Downtown 2/17/2013

"Caring for the poor is lending to the Lord, and you will be well repaid."  Proverbs 19:17


Finally, after four months I was finally able to make a trip in the early hours of a Sunday afternoon.  It was also a picturesque sunny day in the mid-sixties.  Probably due to that it was somewhat of a quiet day--I had trouble finding people.  Gary wasn't around behind the auto parts store, Ray wasn't around on Cloud Nine Alley nor anyone on the barbecue alleys I drove down.  I did see Robert again across from the mini-truck stop.  I wanted to check and see if he was feeling better after last week.  He had been sick with a cold last week.  He seemed to be feeling much better and I was relieved to see that.

When I first arrived I drove over to the Lincoln Park area.  I haven't spent much time there in quite a while.  I found a couple of guys there who were digging through trash cans looking for recyclables.  I asked one of them if he had seen Ricky (someone I used to see quite frequently in that area) lately.  He said Ricky was still around and was OK.

Back on the other side of town after checking on Gary, who wasn't around, I looked for Oscar and Jorge, but they weren't around either.  Near where I usually find them I did find a man named Reese.  I'm guessing him to be about thirty years old.  When I first pulled up he was laying down in the parking lot of a little corner shopping area.  His eyes were closed, but he wasn't sleeping because he looked at me when I called out to him asking if he needed some food.  He quickly got up and came over to the car.  I don't think he had eaten at all yet that day (remember it's afternoon now). because when I asked him if he wanted a second burger he excitedly said, "Yes! God bless you!"  I happened to drive back by there about fifteen minutes later and noticed he was gone.  It was a reminder that our energy levels are quite low when we're hungry.

Near one of the alleys where I've had the barbecues I met a man named James Daniel from Missouri.  James is seventy years old and quite thin with several teeth missing in the front.  He was digging through a dumpster looking for recyclables when I drove up.  After giving him some food and water I prayed with him through the window and then asked if he needed some socks.  He said he hadn't had a pair in a week.  I pulled over to the side of the alley and got out.  He then asked me how I knew that he was homeless!  Not really much guesswork there!  After asking him where he was from he told me that his mother had told him and his siblings to move out here to California and that was 50 years ago.  At that point he was on the verge of tears thinking about it, then he added, "I came out here and just got stuck."  We talked for a while about the difficulties of living out here and being homeless and also how dangerous the skid row area is.  He told me he had lived on the skid row area for about 7 months and just about every thing that could go wrong went wrong down there.  We had already prayed once, but I felt an incredible urge to pray again for James.  This time I prayed that God would not only provide for his needs but help him understand that he was a person of value and worth as well.  Before leaving him I gave him some sweaters, shirts and a blanket.  He was on the verge of tears again.  I do hope I see James again soon.

On my way out of town I stopped by where John Stokes lives under the freeway on Elwood Ave, but he wasn't home either.  However, there was a man named Mel who was going through a dumpster a hundred yards or so down the street.  I gave him the last of the food.  He told me he lived off 14th St around the corner.  I'll look in on him next week too. --Until then.  John