Thanksgiving Day downtown-11/24/16

"When you harvest your grain, always leave some of it standing along the edges of your fields and don't pick up what falls on the ground.  Don't strip your grapevines clean or gather the grapes that fall off the vines.  Leave them for the poor and for those foreigners who live among you.  I am the LORD your God."  Leviticus 19:9-10

I'm not sure I've ever quoted anything out of Leviticus to start these blogs, but here's one of the ways Israel was commanded to provide for the poor, during harvest times.  This verse came to mind after witnessing at least two people yesterday going through trash cans.  Here it is Thanksgiving Day, a day of plenty here in our country.  Even though we have one meal on this day where we usually stuff ourselves till we're uncomfortable, most of us, even on this day, eat at least twice if not three times anyway. Yet here in downtown Los Angeles, poor people are going through the trash looking for food or something they can cash-in to get food. And if they find anything to cash-in they probably won't be able to get the cash for it until the next day because most of the recycling places are closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  It's heartbreaking to witness this first hand.  It's for these people that I wouldn't miss the opportunity to serve on this day for anything...

There were a few people on my last trip downtown that I "promised" that I'd be there on Thanksgiving.  But then when I got there yesterday I couldn't find some of them.  In fact, I had somewhat of a hard time finding some folks.  I had made up a big pot of pasta and even took a little more than I usually do, so it becomes imperative that you hit one spot where there are 4-6 people around and hopefully others will come walking by.  One place off 14th and Central a woman by the name of Kesha told me that some other missions groups had been by already.  But places like where she was have about 15 or more people living in make-shift shelters and I don't have enough to feed that many in one stop and still have enough to help the 'solo's and 'couples' that I know in other areas. I also need a way to keep a big pot of food hot for the duration of the trip, so I need to find people quickly before things get cold.  Anyway, enough of logistics...

I couldn't find Antonio and Leticia, but I did find Hope on the little street off Venice Ave and Los Angeles.  Now usually there are 4-6 folks here, but yesterday there were only two. Everyone else was mysteriously not there when I came by at 10:30 am.  Hope was there and another man whose name was David.  He was originally from Shreveport, Louisiana by way of Odessa, Texas. He's always talking to himself and I kind of wondered about him, yet when I started talking to him (and called him by name) he responded like he was present and accounted for! Hope told me someone had taken her little suitcase with the wheels on it and most all her 'good' belongings.  I had one blanket with me and gave it to her and she got to "reload" with some of the stuff I had in the back of the car.  I had a fair amount of men's shirts so Dave got in on that action.  Incidentally, Dave came up to the car as soon as I pulled up.  I gave out a bowl of pasta to each of them.  Dave started eating his immediately and didn't stop until he had finished it. That was his Thanksgiving Dinner.  For that matter it was, no doubt, Hope's too.  The pasta is good, I put a lot of good stuff in it, but compared to a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner it doesn't compare.  It's almost embarrassing to me that it becomes the 'stand in' for a special meal like Thanksgiving.  One day I pray I can do so much more for them.  Oh, one other thing happened while I was with them.  I had just finished praying with them when a car pulled up. There were three people in the car that I could see and they were handing out small blankets to the homeless.  I had draped the blanket I gave Hope around her shoulders.  They gave her one and Dave one and drove off.  Hope then gave the one she got from them to Dave.

        Hope with the blanket draped over her shoulders.

          Dave--this is what homelessness looks like.

