May 9, 2023
This week was… intense, efficient, exceptional, short and sweet. I drove a mile from my house up to Eight Mile Road, , and drove it all the way into Detroit, through the old Millionaire’s Row neighborhood and onto Woodward Avenue. The Street Outreach Team was ready to go by the time Traci and I arrived.
We drove to a neighborhood we had never been to before. We were closer to the east side. It’s lighter out. Stan had a patient to meet. Within moments, a couple women were approaching the Stanbulance (my personal nickname for Stan’s ambulance in case you were wondering). I saw Nurse Katie’s hand pointing out the window at Maggie (my name for the Magdalene’s Mission van).
Traci climbed out and went back to where the tuna sandwich lunches were stored. The longer she stood there, the more people came from every direction. Traci ran from the back of the van to grab food and water over to the side to distribute clothes, then back for more water, then back for more clothes. Meanwhile, I was perched on the driver’s seat. I passed Mag Bag’s through the window and out the doors to Traci. A crowd of anywhere from five to fifteen people always swarmed us. Traci handled all the new friends like a champ.
I, on the other hand, had a different responsibility. I know I go to some unsavory neighborhoods. I know that I portray a generally confident air about our safety. I am 1000% aware of where I am, and the risks involved. I take a lot of necessary precautions. I stay in the driver’s seat so that we can leave immediately if needed. I monitor every window and door at once. I can watch over the area and see who is coming from every direction.
There were a bunch of really kind, sweet and fascinating people. There were a lot of hard stories of how some people lived. A woman asked me for 2 extra backpacks for her grandbabies, a little boy, and a little girl. She told me that she only needed one, and that they could share it. I gave her two, a pink one and a baby blue one. She was so excited for them, especially the little boy.
“He’ll feel like such a big kid with his very own little backpack!” She smiled with her face as she raved about her sweet grandbabies, and how excited they would be.
You never know, do you?
Mostly, they thanked us for bringing them food, and water. I could have passed out a hundred meals at that one spot.
Instead, we passed out 42 meals, and 3 cases of water. I handed out all 40 Mag Bags. The clothes bins were empty.
We were there for an hour.
I never even left the driver’s seat.
Because that’s how we do it in Detroit.
Amen.
