February 27, 2024
What a night! This one definitely was an adventurous one! Lots of laughter, and a few unfortunate tears. I went out with my best bro, Nick, again. We went to several stops. The weather was unbelievable. It was supposed to be a nasty storm on us last night, but the temperatures stayed in the 60’s, and nary a drop of rain. The warm weather meant more people were outside. More people rustling about, means a higher police presents. I think I saw more cops out last night then in the entire three years I’ve been doing outreach in Detroit.
As a matter of fact, they were stalking the first stop we went to. The whole situation there was queer. We pulled up in front of a house that was in a neighborhood that didn’t have many houses left standing. Most of the ones that were, were condemned. We happened to stop in front of a house that I would have assumed was condemned, but there were lights on. The first thing I heard from the leader of the medic team, was, “Stay in the vehicle. Do not engage with the person coming out.”
Dang.
I saw a man come out and approach the ambulance. He left the front door of his house open. I could see a man inside the house who was painting a large lotus flower on the wall. Like, a four foot tall lotus flower. Cool, but not common. Then I heard another update: “Cops at your 10. Be ready to leave quickly.”
So the cops turn on their lights and pull next to the ambulance. They talked to everyone on the medical team. They pulled out everything in the bag of food, and harm reduction equipment that the medics gave him, and laid it out on the hood of the cop car for inspection. Nick and I just sat silent and stared, grateful to be ignored. Next thing we knew, everyone was packed up, and we got out of that area as soon as possible.
Our next stop, we saw a woman walking alone. She was homeless and very hungry. She became excited over a purse with hygiene products and I had clean socks AND clean unders this week. Very big deal. She was so sweet and so tiny. As I was finishing up with her, I heard another woman hollering from across the road.
“Hey! You got food? I need food! You people got food left?” She walked straight towards me with a purpose.
“Yes, I do, sweetheart. I have plenty of homemade food right over here. Come get some. I’m so glad we saw you!”
I remembered this woman. She is a veteran of two armed forces. She can’t understand why her government threw her away after she gave her body over to their wars. No benefits. Just sacrifices in exchange for homelessness. I meet way too many homeless veterans. As an American, it’s embarrassing.
We drive on.
The next stop started off as a drive-by. We were at a red light. I saw a man holding a sign, so I grabbed a hygiene kit from behind the seat, and Nick passed it to him out the driver window. Then, we turned the corner. There were about four more people at different corners of the bridge intersection. We pulled over to the side and turned on the hazards while I served people food, then grabbed them a fresh, warm outfit, and a hygiene kit. Someone was pulled beside us at the light. He saw what we were doing and gave Nick a big thumbs up. Nick yelled out, “Thank you! Look up Magdalene’s Mission on line!”
Our next stop was a bridge on the express way. It was a very steep pitch. The trail of mud was only a few inches wide. The tent was expertly hidden. No one answered. Our leader sniffed for a dead body, but didn’t smell one. I left one meal, and five hygiene kits for when they returned.
The next stop was a lot. We went to a space in between two empty buildings. It’s where my darling Marilyn Monroe stays. I was helping the throng of people who came from everywhere. I needed Nick’s help. I was serving five people at once, and then more kept coming. He passed out food while I did clothes. One man was getting pushy and aggressive. He kept asking for things, and then reaching around and stealing them. The medic team had to step in, and get him away. It’s good to know that we all have one another’s back.
People poured out of every shadow. I had to pee so very badly. I drank a lot of coffee all day prepping for outreach. We were parked next to a gas station, but the man behind the counter said, No public restroom. I gave him pleading, sober, eyes. He was neither moved, nor phased by my stress.
The next stop was pretty exciting. We saw our favorite Harm Reduction outreach person, Andy!!!! We also met up with the incredible lady who has been working relentlessly to get our homeless friends into housing and off the sidewalk. I tried to use the restroom there, but the sign on the door said “NO”.
Nick found one of our very vulnerable ladies. He was so sweet as he led her over to me for help with clothes. She is mentally disabled. She talks very slowly, but she is the sweetest little thing. As soon as I got her all loved up, I looked up and saw another girl I know well.
It wasn’t that long ago that when I saw her, the side of her face was swollen the size of a softball, and was green and yellow from bruising. I got her to let the medical team take care of her. For me she would do it. This time, I took one look at her and she looked at me. I saw that both of her eyes were blacked out by the biggest bruises I’ve ever seen cover someone’s eye. I never saw a boxer look that bad after meeting Mike Tyson. I’m not exaggerating. As soon as we locked eyes, my arms flung wide open and we ran to each other. We hugged so tightly. I just kept rocking her in my arms saying, “No baby. No. No, no, no, baby. Oh Lord, please. Lord, please. Oh, my baby girl.” And I cried, then she cried. She told me that she went to the hospital emergency room this time. She promises to update me in a month when she gets out of rehab. If you pray, please pray for her. I’m crying as I type this.
We took care of many more people at that spot. We ended up rushing back to the place we just were to meet a patient. Another assault victim. I found a telephone pole down the alley. Relief.
I saw my Ms. GG, though! I didn’t recognize her at first, because she had her hood up. Then I heard her voice, and we ran up and gave each other a great, great, hug. She is feeling better now. The bad person who hurt has been removed from the area. She told me that the guy who beats girls up has been busy. She listed off at least four other women off the top of her head that have been attacked in the last few days. One of them was cut in the face badly. Another girl, she told me, was pistol whipped.
After that spot, we were cleaned out of meals, hygiene, and most of the clothes. It was definitely a productive, successful evening of outreach in Detroit.
Magdalene’s Mission is down to just under $40 until the Valentine’s Day Fundraiser money comes in. I’ve got the help I need to get grants written. You can pray for us for that to happen. As soon as it does, PEPPER SPRAY. Ms.GG says she would like to buy our girls tasers.
By the way, I finally used up all of the packed hygiene kits. They were a thousand hours of work saved for us. Buckle-up youth group! Im going to be hitting you up soon!
Last night was another beautiful example of using all the myriad of gifts that people have, and we put a little bit of everything together and we did GOOD.
I’m not exactly sure how we’re going to make it out next week. I do know for a fact that if God wants it to happen, it will.
Speaking of miracles- I took Maggie the Van to Hamburg Garage for an inspection. I’m still waiting for the bodywork appointment. March 25th. I knew that after the wreck she’d been in, it was dangerous to not get it looked over for safety before I took her out to Detroit again. The mechanics were shocked. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the suspension, tires, alignment is perfect. The only thing that she needed was repair to the body, an oil change, and she could use a new battery. The Stema’s got that. I got the oil change, because Maggie’s health is integral to Magdalene’s Mission.
So for next week, if I can make it out, we’ll be duct taping her back together and calling it good! I’ll hustle up some help for building new hygiene kits. If anyone would like to utilize their OCD, or autistic disposition to sort thousands of tiny hygiene items, contact me. Wen and Julie have been reliable to make sure people can eat one real meal a week. Clothes are never ending, but I’ll sort and pack an appropriate assortment for next week. It’s a lot of work. But it’s for so much good. When you have something inside of you, and you use it for good, the whole world gets brighter, One tiny spark of life at a time. Until one night, all I can see are the fireworks display of humanity.
Because that’s how we do it in Detroit.
Amen.
