Last night was well worth the work. This report has some of the best news I have ever reported!
Also: To the person who donated a case of sleeping bags off from Amazon, you rock. All the handwarmers, boots, and blanket donations lately are perfect, and stupendous.
You saw the 12 suitcases that I loaded for bear? They were supreme. I packed each one with:
1. sleeping bag
2. blanket
3. hygiene kit
4. warm hooded sweatshirt
5. several pairs of warm, insulated, socks
6. handwarmers
7. emergency blankets
8. flashlight
9. tea lights
10. notebook and pencil
11. hat/gloves/scarves
12. Bible (while supplies lasted)
All in one transportable rolling suitcase that one could live out of. Magdalene’s Mission donors are brilliant and generous. Thank God for you, and for all of us together.
It’s a beautiful thing.
We haven’t seen the large groups that we’re used to. This time of year, people are hunkered down. They are definitely not wandering around in this freezing weather.
You can’t really predict how a night will go or how many people we’ll see.
There was just enough room in the van for me and Traci; 12 suitcases, a warm pot of chicken, rice, and veggies that I buttered and seasoned up, a small bin with pants, a small bin of boots, and animal food.
We rolled out as a team and hit the streets of Detroit with gusto.
Our first stop was the house where Ms. GG stays. We had not seen or heard from her in months. No one had.
We pulled up beside the large house, and ten people poured out of it. Everything people begged for was already in their suitcase. It was brilliant. It also emptied out the van at one stop.
One of them was Ms. GG! She had just got out of rehab. She looks great. She’s put on weight. Her eyes twinkle. Her smile still takes up the whole street. She ran up to me and Traci and yelled, “I did it, girls! I did it! I made it through rehab!”
I screamed at the top of my lungs, “YOU ARE FREE! FREE AT LAST! THANK GOD, ALMIGHTY! MY FRIEND IS FREE! HALLELUJUAH! “
We all screamed and yelled so loudly that we gave the angels in Heaven an earache from all our joy, and hollering.
Her grandbaby is three now. Her daughter is deaf, so her tiny granddaughter is already bi-lingual in English and sign language. She gets to visit her sister soon, too. The first thing people talk about after recovery is all the family members they will get back.
She said the next thing to do was get the hell out of where she was.
I asked her if she had talked to a housing resource person yet.
She didn’t know whaat I was talking about. Oh, dear Lord.
I got her a card from a lady who works for NOAH. They do amazing work in the homeless community. This lady gets people into housing. I promised her that she was great at her job. She promised she would call her first thing in the morning.
And THAT’S why we do it. Because there are too many stories with happy endings just waiting to be written.
We are the pen and paper. God is the ink.
Ms. GG is a beautiful story.
Because that’s how we do it in Detroit.
Amen.
