Thoughtful, Kind and Homeless
In my last blog, I shared how a gentleman who had just lost his savings reacted to the tragedy by grabbing my arm and saying, “Andy, don’t let this ruin your Christmas.” One might think that kind of thoughtfulness is rare among folks on the street, but that is not the case.URM, through our public benefit corporation Eimago, has partnered with LAHSA, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency, to open 3 winter shelters in Culver City, West LA, and Burbank, and added 114 cots in our downtown facility for a total of nearly 570 extra beds in Los Angeles for the next 100 days or so.
One of the biggest challenges we have faced in getting these up and running has been transportation. Tuesday evening, we went to the bus pick-up sites to make sure folks were picked up on time at both the Burbank and Glendale pick-up sites. It was raining steady when we arrived at about 5:00 PM in Glendale and joined 35 souls were standing out in the rain. We stood with the folks in the rain and as we did the intensity of the rain increased. We had an opportunity to share an umbrella with a very polite man named Harry. He filled us in on how things were going for the other folks in his community and himself. At 5:15 PM a concerned man, with what looked like half of a rain coat, asked us, “Is the bus really coming tonight?” We assured him that we had seen the bus moments earlier at the Burbank pick-up site and that it was indeed on the way.
With the traffic, rain, and accidents at key intersections, the bus arrived about 10 minutes late at 5:25 PM - all of us were pretty soaked by that time. A young, quiet man named Rodrick walked to the bus and as he passed me he said, “I am sorry that you had to get wet tonight.” I was struck by his kind and sincere words. Here was a young man, homeless, coming to the bad weather shelter for the first time, out in the rain the entire day, and he was concerned about me? Humbling.
As the last folks jumped on the bus and out of the rain, I retreated to my car, put the heater on high, turned up the dial to heat my driver’s seat, drove home to my cozy house, and upon entering, started a fire in the fireplace to warm up the house. I shared with my family what Rodrick had said to me. I won’t forget him or to pray for him as he struggles to get back on his feet.
As the rain poured down overnight outside my window, I slept a bit more soundly knowing that Rodrick and hundreds of others were not out in the cold soaking rain because of the work of URM and the generosity of those who support us. Thank you!
Merry Christmas!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home