Love is in the air tonight in Detroit. Traci and I heard it while we were driving past an alley in Mexicantown where we saw several pairs of teenagers dancing the salsa arms-length apart. Couples, old and new were a joy to see together.
But wow! That was a crazy night of street outreach!
Dude! We hit one spot. People just kept coming for two hours straight until the van was completely empty of every meal, hygiene kit, blanket, pillow shoe, and article of clothing packed into the back of Maggie the Van.
Traci is a brilliant Tactical Commander. At the first and only stop, she jumped out and I grabbed my data sheet. It was only one woman as far as we could tell. She was talking to other teams while Traci grabbed her a meal and a hygiene kit.
The next thing we knew, an elderly woman approached us for resources. She really wanted to look through clothes, so Traci let her look through a couple of totes. The woman was getting carried away. She managed her perfectly while simultaneously balancing a crowd of demanding people. Homeless people were going back to the abandoned houses and alleys and telling their friends to get food, clothing, and backpacks.
At one point, we saw a young mother. She had three children with her. A boy about 10 years old, a girl about 6 years old, and the littlest looked to be about 4 years old. As you know, as a rule, WE NEVER SEE CHILDREN. But this time… I was able to give them each a backpack, and a new blanket. I even had a pink backpack for the little girl, and she said it was the prettiest thing ever. She was excited to use her pink sleeping bag. She was proud of it. The part that I was the proudest of was that I got to share with them some of MY GRANDMA’S HOMEMADE OATMEAL RAISON COOKIES! My grandma made enough cookies for everyone.
It was marvelous.
By that point, I look up, and one of our favorite girls from that part of town was sitting next to Traci in the van directing the people we serve. She was impressive in action. The first woman was still there and became agitated, aggressive. Traci was able to quell the situation before it became out of hand. She was Ringmaster Extraordinaire.
The majority of the chaos exploded and then finally moved onto towards other resources. When out from the shadows I see a face that I have been grateful to see for nearly 6 years. She looked beautiful. She still lives in the exact same place.
It was the grand finale to an exceptional night. I got to have a nice long in-depth conversation about her life. We discussed her work hazards. We talked about how co-workers in the field whose job was supposed to be maintaining a safe work environment were obviously not conducting their part of the contract. And if they can’t work, no one gets paid.
These workers were putting their safety, health, and lives on the line every day. They had to find and maintain their own clients, provide all their own health care, and then were still expected to forfeit their gross profits for the entire day.
Pimps really need to step up their game.
By the time she and I finished talking, the clothes bins were empty along with everything else. We unloaded at the church, took the backway home, I wrote this, and now I must sleep.
Cuz that’s how we do it in Detroit.
Amen.
