Back in winter of 2016, someone at work sent out an email to volunteer at the Brentwood…read morePresbyterian Church as part of a winter outreach, and I thought why the heck not. The request was to help with unloading shipments of goods such as blankets, beanies, scarfs, food, water, flashlight, hygiene kit, notebook, a piece of paper listing places for shelters, job recruitment, and medical attention, and even a handwritten note from elementary school students with messages of well wishes. Once organized inside the auditorium, these items would be filled inside a duffel bag which would then be distributed to the homeless. The goal is not to outright solve homelessness but to help individual people on the streets where they are most vulnerable from the cold, and at times, wet weather.
I enjoyed that experience, on the one hand because I usually get a kick out of manual labor, and on the other hand from the sense of camaraderie. During breaks, Tom, who was the main one in charge, along with a few others in the community would contextualize our efforts with the struggles of people young and old they have met. The topic of housing and rent prices would undoubtedly come up, and this was almost 9 years ago. There was also an overwhelming number of volunteers then. The second time I volunteered was winter of 2020 where most of us were masked up, and there were noticeably less folks.
Fast forward to winter of 2024 (not sure why it's been every 4 years...), and apparently the turnout of volunteers was the lowest it's ever been. Even some long-time sponsors have shifted their attentions away. Although there was still enthusiasm for those that were there, with less help the process was a lot slower. This year instead of just preparing the duffels, I decided to try distributing. After training, we decided to target DTLA in the afternoon and then stop operation at sunset.
Here's a summary of the folks I distributed to:
1) Corner of 3rd and Hill, I met Ernin aka 'Barber Earl' who was a trained barber for many years and enjoys soccer.
2) Between 4th and 5th, I met Joe from East La and Ken from Nor Cal who were trying to look for work using the Planet Fitness wi-fi.
3) Between 7th and 8th, I met Pancho who spoke only Spanish. Luckily, the paper with the list of resources had English and Spanish. Gratis para ti.
4) Corner of Hope and Wilshire, I met Andrew aka 'Rew' who was from the east coast.
5) Corner of Hope and Grand, I met Joseph, Joseph, and Ian, who all met recently and became friends.
6) In Chinatown, I met Cory who was a massage therapist, Mia who was looking for legal assistance, Dior who was noticeably suspicious of me at least initially, Harry who came from North Carolina a month ago, and Diego who was recently divorced and move from Houston for a change of scenery.
Not sure how much of a difference I made. It seemed they were happy to be acknowledged and share a little about themselves. That is the hope.
