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I have a soft spot in my heart for the homeless. I’ve gone on a couple of mission trips and I’ve gone to the cities a few times to help the homeless.
When I was in Washington D.C., my work site was in the biggest homeless shelter in the world. Our crew painted the entry way, and some other rooms, to help brighten the appearance of the place. I loved it when people would walk in to the entry way, look around and smile at what we had done. A lot of them would stop and talk to us about how good it looked, and how it made it less dreary being in there. At lunch time, we’d eat with the people there and make conversation. A friend of mine was talking to a guy who revealed to her that he was a murderer, and he had been to prison a few times. I could tell that talking to the people there made them happy, especially the people who were sitting alone. The scariest looking ones are usually the friendliest. One day after we were done at the work site (we had extra time because our crew was crazy awesome at painting), we went to a less fortunate neighborhood and we gave our lunches to the group of homeless hanging out there. The people that were there were so friendly, I didn’t expect it at all. I don’t remember exactly what happened there, other than talking and laughing with people, because it was so long ago.
I’ve volunteered at the Marie Sandvik Center in Minneapolis a few times, and each time was a blast. Once was with my friend’s church, and we prepared and served food for dinner. Another time was with my church, and we were cleaning and organizing the building, during the 30-hour famine. The last time that I was there, a group from my church participated in A Night on the Street one night, and then we stayed at the Marie Sandvik Center the next night. A Night on the Street was definitely an eye-opening (and miserable) experience to see how the homeless feel sleeping in poor conditions. However, I think I was more effected by the next day and night. We went to the Marie Sandvik, and we helped with cleaning, the kids club, service, supper, and a clothes give-away. We interacted with a lot of homeless people during the day, just serving and having fun with it (despite our lack of sleep the night before). That night, a woman who has worked there for years, Mary Beth, asked if we wanted to go drive around and hand out supplies for the needy people in the streets. Naturally, we agreed and set off. We asked a man, who looked like he was struggling, if he would like a ride home. He said yes and got in the car. When we arrived at the place that he told us to go, he thanked us and told us that he was blind. We gave out some food and other things to a few people we saw wandering the streets, and Mary Beth asked us if we would feel comfortable going under the bridges and handing out some more things to the people who slept under there. We were contemplative, but eventually our willingness to serve persevered, and we went to a bridge. We only found about two people, one of them being a junkie who was just taking a nap, when we came along singing hymns, and we scared the bejeezus out of him, so he booked it. We left the food there anyway.
I have had a few other experiences with the homeless (I worked in shelters in Tijuana and Vancouver- which was probably my favorite), and I can’t deny the fact that I love volunteering. It feels good to help the less fortunate, and it’s really fun.
