Another afternoon with the homeless in Detroit

Today we spent a bitter cold afternoon in Detroit.  Cheridy and I are continuing our project with the homeless folks in Detroit that we talked about on the blog a few weeks ago.
We still don’t have any concrete direction and don’t know where God is leading us with this, but we’re excited for the adventure.
For anyone that didn’t go outside today, it was bitter cold…the kind of cold that chills you to the bone.  We went along with a large group of people from our church who were putting on another barbeque and clothing giveaway.

We first met Terrance.  He seemed like an outgoing guy so we told him a bit about what we’re doing and he was willing to share although he felt his story was “boring.”  In actuality, it was quite compelling.
Terrance was sexually abused as a child, had parents that were alcoholics, and had really low self esteem as a young child.   All these things messed with his head pretty badly.  He said he started drinking when he was 5 years old and hasn’t stopped since.   At one point, he owned a store in Chicago and later held a job at Purdue University but his addictions with alcohol and drugs led him into a downward spiral.  His ex-wife and children live in the area but they don’t know that he is homeless.  His ex-wife wants to see him change his life around but he said that that’s a difficult thing to do and he doesn’t know how.  One of the saddest parts about our conversation with Terrance is that he said he’s very much a loner.  He doesn’t like getting close to people due partially to trust issues but also because when he is close to someone he really wants to be able to do things for people and based on his current situation, he is unable to do the things he wants to do.  He knows that people don’t expect anything from him, but he still really wants to do things for other people and to some extent, that makes him feel inadequate as a friend/father.   He has other family in the area but he said that they look down on him which makes him not want to turn to them or even see them.
He was just recently thrown out of a shelter because he beat up his bunk mate who was trying to sexually molest him.  One of the things that he said is that he trusts nobody and doesn’t believe in love other than for God.  He talked about the difference between praise and worship and said that you praise God to thank him for all the things He does for you but you worship God to thank Him for everything He is and thank Him for being with you during your struggles.  Right now Terrance is just waiting for God to show him a new path and new direction.

By the time we let Terrance go on his way, our fingers and toes were starting to get REALLY cold.  It was 20 degrees outside today with a windchill of 9 degrees.  We were totally blown away by the almost 100 volunteers that were working selflessly in the park to prepare food and sort/distribute jackets, sweatshirts, socks, shoes, etc.

We worked our way through the park and came across Anthony C.  When we approached him, he was super excited because he just got a scarf and a pair of gloves that had just been given to him.  The gloves were far too small for his hands, but he managed to squeeze them in and was really happy as he had no gloves before this afternoon.  We had a very focused conversation with Anthony C.  He felt God telling Him that he will eventually have an apartment in the building across the street from this park and his job is to spread the message of Jesus to everyone there.  He spoke as though he was delivering a message to us and you could hear the drive and excitement in his voice.  We didn’t have the opportunity to learn much about him as the conversation would always go back to the same thing, but it was really neat to see the vision that he had for his life.  We photographed him with his future apartment building in the background.

By this point, our fingers and toes were completely numb.  I was really excited knowing that I would be warm later in the day and that just broke my heart that a lot of these folks would not have that luxury.  Some might even freeze to death over the coming months.  As this harsh reality was sinking in and bringing me down, I came across Calvin who had a gentle face and a warm smile.