Well, one of the other stops that was memorable happened down by 25th and San Pedro Ave. This was near the corner where I had put on a dinner on a Sunday afternoon in November two years ago.  It was the Sunday after my birthday and one of my most enjoyable BBQ/dinners I had done over the years.  Well, there's nobody living on that corner anymore and for a while they relocated to an alley just up the street on San Pedro.  Then about a year ago the police/city workers ran them out of there too.  I drive down there because sometimes during the daytime some of the old crew hang out there.  I drove down there yesterday, but no one was in the alley either.  I came out the other end of the alley and started slowly driving down the street.  There are cars parked all along the street to where you can't really see anything or anyone on the sidewalks due to all the cars.  But a couple of women who sometimes hang out in the alley saw me driving by and called out to me by name.  I stopped at the curb at the end of the street (in the red zone) and they came down to me.  I gave out some food and they went through the clothes in the back of the car and we talked for a while.  I had gotten out and was standing with them at the back of the car and prayed with them.  I had my arms around both of them like they were my little girls.  I can't really describe how much I loved them in that moment.  I'm sure they felt it too.  When I was done I asked them if they had seen Becky anywhere (another homeless woman in that area).  They told me where she probably was and one of them described the location as "down there across the street from where we had your birthday party!"  I couldn't believe she remembered that.  On that day two years ago, when the meal was done and I was all packed up and ready to leave, I gathered the people who had stayed and helped me til the end and I prayed with them.  When I finished they all started singing me Happy Birthday.  I'll never forget it!  Well anyway, Happy Thanksgiving!  Until next time.  John          

Sunday downtown 11/13/16 and the story of Hope

"Be joyful in hope,patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with God's people who are in need.  Practice hospitality."  Romans 12:12-3

Last week when I left Antonio and Leticia I promised to come back this week and bring a blanket. Leticia was shivering as they were getting ready to lay down their pieces of cardboard to make a bed and sleep on the sidewalk that night.  So they were the first ones I visited this week.  If I hadn't seen them first, I probably wouldn't have had the blanket when I did see them. Blankets go fast just about any time of year, but especially now that its getting colder at night.  I told them also, that I probably wouldn't be down next Sunday, but would be down there on Thanksgiving morning.  I showed them a calender on my phone so they knew Thanksgiving was on Thursday the 24th.  I'm not sure how familiar they are with this holiday.  I'm reminded of the story of one of my nurses at the hospital who asked me if I knew what they called Thanksgiving in the Philippines....(answer)."Thursday".  Not everyone shares our holidays.

In last week's blog I opened with a brief account of some health issues I've had recently and expressed my thanks and gratefulness at having good health insurance.  I wondered out loud what it would be like for folks on the street to go through life without any health insurance.  Well, this week I now know of two people who are facing this situation.  I'll begin with the story of Hope.  Hope is a woman in her mid to late thirties (I'm guessing). She is in one of the pictures from last week's blog.  I had promised to bring Robert, who also lives on this street, a bible and stopped by this small little street after seeing Antonio and Leticia.  There are now a half dozen or so people living on this street all the time.  I got out of the car and had opened the back hatch when Hope asked me if I had any maternity clothes.  Well, Hope is as skinny as a rail and I didn't realize at first that she was asking for herself.  In talking with her further about this, she told me she has had 5 kids, a miscarriage and now is pregnant again.  The father is around, but isn't treating her well and I got the impression isn't going to help her with this at all.  I asked her if she had family that could help. Apparently, she's from the Chicago area and does have family there. Getting back there is another hurdle.  Hope receives no government assistance at this time.  She's hoping to somehow get back there before the end of the year, but these things usually take a lot of time to make happen.  I prayed with her about her pregnancy and situation. We'll get through this somehow.  Unless she can get back to Chicago, the outcome will not be a happy one.

The other situation I heard about was told to me by Red, a man who lives near San Pedro Ave and 10th street.  I hadn't been down there in a while and had told him about my foot infection. So he knows a homeless guy who hangs out around there who was doing something in a dumpster and sliced his foot on some sheet metal.  His foot got infected (lack of immediate medical attention) and he ended up losing 3 toes.  Can you imagine?  The things like medical insurance that we take for granted are so important.

