jacket was several sizes too small and did not come even close to fitting properly. She was shivering and she denied having anything to eat. We had a jacket that fit her better and a hoodie that fit well, she accepted gloves and a hat as well as socks and a hygiene kit. She is hoping to contact someone in Mississippi for funds to ride the bus home. Her situation made me ponder what I or any of us would do in her situation: no money, no clothes, no shelter. Would we be too prideful to ask for help? Too scared? I know for certain that many of the homeless are braver and more resourceful than I am. We assured her that if she needed anything to stop by againon Friday. She gave me sincere hug and with a tearful expression, thanked us for our kindness. I want you to all know that the donations you give and the prayers you pray are responsible for that kindness, the people we serve are truly grateful to all of us beyond measure.
We regularly see a young man that rides a bicycle in all sorts of weather. We have learned that he has a job that he rides to daily and leaves the shelter around 5am. He rides from the shelter in Eau Claire out to 29 Pines in Chippewa Falls, we estimated the ride to be about eight miles each way. His bike is worth several hundred dollars, from what we've learned, and as of last evening, he did not have a lock for it. Michelle thought she may have one to donate.
Our long term fellow, JC, continues to experience discomfort with chronic liver disease as well as many other maladies. He is frustrated seeing some of his cohorts getting housing through Western Dairyland while he has not qualified at this time. He becomes agitated and feels that the street ministry and the agency are not doing their best to place him in an apartment. Mike explained at length some of the challenges that Western Dairyland faces and tried to reason with JC to be patient and understanding of the process. JC and I discussed his physical condition in hopes of coming up with a plan that will at least allow him to be comfortable until he can receive treatment.
When the "dust settled", we served at least 31 people. Some took the bags of food, some did not. We gave out around eight hoodies (need replacements!), a few coats, several pairs of gloves and hats. I hope that our warm weather returns, it just has to be miserable to be out on the streets when its cold and wet.
Continue to think about the homeless, pray for their safety and for them all to someday obtain housing. As I mentioned earlier, think about what you might do in some of these situations. I think we all need to see the world through someone else's eyes occasionally to appreciate our own situations.
'Til next time ~
Karen
When I arrived at the municipal parking lot across from the Sojourner house, I noticed a woman sitting on the bench outside of the shelter. I didn't recognize her but before I could walk over to her, she disappeared around the corner of the building. Mike arrived, as did Sharon, and my attention turned to our conversation. It was a decent evening in terms of weather, mid 40°s, with a steady breeze. Michelle also joined us, by the end of the evening we were glad that there were four of us available.
We saw a wide variety of people, at least two women were staying at the Beacon House and one of those women has a daughter with her. The little girl is 10 years old, although she says she's close enough to 11 to "just say 11". While the Beacon House is not far from where we set up and the weather wasn't bad, it was still a surprise that the little girl came to us in stocking feet. She has shoes, her mother says, but chose not to wear them. On the list of their needs the mom noted that the girl is in need of tennis shoes. I'm hoping that the girl has some type of footwear there, we'll come up with some shoes for her for our return on Friday. She's also needing a coat and that item has been located for her.
It wasn't long into our service that the woman I first mentioned appeared. She came across the street looking tired and cold. I asked her to share her situation with me, she said she rode here on a bus from Mississippi with her niece. The niece connected with someone here in WI and left the woman high and dry, she had only the clothes she was wearing, no money and no idea what she was going to do. Her jacket was several sizes too small and did not come even close to fitting properly. She was shivering and she denied having anything to eat. We had a jacket that fit her better and a hoodie that fit well, she accepted gloves and a hat as well as socks and a hygiene kit. She is hoping to contact someone in Mississippi for funds to ride the bus home. Her situation made me ponder what I or any of us would do in her situation: no money, no clothes, no shelter. Would we be too prideful to ask for help? Too scared? I know for certain that many of the homeless are braver and more resourceful than I am. We assured her that if she needed anything to stop by againon Friday. She gave me sincere hug and with a tearful expression, thanked us for our kindness. I want you to all know that the donations you give and the prayers you pray are responsible for that kindness, the people we serve are truly grateful to all of us beyond measure.
We regularly see a young man that rides a bicycle in all sorts of weather. We have learned that he has a job that he rides to daily and leaves the shelter around 5am. He rides from the shelter in Eau Claire out to 29 Pines in Chippewa Falls, we estimated the ride to be about eight miles each way. His bike is worth several hundred dollars, from what we've learned, and as of last evening, he did not have a lock for it. Michelle thought she may have one to donate.
Our long term fellow, JC, continues to experience discomfort with chronic liver disease as well as many other maladies. He is frustrated seeing some of his cohorts getting housing through Western Dairyland while he has not qualified at this time. He becomes agitated and feels that the street ministry and the agency are not doing their best to place him in an apartment. Mike explained at length some of the challenges that Western Dairyland faces and tried to reason with JC to be patient and understanding of the process. JC and I discussed his physical condition in hopes of coming up with a plan that will at least allow him to be comfortable until he can receive treatment.
When the "dust settled", we served at least 31 people. Some took the bags of food, some did not. We gave out around eight hoodies (need replacements!), a few coats, several pairs of gloves and hats. I hope that our warm weather returns, it just has to be miserable to be out on the streets when its cold and wet.
Continue to think about the homeless, pray for their safety and for them all to someday obtain housing. As I mentioned earlier, think about what you might do in some of these situations. I think we all need to see the world through someone else's eyes occasionally to appreciate our own situations.
'Til next time ~
Karen