LA- Skid Row.

So, I'd like to start this post off by saying I am no expert in homeless issues or homeless outreach. In fact, I know almost nothing about it. I only know what I have heard from Joel and read in books/articles. So, this post is just a picture of what I, a plain old ordinary girl, saw. I have no doubt it is a naive, very incomplete picture but it is my experience nonetheless and I'm thankful for it.

I almost chickened out. I didn't really have a reason for being there after all. I'm not a street medicine provider looking to gain insight by seeing outreaches in Skid Row. I was just curious, really, and wanted to to grab the opportunity to see homelessness in one of the most "in your face" places in the country. So moments before we left I was still saying things like, "I don't know. I don't want it to be like a spectator sport. Maybe I shouldn't go, blah blah blah".

I went. We were a group of seven, with a leader from one of the outreaches leading the way. I think he was probably on those streets himself at one time, and I felt pretty safe with him as our guide and I stayed pretty close to his side:)

First we visited a "harm reduction center" . It is a place for drug users to come and trade out contaminated needles for clean ones, as well as getting other products like rubberbands, condoms, pipe tips...basically everything you need to use. It's a difficult concept, but i get it. They also have sandwiches available and also host classes on things like reversing overdoses with Narcan, etc. While there a teenager who was drugged out of her mind came in trying to find a bathroom (there wasn't one), and took some sandwiches and left. It was really, really sad. She was so tiny and so young.

We left and walked on to a free Community clinic where we toured the facilities and heard the philosophy and were able to ask questions. It was a nice place, really nice, where the directors vision was to make it a one stop shop where most all non-emergency medicine could take place. He said that if the homeless population has to get referred out of a clinic, find buses and connections to take them to another appointment, etc. they often don't go. So, he hopes to rarely have to refer a patient out of the clinic for anything, and it looked to me like they were pretty close to that.

Next we walked to a place that serves the homeless, but specifically the mentally ill population. Their first goal is to get them into housing. By taking away the daily worry of finding a place to sleep and eat, they feel like this frees the people up to focus on getting mental/medical/addiction care that they need. Again, the facilities were very nice and welcoming. They had an art and music program for their clients as well as employment opportunities for them in their laundry and shower facilities/ front desk, etc.

When we left there, though the streets had been pretty crowded and rough, we headed into the depth of Skid Row. I have never even imagined being in a place as overwhelming/scary/sad/surreal. I think the best word to describe it was eery. A street thick with huddled masses. Strange smells (hello drugs). Ripe for violence. Ripe with mental illness and addiction. I don't know, it was hard to process the reality of it all. Plus, in my paranoid state of not wanting to seem like a spectator I didn't really want to stare or even look at anyone. So, I just inhaled the horror of it all and don't think I exhaled until we turned the corner of the street.

We rounded the corner and visited a Christian homeless clinic. It was an old hotel and, though the doctor who gave us a tour was really great, I was still exhaling from the whole experience and all I could think was how tiny the place was and how it needed a paint job. It seemed much less funded than the other outreaches we visited and I wish now I would have asked if that was because of faith-based regulations or what. I also wish I would have asked how the spiritual aspect of the clinic is integrated into their services.

That was the end of the tour. Whew. I thought I would feel guilty walking back to our nice hotel, just a couple of blocks away. I didn't. I just felt thankful for a safe, comfortable place to stay and to sleep. However, on the trip to Santa Monica that evening it was a little too much excess (seeing $400 shirts in one store, luxury after luxury) for our systems to handle after what we had just seen and, though the ocean was gorgeous, we just ate a quick bite and headed back to our hotel.

So, there you go folks. I don't really know how God will use the experience to change my heart. I'm still processing. Joel said it was a warm up for the complete brokenness we will experience in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia when we travel for the adoption. He said it is much, much bigger than what I saw on Skid Row, I can't even imagine.

I'll end with this Franciscan Benediction I read a few weeks ago that Joel reminded me about today:

May God bless you with discomfort

at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships

So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger

At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,

So that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears

To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,

So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and

To turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness

To believe that you can make a difference in the world,

So that you can do what others claim cannot be done

To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

Amen.

Amen and Amen,

Jen