Peace, Love & Hygiene: Vol. 87- Friendship, kinship, partnership, companions, the bonds that we as people somehow make- that’s the best of Detroit outreach this week. On the low end, there is a drug worse than the fentanyl that is poisoning people en masse, and it is dissolving my friends in front of me.
My beloved sister, Tanya, was here in Michigan this week so she was available to come do outreach in Detroit with me. She made a delectable stew from the odds and ends of donated canned food we had available down in the basement. Combined with a heathy sack lunch, we were able to change the course of a lot of people’s night tonight.
I was pleased that I could introduce Tanya to so many of my favorite friends. Here are the updates:
The first person we saw was super relieved to see us. He is unfortunately suffering from necrosis because of xylazine in heroin and fentanyl. He had open wounds all over under his coat from chunks of flesh rotting off. I saw my Widow Who Sits at that first stop. She was in a great mood, and in good spirits. She was, of course, very hungry. Unfortunately, her eye that has been troubled since I first met her 2 years ago, is going to fall out soon. The medical attention she can receive from the Street Outreach Team is invaluable.
Marilyn Monroe is still not doing well at all. Her parents were able to adopt her baby. I am happy for them both in that regard, but she seems to have just… given up. I know she’s down in that basement. Someone told me that there are rats that live in there. I want to bust through the door carrying enough love for her in my arms that she would love herself again. But that isn’t how addiction, or despair operates.
People were hungry, so hungry. I was easy for people to find tonight. The big white van with the Magdalene’s Mission sticker has become a refuge. The relief on their worn faces means we are doing the right thing. We had the simple things they needed to survive another day; to survive long enough to tell the tale of how far they came.
I’ve been on this journey with some people for multiple years now. There was a girl who we saw tonight that I hadn’t seen in months. The last time I saw here she was struggling alone on the streets trying to panhandle. Even while I was helping her that day, someone who knew who she was stopped to berate her as he walked past. I came to her defense and stood up for her. She told me tonight that she never forgot that. Ever since that day, she believed she was a good person and their opinion of her did not define her.
I saw my Tiny Mama. She has only gotten smaller. Things have only gotten worse for her. I’ll keep praying. We’ll keep trying.
The Hobbits are on their way into their own apartment!!!! They have been working within the system and jumping through every hoop in front of them. They only have a couple of more hoops to go. Sometimes the Universe will do the right thing. All those prayers added up!
I saw people on every stage in the journey to leave the streets, or to try and escape the poison there. From the sounds of it, at least in those areas I was in, you can hardly find heroin anymore. It’s fentanyl and xylazine cut with everything from Benadryl to caffeine powder. The number of my friends who suffer from necrosis multiplies significantly from week to week.
Kyle came out with us this week. He has been able to find housing for several of our friends. I am excited for them. A couple of them began the process, but then we never saw them again. Who knows?
There were a lot of dear hearted friends out tonight. There were as many smiles to pass out as there were meals. One young woman explained to me and Tanya.
“You don’t know how much what you do means to us out here.”
I thought you should know that. Because even if it is dire, even if the odds are against them, we never give up. Because even when the odds are against us, God is for us. I am for us. Tanya is for us. And every single person who has ever contributed to Magdalene’s Mission is for us.
For Detroit.
For Michiganders.
For Americans.
For Earthlings.
For all of us.
Because that’s how we do it in Detroit.
Amen.
#magdalenesmission #peaceloveand hygiene
