Downtown 11/22/2010

Sometimes your best intentions and plans just don't go right. Last weekend was one of those times. I had planned on making Sunday a special trip to barbeque some food for 3 or 4 special groups of people downtown. Then the rains came and when I woke up Sunday morning it was still raining. I didn't want to take a chance on the rain continuing throughout the day so I decided to postpone the barbeque part and just make a regular trip in the early afternoon. I had just gotten downtown when I received a phone call that required me to leave right away and pick-up some stranded people. So I ended up finally making the trip on Monday. I have quickly learned that some of the people that I regularly see on the weekends are not at the same location during the week. Particularly, the folks living in some of the alleys. This is due primarily if they are located behind businesses that use the alley frequently to ship or receive freight. For example, Willie and Tara Lee weren't in the alley where I normally see them. In fact, I just happened to see Willie a few blocks away at the Jack in the Box off Alameda. He was pushing a shopping cart and told me he had all his stuff stolen a few days before and was lucky he found his cart the next day. Believe it or not, there are actually certified "homeless" shopping carts, certified by the city for them to use. If they don't have the placard on them, they can be cited and if there are any warrants out on them they can be arrested. Willie was quite thankful to have found his cart. I asked if he knew if the articles I had gotten for Tara Lee a couple of weeks ago were helpful for his skin condition and he told me they were. That was good to know. I told him of my plans to visit them the weekend of December 12 in their alley and to try and be there that day. We'll see what happens.
I had gone by Lincoln Park and didn't see Luis. It also didn't look like he'd been there for a couple of days. Phillip and Nancy's stuff was still there but I didn't see them either. I did see a homeless man by the name of Carlos. He had a dog with him that he called "Poop"! I was finally able to give out some of the dog food donated a couple of months ago. Carlos asked if it was going to rain again Monday night. I told him it wasn't supposed to and he seemed pretty relieved.
I drove up Alameda and looked to see if Alameda Man was anywhere near where I saw him last week, but I couldn't find him either. On Central a few blocks over near 4th St I did find Andrew Jackson laying on the sidewalk. He was from Las Vegas. When I parked he sat up and when I asked if he needed some food he answered, "Yes." in a way that indicated he was hungry right then. He was located about a block away from a large and busy noontime outdoor cafe. My guess is he had little or no money for a meal. I came at just the right time for him.
I drove over to the heart of the downtown area near Broadway and 2nd St and found George Rogers Segal Jr. going through trash cans on the corner. He was pretty happy to receive the help. He was quite talkative but I couldn't stay at the curb longer than to just pass some food through the window of the car.
The last man I encountered was Charlie. He was from Oakland. I found him sleeping on the sidewalk near 14th and Central. He didn't have many belongings and when I asked if he needed some socks in addition to the food he said yes. As I got the socks out of the trunk I noticed he only had on a T-shirt and I didn't see a jacket among his stuff. I had one sitting on top of the clothes in the trunk of my car so I gave that to him also. It's been cold the last week or so and he looked like he needed one and he didn't turn it down.
With just one bag of food left I drove over to Cloud Nine Alley. It was pretty much deserted but I prayer-walked there before leaving for home. The last bag ended up with Jackie who was standing by the freeway at 18th St. I had seen her there the day before when I came down. You realize even standing by the freeway takes a lot of time and dedication to make ends meet. As I handed the bag to her she said, "Thanks John." She remembered my name.
Well, this trip wasn't one of the most memorable and I even debated about whether or not to write about it. It took two trips downtown to make it happen. The encounters were all very brief and it took far longer than it normally does to find the right people needing help. However, all of them needed the help and even though this trip wasn't what I had hoped for I've learned to stay the course, God is faithful and we're gaining momentum for the next breakthrough. --Until next week. John