The outreach kept going for the past three days. Presently, I am in a quaint, East Lansing cafe drinking coffee with an old friend. Here we go-
Affirmation:
Street Outreach– What an intense and wonderful trip! Maggie the van was loaded with hygiene kits, clean clothes, socks, jackets, and most importantly- lots of food. We started out in a neighborhood that was absolutely dilapidated. It looked like projects, rows of government housing. More of the buildings were condemned than livable. A lot of plywood windows. I heard that everyone is being evicted by the end of the month. No one knew who we were, so we had to approach people as they began lingering and watching.
“Are you hungry? Do you need clothes? I have some really useful hygiene kits!”
Most people did. One gentleman was confused and took the entire tote of mens clothing back into his house. Traci and I looked around and noticed it missing. He must have been fast! We didn’t even see him! But when we asked him about it, he looked embarrassed and brought it right back. I told him that the clothes were for a lot of people, but he was more than welcome to take what he needed. Just DO NOT take my totes. We are in desperate need of more totes. That’s why I have to put a hold on clothing donations. It’s not that I don’t want them. I don’t have any place to put them.
We took advantage of the daylight and wandered outside our usual zones to find anyone who may need us. One woman we stopped to help told us that she could use our things, at first. But before we could hand her anything, she told us that she didn’t know us. She would rather not. That’s fair.
We started travelling towards more familiar territory. People who recognized us started pouring out of the shadows. I heard my name screamed from across the street more than once. The ladies came running up with looks of pure joy and comfort on their faces. I saw quite a few familiar faces all at once. I saw my Angel baby! She’s alive and kicking!
I received the best, perfect compliment from my Working Girls that night. They told me that they knew that I genuinely loved them. They told me that I cared for them like no one else did. One lady said, “No one says good things about us, or truly loves us like you guys do. No one else is as genuinely on our side. We love you. Thank you!”
That moment was so real, so affirming, that it felt like Jesus Christ himself came down from Heaven all the way to the ghetto to pat me on the back.
If you ever wonder why I’m not more focused on the business aspect, or building my company, blah, blah, blah… that would be why.
Because there is no money to be made. There are people. There are needs. There are people who can all put in together a bit at a time, according to their gifts, and we, as a species, we win. In case you somehow missed it, I, Kayla M. Donaldson, won an award for community service from Detroit WDIV Go For It! The link to the segment is below. It was great to be acknowledged by a Detroit Community icon.
When I hear how much we mean to the most vulnerable, persevering people I know, then we ARE doing the right things for the right people for the right reason. We made good things happen.
Our theme for this week was adapting our Style of Outreach. What we do, where we go, and who we do it for determines how we distribute donations. When it’s busier and we get the swarms, we must be extra alert. We hyper-focus, but on seventy-seventy different things at once. Then we prioritize our attention without losing focus on each person in the crowd. It’s exciting. It’s a mad rush. We’re having fun and being both effective and efficient. We serve everyone and try to ration out donations so that we have enough for everyone who we see that night.
“Those other girls get here before me, and they take all the good stuff!”
Last night was different. Last night we got to take our time and have actual conversations with people. Check in. Get updates on their lives, and the wellbeing of mutual friends. We saw plenty of people who were both desperate and grateful. They were spread out over 3 and a half hours.
The first person we stopped to help was my Little Red-Haired Girl. She was both happy and angry to see us. Happy, because she was hungry. Angry, because she just bought herself an outfit from the Family Dollar because she needed clothes and didn’t know if she would see us.
Someone graciously donated a couple of packages of women’s underwear. Talk about an instant game changer in someone’s faith! She looks like she’s losing some weight. Especially in her face. That’s another reason to need new clothes. I heard her and Traci talking behind the van. I heard the Little Red-Haired Girl tell Traci, “I just want to be clean because it makes me feel so good, and I feel better about myself when I feel good.”
We stayed there for a while waiting for more people to come out and approach the vans. Only a few did. With the weather being warm, I thought for sure we would see throngs. Not so much. Flashlights were a jackpot in the donation this week.
We looked in some alleys, and behind a few buildings, but all the forts and tents had been torn down and disposed of. It means, as you may have read before, that we must try and find everyone all over again. A lot of people with ongoing medical issues, or who were working with volunteers to get back on track but are now lost.
I ran into The Girls Who Reads! I had not seen her in quite some time. That’s because she’s busy with twins! She just had them. She has an apartment. I asked what she needed. She told me she needs everything. So, if you have any baby stuff, I can save you a trip to Salvation Army. Drop it off on my front porch. I even have receipts.
