Friday, June 6, 2008
Meet Fred
This man was digging through the trash can that you see behind me in this picture when I walked up to him and I introduced myself. He immediately said…as he winked at me and elbowed me in the arm “Just trying to make a honest living”.. He was looking for empty aluminum cans. You can’t see it in this picture but he had a wheel chair in front him with a black trash bag with some empty cans in it that he had collected earlier. For being down and out he has a positive attitude, he has made a choice to make the best of his situation and so that is how he wakes up every day, He is alive and so he keeps going.
Meet Tom
He is 56 years old He has been homeless for 3 years now because of something illegal he had done. He states “and it doesn’t look like it will be much less than that in the future” He has never been married and has no children. His dad died when he was in the service. I asked him about his mother but for what ever reason, she has turned her back on him and so has the rest of the family for the thing that “he did”. I was able to share my faith with him and we spoke about unforgivness and rejection. He says “No matter what I will always love them, I just don’t understand how this can be”.
Meet Daniel
Daniel is about 25 years old, had ridden his bike from Maryland and is looking for work. He says he wanted to ride the Appalachian Trail but there is a $50.00 fine if you are caught with a bike on it so he sold it and is now on foot. He as been in this area for about 3 months, he says he only stays about that long any where. He was upset that his back pack was stole. Daniel really did not look healthy to me, he was a little distant… I hope and pray that he will find work and get on his feet.
A family on the Streets
These 3 individuals are in this together. The older gentlemen whose name John, 65 years of age, is the Uncle to the younger gentleman named Harry, who is 20 years old. John says “I made a choice to be homeless to come out here and help these 2 survive”. John has been homeless off and on for 54 years, ever since he is was 11 years old. He has been married 3 times and today he received his divorce papers from this past marriage. Harry says he has been on the streets since February because his mom is a meth addict and got mad at him because he did not want to do the drug with her anymore. I asked him about his father and he said he has been in prison for most of his life on 52 counts of child Molestation and 34 counts of Child Pornography. He met Jasmine who is 18 years one month ago and she is 3 weeks pregnant with his child, She went to the streets because she could not take it living at home anymore. They are applying for an apartment through Government assistance and he is looking for a job. He has still got a dream inside of him for a brighter future. I was able to share my testimony with them; we shared for about an hour. I will be praying for them… They asked me to! They were very thankful for the $10,00 Subway cash cards and Harry said” it is to bad you don’t have about a 120 of them…. If you go just around the corner here you will see the need”… I did do what he said…which was on my route… NO JOKE…. There was a crowd gathered together along the sidewalks, parking lots and buildings… They had back packs and stuff hanging all over the place…I guess everything they owned.... Sad
Meet John
John has been on the streets for 2 years now, he recently had pneumonia and surgery and gets some help from help from a shelter for some meals and a place to stay because of it. He is not married now but does have a daughter who is 34 years and has 3 kids she is raising; staying with her he said is not an option at this time. He shared that the problem with becoming homeless is the system is almost designed to keep you here…It is really tough to climb out of this because of all the deposits and rents that are needed to start again, so he was really not sure of where his future will end up.
Kentucky Unbridled Spirit
I have made it to Kentucky and I am now heading into the city of Lexington Kentucky for a total of 250 miles so far. The past week most of my walking has been on country highways and small communities But the City is where you will find the individuals on the streets, side walks, parks, and parking lots. As I was walking in the city today I walked right by phoenix park, located on 25 north and 421. As I started to walk by this small park in the middle of downtown Lexington, I saw a lady sitting at a table.
Meet Anna
She spoke to me and said “Hello there?” I replied “Hello, How are you today?” You could see she had at least 4 bottles of medicine bottles laying there by her water bottles. She proceeded to share her story with me. She is 59 years old, she has been homeless for a long time. She does have a job working at McDonalds at night cleaning, and she is thrilled to have the job. Four weeks ago, she was staying with a friend and the police came and the stress of the incidence made her have a heart attack, they found that she had fluid around her heart and she thanks the Lord for saving her life. In fact she said “ I said Oh! sweet Jesus please help me and He answered me and saved my life, He brought me from death unto life four times in my life, and for that I just want to praise him!”… She asked me to pray for her before I left and I was honored to do so.