When I pulled up to talk to Red I had three sandwiches left. There were three guys there and I gave out all three to them.  So while I'm talking to Red a woman in a wheelchair came around the corner from San Pedro Ave and towards us.  She was moving the wheel chair with one leg and her hands. The other leg, apparently, wasn't working.  As she got closer to us, she called out asking if I had any "spaghetti".  She said the last time I had spaghetti and "it was so good".  Like I said, I had just given out the last of the sandwiches.  I told her I would be back on Thanksgiving with some pasta and to make sure she was there. Well Red still had his sandwich in his hand and it was still in the baggie unopened.  He offered his to her!  So that was how the trip ended...on a high note.  A high note of hope!  Until next time. --John  

Downtown 11/6/2016

"But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity.  He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.  Luke 10:33-34  Part of the story of the Good Samaritan  

A week from today I will have another birthday.  As one experiences these 'later' birthdays in life you can't help but appreciate the special gift each day is, particularly the good ones. Health issues rob some days of their full potential and enjoy-ability and that has been the case with me this last month.  A nasty foot infection landed me in the hospital for a couple of days and prevented me from making trips downtown. Although there are policies in place to help people on the street with their health issues, I couldn't help but think how fortunate I am to have good health insurance that can take care of situations like this.  I'm not over this problem yet, but it is significantly better than it was three weeks ago and I felt good enough to make a trip.

Sunday was the first day of no daylight savings time.  So night time would start very soon after 5 pm. I got down there at probably 4:50 pm, so there wasn't going to be much daylight left, not that darkness prevents me from helping people, but it does make things a little more difficult (people are usually bundled up/covered up and trying to sleep shortly after the sun goes down).  My first stop was a small street just east of the Los Angeles St off-ramp off the I-10 freeway.  There are usually about 3-5 folks living there that I can help.  When I accessed this street from a small one-way alley the first thing I saw was the shelter that a couple of people lived in had been vacated.  As I got closer to the street I noticed that they had relocated to another spot a few yards further down.  The street ends at the I-10 freeway off-ramp and this section is less than a 100-yards long from 16th St to the street's end by the freeway.  So there were 4-5 people living there Sunday evening, and by the time I left about 5 other folks came by.  Robert and Hope were two of the most familiar people that I knew and a couple others who came by I've helped before.  Apparently, Robert had been in the hospital with a stroke for about two weeks since I saw them last time.  Hope told me that there had been problems with people giving them a hard time where they had been staying by the off-ramp and the stress of it had caused Robert's stroke and precipitated their move to the current spot.  Anyway, I opened up the back of the car and everyone got to go through the clothes. Mostly, everyone is looking for warm heavy shirts and jackets.  I had two pairs of jeans that went quickly and I handed out a pair of socks to everyone there.  The corner of this street is where Philip and a couple other men used to sleep at night, but I haven't seen them there recently.  I asked a couple of the Spanish speaking guys that were there if they had seen them.  They told me they stay off of Spring St now.  A year ago I made a special and second trip down there to give Philip and his friends blankets when they told me how cold they were at night.  That was the middle of November last year.  It's now that time of year when it gets very cold at night for these folks living on the street.  I prayed with most everyone there on that street last night and when I left I thought maybe this is the place for the next BBQ.

 That's Hope sitting on the sidewalk and Robert in the brown sweater.

This picture was taking standing in the same place but looking the other direction.  You can see the street dead ending up against the freeway off-ramp.  Hope and Robert used to have their shelter just to the right of the guard rail there at the end of the street.


I drove over to where Leticia and Antonio live on Trinity St.  It was now almost completely dark. Leticia was shivering when I drove up in spite of the sweater she had on.  They were about to put down the cardboard pieces they had on the sidewalk to sleep on for the night.  I think they had a blanket or two, but I told them I'd bring them one next week when I came back.

With all the food now gone and it being officially night time, I drove over to 27th and Petaluna to the burned out church.  I hadn't seen any progress in the rebuilding of this church, so I decided to call Pastor McGhee and ask if there was anything new on the horizon.  The last time I had talked with him was back in February of this year.  I was glad I called.  He told me they were in the final stages of selecting a contractor to do the rebuilding and hoped to start shortly after the first of the year. Obviously, there are a lot of hoops to go through to get approval through city hall.  In fact, we laughed about the reality of the old saying, "You can't fight city hall."  He promised to call and let me know how things were going.  We talked for probably twenty minutes or so about a wide range of things connected to serving God through helping people.  I look forward to partnering with him and his church in the future. ---Until next time.  John