Calvin’s story is probably one of the most compelling and the one that I think a lot of people need to hear and understand.  Calvin was born and raised around the Detroit area.  He was raised in a good home and has led a good life.  He’s an educated man with a degree as a lab technician, another in accounting, and he’s on his way to a bachelors in corporate finance.  In spite of his background and education,  life dug him a hole which he is still in.  About 8 years ago, he had a heart attack and with a long recovery period, he was not able to keep his job.   He tried to apply for social security but was denied because he wasn’t completely disabled.  At the time, he was about 51.  When you lose your job as a 51 year old, it’s tough to find a new one because most companies are looking for someone younger.  He tried finding jobs that were even beneath his qualifications but was rejected for being over qualified.  He couldn’t get a job he was qualified for and couldn’t get one he was over qualified for which left him without a job.  Being at a point where he was too old to get a job and too young to retire, he was forced to pick up side work as a sub-contractor doing carpentry work and roofing jobs but that has gotten incredibly difficult now with the economy having tanked so badly.  There’s just no work left.
About a year ago, his left leg started to go out on him.  With no job and no health insurance, he couldn’t afford to go to a doctor to find out what was wrong with his leg.  He said it wasn’t debilitating, just inconvenient so he has since walked with a cane and a heavy limp which now eliminates his chances of any future roofing work and other jobs that require him to be more mobile.
Calvin is currently staying at a day to day shelter which is very difficult because every day you’re back on the street and have to get there by a certain time and hope there is still a bed left for you.  If there is no bed available, then he’ll walk until he finds another shelter.  If that doesn’t work, then he goes to what’s called a “warming center” which essentially is just a warm room with chairs to sit in where he will sleep in the chair if there are no other options.
When asked what would it take to turn things around for him he just said “I have no idea, there doesn’t seem to be a way out”.  Other than a stable job, there’s really nothing he can do other than to give it to God and take things hour by hour.

During our conversation I had lost all feeling in my fingers due to the cold which reminded me to ask the question which is probably on a lot of people’s minds.  Why stay in Detroit and not go somewhere warmer?  He said that’s not an option because without money you can’t go anywhere.  After living on the streets of Detroit, you can learn where to go to sleep and to eat and know when/where people will be coming with donated clothing and food.  If he left to travel down south somewhere, he would have to figure that out for each place that he goes until he eventually gets to his destination.  That’s a scary thought.

When we do these interviews, we make sure that people know that we are going to share their stories and photos with others and we ask them to sign a release form.  Due to the cold, Calvin’s hands were cramping up and he could barely hold the pen.  We were thankful that we were in a position where we could offer him some money to find a warm place to eat a meal and thaw those hands out.
Here’s some photos of Calvin sporting his new jacket that was given to him today.  He was really thrilled to have a warm jacket that is all in one piece.  He’s hoping that sometime soon he can get some new boots as his current boots are old and no longer water proof which makes it difficult to walk around in the snow and slush.  When we got up to do the photos, I realized just how bad Calvin’s limp actually was which must make life on the streets very difficult.

I think one of the biggest questions that people ask in regards to homeless people is “why don’t they just go get a job?”  We’re realizing that it’s not that easy and there are so many factors involved that we never would have thought of.  Many spend all their time and energy just focused on meeting basic daily needs and surviving and just have no idea how to change their life around because there are no open doors.
I think what we’re realizing the most is that most of these folks live on the generosity of others.  Seeing their eyes light up because they now have a pair of gloves or a new coat that most of us would just take for granted is really eye opening.  More donations are always needed.   PLEASE get involved.   If you want to help but you don’t know how, please contact us and we’ll do our best to get you plugged in.
At this point we still don’t know what God wants from us or how He’s going to use us but until then we’ll keep heading downtown and learn what we can about the people and post these stories on our blog in hopes that others will start to learn about the type of people that are down in Detroit along with the type of daily struggles they are facing in hopes to get more involvement from our friends and blog readers.  In the meantime we’ll continue to pray for direction and guidance in how we can use this project to make an even bigger difference.

After we left Detroit, we got in the car and drove home with the heat on full blast.  After the half hour drive, we were still cold.  It’s now 4 hours later and I’ve been sitting inside the house with the heat up to 73 degrees and I still have long johns under my clothes and a wool hat because my body is still not totally warm yet.  When you get chilled to the bone it just stays with you and it’s so hard to warm up.   I can’t even imagine not even having an option to try to get warm.  The homeless can be easy to forget about.  They can be easy to look at with disgust or contempt.  Many have done some bad things and have some demons in their past.  However, there are a lot of genuinely good people who have been dealt a blow that they are just struggling to recover from.   Please pray for these folks and consciously think about ways that YOU can make a difference.