(no subject)
Amy's work sent out an email a while back looking for volunteers for interviewing the homeless so some charitable foundation can apply for funding and planning how to best allocate the funds they do get. She signed up right away, then got a little nervous when it was mentioned there would be volunteers walking through neighborhoods in addition to those working inside the shelters, so she asked if I wanted to go along. I figured it'd be a new experience. Last Thursday we ended up at the Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul. Amy volunteered to go upstairs to the displaced women's section, and I ended up on the main floor. It was an eye opener. In spite of the fact that it was a rather anonymous survey asking many yes/no or 'which of these most closely applies to your situation?' type questions, little by little, a lot of stories came out. What surprised me was how open they were about it, as well as how they really don't seem that much different than me, minus a job and a car. While there were some cases of drugs, alcoholism, and the usual suspects, there were also cases of relationships gone wrong, health issues, job loss, depression. Things that get you thinking about "what is the one difference between them and me that has things going on such completely different paths?" Another surprise was the optimism they had. Almost to the last. I'm not talking pie in the sky "things will turn around and I'll get another house, a full time job and start saving for the future again" type optimism, but the ability to be friendly with a complete stranger asking them questions about how their life got to this point, none of them seemed bitter or resentful. The ability to look at tomorrow and say 'tomorrow is another day' instead of drowning in self pity. The ability to be happy because the $5 they got for the survey meant a pack of cigarettes, or "a good lunch tomorrow, like one of those $5 sandwiches from Subway" Most of their world fits into a backpack or a couple bags, and I come back to my overstuffed apartment filled with things I don't use, stop at the store on the way to work for $7 worth of snacks to get me through until my $5-10 lunch, then drop $23 to top off my gas tank since I was at about half a tank. Kind of an interesting perspective change for a bit.