I got to see my best-girl, Darla, Darla’s puppy Baby, and Darla’s Person. When I got out of the van to see Darla, I could not find her. I walked all the way around the Stanbulance, but she wasn’t there. That’s because she was already sitting in the front seat of my van with a smile as big as a pit bull can smile. I gave her some food, and a chew treat. I made sure Darla’s Person, and Baby the puppy, was well cared for, too. Then she followed me back to the van and hung out with me. Her Person came to collect her, but she jumped right back into the driver seat of the van. She turned her face away from him and had a huge grin from ear to ear. What a character!
The day before, I was thinking about Darla and her unconditional love for me. I didn’t have to be anything for her to love me. I just had to accept her love. She doesn’t care if I couldn’t quit smoking cigarettes, again, this week. She doesn’t care about any of the things I am constantly riding myself or judging myself for. It’s not relevant to her love for me. I lay down on the ground of a parking lot like an idiot, and she smothers me with kisses. And in that sacred moment, I understood how unconditional love, how to love as profound God love’s, can be a part of something that can be as unfair as Nature.
We drove up and down the streets looking for anyone we recognized, or anyone sleeping in a doorway. Traci served them all. The nice thing about a slow night like last night, a trickle not a swarm, is that we can spend time with each person. We can let them browse through all the clothing, because the weather is so nice. We can let them take as much as they need, and it always ends up being the people who are normally the last ones served. We can pass out double meals. That’s a big deal, because meals have been on the smaller size lately But it’s something, and it’s (mostly) good for you. It gives each person a chance to be a person and a friend, not just another hand reaching out to the van, grasping for survival.
At one random, bored, moment at the end of the evening. I decided to experiment with my pepper spray. I mean, I had never actually sprayed one before. I walked several feet away and pointed it downwind. I flipped up the cap, then pressed the button. Nothing. I flipped the cap in the other direction and gave it a tiny squeeze, then jumped back. Immediately, even from the one or two tiny air particles, my nose burned, and I began to sneeze violently four times. Traci yelled out, “What’s that awful smell?”
“Pepper spray. I carry it. I should know how to us it.”
An older homeless man who was standing by us and talking to Traci, calmly asked, “Why? You don’t need that.”
He looked me dead in the eyes and said to me, “No one around here would ever want harm you or hurt you. They would have an unbelievable number of people coming after them.”
The power of the unconditional love of God. It’s found in nature. It’s found in people. I found it standing in a gutter and laying on the ground in a parking lot.
Last night was excellent! I have so much great news to share about some of our friends on the street. To share a Golden Girl Moment- “Thank you for being a friend!” Like a fan of the Journey, you “Don’t stop believing!” Excellent adventure we had last night. We got to the church about 1pm. We worked until 4:00, then we packed up Maggie the Van, and went to a tiny little bar to eat named “Tommy’s Place” right around the corner. It’s located at the end of the alley behind the church. Stevie Wonder was back to play a show in Motown last night. Being from Lansing, let me tell you how much we LOVE our Stevie Wonder. (P.S. Songs in the Key of Life is a perfect album) Great food, awesome prices. They have Faygo and Vernor’s on tap. I’ll be back there for sure
We met our first client before we even left the parking lot. Traci and I walked past him sitting on the front steps of the church after we got something to eat. We said “hello’s”. Later he walked across the parking lot to the van and asked if we had anything to eat. He was hungry. Of course we did. I also made good use of the giant rolling suitcases. I packed them with big, fluffy, comforters and pillows. I would squeeze a hygiene kit into the front pocket, and a towel if one would fit. The old man was delighted to have warm, dry, bedding to sleep safely under. I try to make sure that all of your heartfelt donations are utilized in the best ways.
Now, some people comfortably believe everything happens for a reason. Some people greatly appreciate when randomness and probability aligns in their favor. Me? This stuff is too much coincidence to be a coincidence… again. It was a clothing donation from a lady who own a thrift store in Portland that my Sissy, Jennifer, met and connected me to a couple of years ago. She had a wonderful clothing donation of newer small sized clothing. There were small and extra small sized, Fall maternity clothes. They were packed and folded neatly into a tote, and then lost in the piles of clothes spread out between 2 cities.
Last night, in the comfort of a gymnasium with all our donations organized in one place, Traci found those beautiful clothes. She packed them neatly into the street outreach totes. Our first stop was to see a girl whom I had not seen in a while. The last time I saw her was when the medical team informed her that she was pregnant.
