Volume: 1
Magdalene’s Mission is feeling content.
Published by Kayla M Sullivan Donaldson
Peace Love & Hygiene Report 1: Traci and I made the first trip to Detroit as Magdalene’s Mission tonight. We met some wonderful people and learned some important things.
We followed Stan (somehow) from the office on West Grand clear across to the east side of Detroit into a neighborhood neither of us had been to before. There were 4 vehicles included in our outreach caravan: Stan drove in a medic van with his volunteers, a car that had a woman who passed out bagged lunches, a car with hot cocoa, cookies and assistance for people addicted to heroin, and finally, my Denali packed with hygiene purses and bags, and also some sweatshirts, hats, gloves, socks and shoes. Several people asked us if we had blankets. We set up the back of my truck like a buffet. The warm clothing went quickly. A young lady who was very pregnant and also recently lost everything she owned in a house fire took a lot of the clothes with her. I asked her how far along she was. She said she didn’t know. A gentleman who asked us for a hygiene bag and some clothes took the time to tell us his story. He had a degree from Ferris State, started his own business, lived in West Bloomfield and was on top of the world. He even went on tour with the Grateful Dead when he was young. He’s never done heroin or stuck any needles n his arm. When he became homeless 8 years ago he moved into a vacant house in Detroit. He told us, at first he was really depressed. He felt awful about himself and his life. Then one day, he had an epiphany. He wanted to be a part of the world by doing his part to make it better for one person at a time whenever he had the chance. It changed his life and luck and his luck around. He called it, “Living on the Wheel of Charity”. He still lives in an abandoned house, but he does a lot of work for people that they need done in exchange for their pop bottles. It’s somehow always ends up being plenty.
Stan treated several people that night, but it’s none of my business what for. He had already been there all day, and was going to his other job at the hospital in the morning. The other two ladies who were volunteering with Covenant Community Care were in nursing school. We drove to a couple of more street corners in neighborhoods where you could see the drug trafficking take place subtly, but in every direction. There was no shortage of abandoned houses. The houses were a quilt of well kept yards beside brick Tudors with boards for windows. The people we needed to meet recognized Stan’s medic-van right away. Traci and I kept the back door of the Denali up so people could walk up and take a purse, and maybe a hat and a sweatshirt.
At the last stop we made, there was a woman wearing threadbare slip-on shoes shivering beneath a tattered blanket. The clothes and shoes in the back of my truck were almost gone. Traci made it her mission to find those boots and a coat for that lady. She was so tiny. I was glad Stan and the other volunteers were there to help her. You never heard such heart felt thank you’s. Everyone was so genuinely grateful for everything that YOU helped them have. Thank you for bring smiles and light into a dark corner of the world.
A couple of things I learned tonight that I would like to share with you are:
1) Blankets and socks are highly prized items.
2) I dramatically underestimated the need for warm clothing.
3) The draw string bags are perfect for the men we meet. (One guy asked for a smaller purse so that he could put it in his bag for his girlfriend. “I’m a real romantic!” he beamed.)
4) Starting now, I will take donations of warm clothes, socks, shoes, coats, and blankets.
And with that, I’m off to sleep. Peace, love and hygiene, yo.
