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A letter I sent to Barb and Dr. Kelly
Jan. 21st, 2005 04:37 pmJanuary 21, 2005
Dear Tomas,
I sent this letter to Barb Harris today, but it made me think of you, too- especially since I know I promised to send you some reflections this year. (And I haven’t done so yet!) So here were some thoughts on a talk I attended last night….
I went to a talk on homelessness tonight, and my emotions have been touched by it in ways I didn’t anticipate. We heard from the director of a major day shelter for the homeless in Denver, and he (among others) had quite the stories to tell. He started off telling us about a time when a guest at St. Francis Center collapsed; it turned out he was having a seizure. Another guest went right over and held a pillow under the first man’s head, so that he wouldn’t jerk back against the floor. When Tom, the director, went over, he asked who the man having the seizure was; the paramedics were on their way, and a name would be good to know. The second man said that he had no idea. Tom said he always remembered that story when faced with the stereotypes so often found regarding the homeless. Then Tom told us about how a homeless man had been killed last week…. He’d been sleeping downtown, on one of the nights when it was barely ten degrees, and he’s been sleeping on a grate to keep warm. Only instead of finding a grate on the sidewalk, he fell asleep on a grate on the street. Early the next morning, in the fog and whatnot, he was run over by a car and was killed.
I’d heard both stories already; I’d already been touched by them both. I’d gotten an email at work about the man killed, and I’d heard the Good Samaritan story when we toured St. Francis Center- one of my roommates works there. And then Tom told us that the man who held the pillow last year was the man killed last week…. It’s all so unfair! It makes me react in the ways I tend to when I’m faced with sadness and injustice- it makes me cry and it makes me want to act. (Compounded with the fact that I attended an “anti-coronation” rally today for that man I did not vote for, I’m feeling somewhat compelled toward action these days….) I have to remember, though, that social work is action. Helping women get their daily needs met makes it more possible for them to become housed. And especially at an agency that is as progressive, strengths-based, and amazing as The Gathering Place is, social work there truly can be outright action. It’s the kind of agency that meets my needs for both macro and micro work. I like to see the big picture (more accurately, I need to see the big picture), but I also like and need to see that I’m making an impact.
I know that there are so many reasons why I am out here in Denver. I’ve learned more about social work, about homelessness, about myself, about Community than I know I needed to learn. I know that I’m out here to serve, and to serve God in the poor and marginalized. But when happens when Christ is run over by a car because he had nowhere else to sleep but on the street? I’m learning even more that I have a heart that breaks for people, and I guess that happened again tonight….
I really am doing well, though, with much more non-heartbreak than heartbreak happening. It’s amazing how much hope is still found out here, among the tragedy and rough spots people are going through. I’m doing more direct service work these days, which I love. It’s gives me so much more opportunity to be with the women at this day shelter, even if it would seem to be mundane tasks sometimes- handing out bus tokens and working in our food pantry. I’ll write you more later, hopefully.
The year is flying by, as I’m sure it is for you too. Hope it’s flying by in a wonderful way.
love and peace to you and everyone,
~Theresa
Dear Tomas,
I sent this letter to Barb Harris today, but it made me think of you, too- especially since I know I promised to send you some reflections this year. (And I haven’t done so yet!) So here were some thoughts on a talk I attended last night….
I went to a talk on homelessness tonight, and my emotions have been touched by it in ways I didn’t anticipate. We heard from the director of a major day shelter for the homeless in Denver, and he (among others) had quite the stories to tell. He started off telling us about a time when a guest at St. Francis Center collapsed; it turned out he was having a seizure. Another guest went right over and held a pillow under the first man’s head, so that he wouldn’t jerk back against the floor. When Tom, the director, went over, he asked who the man having the seizure was; the paramedics were on their way, and a name would be good to know. The second man said that he had no idea. Tom said he always remembered that story when faced with the stereotypes so often found regarding the homeless. Then Tom told us about how a homeless man had been killed last week…. He’d been sleeping downtown, on one of the nights when it was barely ten degrees, and he’s been sleeping on a grate to keep warm. Only instead of finding a grate on the sidewalk, he fell asleep on a grate on the street. Early the next morning, in the fog and whatnot, he was run over by a car and was killed.
I’d heard both stories already; I’d already been touched by them both. I’d gotten an email at work about the man killed, and I’d heard the Good Samaritan story when we toured St. Francis Center- one of my roommates works there. And then Tom told us that the man who held the pillow last year was the man killed last week…. It’s all so unfair! It makes me react in the ways I tend to when I’m faced with sadness and injustice- it makes me cry and it makes me want to act. (Compounded with the fact that I attended an “anti-coronation” rally today for that man I did not vote for, I’m feeling somewhat compelled toward action these days….) I have to remember, though, that social work is action. Helping women get their daily needs met makes it more possible for them to become housed. And especially at an agency that is as progressive, strengths-based, and amazing as The Gathering Place is, social work there truly can be outright action. It’s the kind of agency that meets my needs for both macro and micro work. I like to see the big picture (more accurately, I need to see the big picture), but I also like and need to see that I’m making an impact.
I know that there are so many reasons why I am out here in Denver. I’ve learned more about social work, about homelessness, about myself, about Community than I know I needed to learn. I know that I’m out here to serve, and to serve God in the poor and marginalized. But when happens when Christ is run over by a car because he had nowhere else to sleep but on the street? I’m learning even more that I have a heart that breaks for people, and I guess that happened again tonight….
I really am doing well, though, with much more non-heartbreak than heartbreak happening. It’s amazing how much hope is still found out here, among the tragedy and rough spots people are going through. I’m doing more direct service work these days, which I love. It’s gives me so much more opportunity to be with the women at this day shelter, even if it would seem to be mundane tasks sometimes- handing out bus tokens and working in our food pantry. I’ll write you more later, hopefully.
The year is flying by, as I’m sure it is for you too. Hope it’s flying by in a wonderful way.
love and peace to you and everyone,
~Theresa