The first patient was my dear friend, who is also my biggest fan of my Memoirs of a Changeling, is also pregnant. She ran up to me and held me tight for a long, genuine embrace. Next, she excitedly and proudly flipped up her shirt to show off her swollen tummy. She bragged about what an active boy she has bouncing around inside of her. She’s keeping as healthy as she can. We were able to supply her with an appropriate wardrobe for her changing body. Street Outreach medical volunteers are helping her keep up her prenatal care. I love it.
A lot more people were helped at that same parking lot. I recognized them all. My Pretty Red-Haired Girl came up. She’s so strong and self-sufficient. I never see her coupled up with other street people. Just in the area. I see her get in and out of a lot of cars. I think she’s the kind of person who is too thick-skinned to ask for help. I’ve been building a relationship of trust and mutual respect with her over the past couple of years. That way, when she’s ready, it will be on her terms, and she will have an advocate she can trust. Everyone needs someone on their side.
The crowd of people hovered over totes filled with clothes and shoes like crows. They stood guard over their food and bedding bags. I howled loud enough for everyone in Detroit to hear me. “YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN! GOD HAS NOT FORGOTTEN YOU! YOU! ARE SO LOVED!”
And just like when I was sitting on top of the church as the bells rang, I was right there when the praises rang out from the sidewalk to the sky.
Eventually, we rolled on up the road. The police have been busy the last couple of weeks tearing down peoples tents and forts. I heard that no less than 5 people we know had their shelters destroyed. The next side street we parked on, we had just begun to help our friend, when I got the message to leave immediately. Some people from the business next door were video recording us. Time to go!
The next spot we parked at was to help a couple who were living in the trees behind an empty building. More and more people made their way over to the van. We must have seen another 15 or 20 people. We had one meal left, and one sleeping bag. It was exactly enough for our next stop…
DARLA & BABY! She was happily greeting the volunteers from the medical team when I approached her. She ran full speed up to me and jumped into my lap and smothered me with happy kisses. I told it was time for me to hook up my best friend, and she made a bee line for the van, and hopped right into the driver’s seat! I pulled out some of the dog food and treats that I always bring with me in case I see her. She climbed right in the back of the van and ate the entire baggie of treats from my hand. Then I opened the zip-loc bag of dog food and just let her shove her pretty face in and go to town. Their Person needed medical attention, so Baby, the puppy came and hung out inside the van, too. They were so happy. I’m going to be riding the vibes of that love bomb from those 2 dogs for a while. Even better than that?
Darla & Baby’s Person got an apartment!!!! He’s been working hard at it, and I’m so proud of him. What a long hard road my friend has survived. We talked about the impact that having a home after overcoming sever homelessness has on your head. We had the same conversations with God. “If we could ever be safe inside with access to food again, I promise, I promise God, I will never complain about anything ever, ever, again.”
Now that we have survived all that, nothing on a day-to-day basis compares to that level of fear and vulnerability. Having safe shelter makes everything else in the world feel like a blessing. I love being there to hear and share these stories of success. He’s still panhandling every so often to make ends meet up, but with an address, anything is possible.
When Darla’s Person came to collect her, a large man approached him with a Little Ceasar’s Pizza box, then spoke briskly, but gently. “Here’s for your dogs, man.”
“Thank you, so much!” Darla’s Person replied.
A few minutes later, he opened the box and passed slices back and forth between the pups.
Darla’s Person has a few pots and pans. I have some dishes. His goal is to find a television, radio, furniture, anything to break up the monotony of silence and to get out of his own head for a while. He’s a non-fiction reader. I’ll see what I can do.
My Little Red-Haired Girl asked me if I would please request underwear for the ladies. I have some affordable packages on the Magdalene’s Mission Wish List on Amazon. I have a link to the Wish List on the webpage on How To Donate.
Winter Is Coming…. I’m almost out of coats, and hats. I’m out of gloves and handwarmers. Blankets and socks are on-going needs. If you’re purging your closets, my porch is still the preferred donation drop-off location.
I’m also making a new page on the Magdalenesmission.com website for people to sign up for a meal, or even donating food so that I can make a meal.
Also, if you, or your company, would like to volunteer time at a non-profit, I have a place in Detroit to put you and your co-worker to good use.
For people, by people, through other people, to get to people. People matter.
Remember the friend from the beginning of the report who was pregnant that reads my book? She is the same lady who I sat in the grass with on top of the bridge and I talked to her for a long time while everyone was busy serving everyone else. That day she told me that she bought a beautiful star stone for her daughter. That she was so peace-filled, because that’s what she bought for her daughter ‘s birthday instead of buying drugs. She told me yesterday, that she’s in contact with her daughter who still holds tightly that gemstone as a precious talisman of inspiration.
