OUTREACH STORY #8: Housing Saves Lives! Outreach Saves Lives!
He sat there day after day, in the same spot on the cold concrete, wearing the same clothes gradually getting dirtier and dirtier.
He sat there day after day, in the same spot on the cold concrete, greeting passers-by with a smile as the weather was quickly moving into the cold months of winter.
He sat there day after day, in the same spot on the cold concrete, causing concern to many locals because we were witnessing this petite man becoming visibly more fragile and smaller.
He sat there day after day, in the same spot on the cold concrete, telling me that he was fine, wasn't homeless and had a friend's couch to sleep on at night.
This was Frenchie—an Uptown gem loved by most of the neighbourhood. I struggled to believe he was telling me the truth. He wasn’t lying to pull a fast one on me, no, he was a gentle soul who didn’t want to be a bother, an inconvenience or a burden. I wasn’t the only one who worried about him, as many people approached me and asked me to get him off the streets, but he continued to tell me he didn't want or need help. We worried his pleasantness, humility and niceness would cause his death.
We felt we were watching an elderly man sitting on the street fading away before our eyes. The temperature had gone from the brutal summer heat to seeing it interchange between rain, sleet, snow, chilling winds and those warmish sunny autumn days. We worried. We feared. We asked ourselves, "Would he survive the winter?"
One day, I was walking home and Frenchie was sitting in his usual spot on the cold concrete. It was one of those painfully cold damp days that torment Chicagoans in November. I asked him the same question I’d asked him dozens of times. I expected the same answer. I expected him to thank me for asking, tell me not to worry about him and that he’ll be all right!
But on this particular day, he didn’t respond that way. He wanted help. He needed help. He admitted he was sleeping in an alleyway and the weather was starting to eat him alive.
He was ready! I was activated. It wasn’t time to say “Well it’s home time, so I’ll meet you tomorrow”. No, the time to respond was immediately. And that’s what I did (with communication with my whānau, of course)!
What happened next was unique to Frenchie. Due to the time, the place, and my roles, I was able to help Frenchie get out of the cold into a bed immediately. In other words, people’s stories don’t always work out this way...
Because Frenchie didn't have anything except for what he was wearing, we immediately walked to the shelter, where we gave him a bed, fresh blankets, a pillow and some food to eat. What happened next was beautiful, a few other men staying there knew Frenchie and were excited to see me bring him in. They gave him their coats, clothing, towels, hygiene items and other necessities from their limited supplies.
Frenchie's journey didn't end in the shelter. He eventually moved into senior housing, where he remained until he passed away a few years later.
Outreach saves lives!
Housing saves lives!
I doubt Frenchie would have survived that winter.
Everyone's journey is different, but outreach and housing play an important role in helping people survive. As Outreach Workers, we have the honour of supplying rough sleepers with necessities; sometimes, those necessities could be a matter of life or death. We have the honour of giving food to the hungry, clothing to the underdressed, blankets to the chilly, drinks to the thirsty, transportation to vital appointments, counselling to the suicidal, and housing to the unhoused.
For more context, please read Outreach Story #6: It's about Nick, who sadly passed away while sleeping under a tree in Uptown, Chicago. He opened my eyes to the dangers of rough sleeping and homelessness. Click here: An Unlikely Inspiration
If you follow Jesus, here is my challenge: Jesus spoke about an unnamed rich man who ate abundant food in his luxurious house. At his gate, lay a poor man whom Jesus named - Lazarus. He was covered in sores and longed to fill his empty belly with some crumbs from the rich man's table. His homelessness and poverty were so devastating, that local dogs showed more compassion to Lazarus than people, by licking his wounds.
Around the same time, both men died, and Jesus gave us a glimpse of the afterlife! The rich man was taken to a place of torment and agony, while Lazarus (whose name means “helped by God”) was taken to a place of comfort and acceptance. The rich man sees Lazarus across a great chasm and wants relief. He also wants his wealthy family not to suffer his fate, so out of desperation, he cries for help. He wants someone from the dead to tell his family to change their self-centred ways and not walk past the poor and sick who may sit at their gates. You can read about these 2 men in greater detail in Luke 16:19-31.
What’s interesting about these 2 men is that Jesus doesn't mention their lives of faith, backgrounds, or what caused their wealth or poverty. We don’t know if the rich man attended church religiously, paid his tithes faithfully, or regularly prayed for salvation. We also don’t know about Lazarus, we don't know if he was a faithful believer in God, and we don't know why he suffered on Earth. What we do know is the rich man saw Lazarus suffering and dying and he chose to ignore him. We do know he ate sumptuously while his neighbour was starving outside!
What strikes me, what challenges me, and what provokes me, in this story is that the rich man is guilty of ignoring his neighbour in need. His fate was determined by what he did and didn't do. The rich man didn't kick him, give him a trespass notice or have him arrested for loitering at his gate, no, he simply ignored his neighbour. He didn't feed him, he didn't give him a drink, he didn't bandage his sores, he didn't give him a room in his luxurious house, he didn't help a suffering neighbour he could have easily helped.
If you follow Jesus, my challenge is, whether you're rich or poor or anywhere in the middle: Notice your neighbours in need, help your neighbours in need and do what you can to help save lives.
- To read more about my reflections on Outreach and why I believe it's needed, please click this Link: The Eclectic Path of an Outreach Worker: Reaching Out to Those Experiencing Homelessness
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