Spirit of Hope church provides a lunch meal every Saturday to the homeless and those in need in Detroit. An old co-worker of Rodney's sponsored the day and was able to get about a dozen of us to help with the food preparation and serving. In addition, a Korean church routinely sends a half-dozen or so members to help serve and bus tables. In a small section at the back of the basement dining hall there are a few sturdy coat racks and tables on which to house donated clothing for those guests who need to add layers or upgrade to a warmer (or cleaner) coat.
Although they expected about 250-300 people, the extremely cold weather kept the numbers down to about 160. According to Keith - a man who shoulders the cost and preparation of the Saturday meals when churches, groups, or individuals don't host the meal - many of the homeless population will not move from a "warm" spot in such frigid weather, even to get a free meal. I was humbled by my conversation with Keith. I gathered that he often is the "host" and doesn't mind putting the food on his credit card to ensure these folks have at least one hot meal a week. He, his wife and son have picked up the baton at the zero hour when those slotted to sponsor the day renege - once feeding 250 people at the last minute for less than $140. Although I never saw him help per se, I got the feeling that he was there as a safety net - not for us, but for the guests.
I appreciated the direction that a gentleman named Norm - a man who is a church employee, but could easily have been one of the guests - gave me and two other ladies as we organized the coats on racks and clothing on tables. It didn't seem like much for the scores of folks we anticipated, but I thought, "Wow! God does provide" as a group of about 20 men walked in 30 minutes before the lunch hour was to start with bags and bags of warm clothing including some very warm coats. We happily scrambled to incorporate everything into our "item type and size" organized racks and tables.
Right before noon, an old-timer came in and sat at the "ticket" station where guests signed their first name when they come in. Norm told us that he was going to go outside and bring in those folks first who needed to get warm - and warmer clothing. Some of those folks and a few others that I met stand out:
- An 82-year old woman asked me to help her "elderly" friend, Vera, find some clothes. She informed me that Vera would not disclose her age and try as I could, Vera wouldn't tell me. She cried as she told me that everyday she cries because she is no longer independent, never had children, and has no one to help her. When I said that she must be thankful for her friend she laughed and said that it is she who helps her friend. I wanted to do something for her; I hope that I will get a chance in the future.
- When this middle-aged man walked in wearing no coat, I had to literally stop myself from gasping. His skin was red from the cold and wind. How he was surviving, I don't know.
- A nice-looking man in his early thirties just didn't seem to belong there. He was polite, engaging and looked me in the eye while I brought him items that we thought might work for him. He had cleverly found safety pins that he said he could use to make some long underwear work for him. He didn't want to take anything that he couldn't use. I told Rodney that he was someone that could have been working at the desk next to me last week. I wish that I had gotten a chance to have a conversation with him.
- At the end of the lunch time, Norm told me to grab some lunch and take a break. An older woman allowed me to sit across from her. Her name was Potter, well her last name is Potter; she doesn't tell her first name. We chatted mostly about the number of children people have while we both ate. She is one of eleven children. My mom is one of ten. She had six children, but one is deceased. Same with my mom. She has several grandchildren. Her oldest son never wanted children and therefore never had any. Same with my sister. It was an easy conversation for two people who just met. There was something we had in common. We knew people who had children and people who didn't.
Before I took my break, only a handful of items remained on the tables. Those folks who took clothing were polite and thanked us. Some we had to encourage to take another shirt to layer. Hoodies were the hot commodity. We saw mostly men, but there were a few women although not many clothes for them. I saw a few children, but was so busy that hour and a half that I didn't get a chance to really check them out...that might have been a good thing. I don't know if my heart could have taken that.
When people left they were free to take any of the nearly 400 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that we made earlier. We were told that some people would take several since they weren't sure when they would eat next. The remaining sandwiches would go down the street to the homeless shelter. Some guests took none; one guy took many. When I handed him a bag, he was a little embarrassed until I said, "There is plenty - take a few more." And so he did, it was as if he needed that permission.
When the day ended, I knew that we'd be back. It was one of the most rewarding things I've done in a long time. We hope to do this on a quarterly-basis. We hope to be able to help more as our economy continues its stall. And how could we not. After all, we are our brothers' - and sisters' - keeper.
When Jackson awoke this morning his very first thought seemed to be that it was Daddy's birthday...not that it was Friday (hurray!) or that he gets to be a 'milker' at school on Friday's (this is big for a 5 year old). He hunted Rodney down in the house to wish him a mighty, happy birthday. He LOVES his father and it shows more and more as he gets older and begins to identify with Rodney more.