She was so thankful for her $10.00 Subway cash card that a man came up to us and she said.. “A Angel has been sent to us and she grabbed my hands and introduced me to Daniel…
Meet Daniel
He has been homeless since 1970..He was married once and has a son but his son is in prison for crack cocaine…They both sleep there in the park behind a Memorial for veterans, He took me behind the memorial and showed me his card board bed. Here is a picture of these 2 individuals
It didn’t take long and I started to draw a crowd, I shared my original 874 mile walk with them from Cape Coral Florida and how I witnessed so many homeless and broken people along the way and so I am going to walk to Chicago from Dandridge Tennessee as a part of my own healthy life style but to hopefully impact others as well. You know I needed to get up off the couch and do something about my weight to take back my life before it was taken from me… but there are all kinds of situations and circumstances that people need to do something to take back their lives…
From Right to left meet Angela, then Carrie in the middle and you can’t see David very well but they were very grateful for their cash card.
Meet Lenox
He is 28 years old and has been on the streets for 2 years, both of his parents have passed away and he feels completely alone. He seems to have a positive attitude in the midst of such trials, when were taking his picture he said.. Hey don’t forget, Even beautiful people can be out on the streets!”.. So don’t think anyone is immune from being here is what he was saying..
This gentlemen lives here in the park and just lost his leg because he is a diabetic, very nice man!
Another group of people with amazing stories
Let me introduce to you Betty who has been on the streets for 4 months, she is 40 years old and is trying to adjust to this life style… In the middle is Reggie , he is 38 years old and he has been homeless for 2 years and is really having a hard time with finding work. Next to Him is Jimmie, he is 58 years old is from Chicago and has lost all contact with any family members because he had been in prison for the past 9 years and does not know how to get a hold of any one. He really misses them very much.
Meet Naomi and Tabatha
Naomi is 21 years old and has 3 children and Tabatha is 28 years old with 6 children…3 girls and 3 boys, I asked them if there children were with them on the streets and they both said no they were in Foster care for now. That Social service’s is working with them right now to get jobs so they can get their children back. They have been on the streets for 3 months and are really having a hard time but they are thankful they have each other… They are sisters!
This man was limping across highway 31 when we walked by, He made his way right in front of a Subway. As I walked up to him he said “ Hey, can you feed me today?” I said “Well today is your lucky day! I have walked here from Dandridge Tennessee, 874 miles and I am going to walk the entire way to Chicago Illinois to take back my health and change my life. I also want to help the people who I meet along the way who are struggling and just need a helping hand.” His name is Dwayne, he is 47 years old and has been homeless for over 10 years. He was married and has 4 children that he rarely sees any more. He has a limp in his right leg, actually he drags it along. I noticed that he didn’t have any shoes; his feet were really in bad shape. He said “They stole my shoes!.” I said “What size shoes do you wear?” He said “12 or 13?”...I yelled over to the boys.. “What size shoes do you wear son? He said “12.” I said “give this man your shoes”.,, He didn’t even hesitate he immediately took his shoes off an handed them over to him. Dwayne tried them on but they didn’t fit.. I yelled out for J.D and said give him your shoes and let him try your shoes on.. He too..Just handed them over.. But they didn’t fit either. We tired… He decided to stay right there in that spot until the Subway opened at 9:00 am so he could eat. He was so excited!
Indianapolis Indiana
Meet Derrick
Derrick, he was standing outside of a Christian Mission where they have help for the Homeless but he said he was not allowed in and he was very angry about that, He felt they were being partial and he said “but you know what? I think it’s the Lord protecting me because once you get into a mission you sometimes get dependent on it and I am looking for a job, I have a bright future, I want to get out of this!”. He is not married or has no children; we both shared our faith and hugged each other, praising the Lord for His hand of Provision and His protection in our life! As we went to leave him and I started walking away we met another man who would not allow us to take his picture… His name was Phillip and he was very skittish and suspicious, as we began to share with each other you could see someone had wounded this man very deeply.. He was VERY angry and made it clear he was angry. He said “ One day I took a AX to someone’s face and I know no one is every going to **** with me!!!”… His biggest dream is that someday he will be left alone on a deserted Island where there will never be any people to **** with him ever again!!!!… I shared with him my past anger issues and prayed that the Lord would help him to forgive what ever it was that he was holding on to… Anger has already ruined his life.Right next to him a man was sleeping on the side walk in broad daylight…
Next we met Alonzo and Anthony
Alonzo is Homeless and has been on the streets for 2 months ever since he got out of a jail 2 months ago. He is not married and has no children. His profession before jail was book keeping. He had positive attitude even though life was hard right now… Anthony was waiting there to get picked up for work. He is not Homeless at the moment but he has been homeless off and on..He said it is really tough right now…They were both a delight to share with! “They said take care of your self now, You know what they say about Indianapolis don’t you?” I said “No what do they say?”.. “People who come here on vacation leave on probation”… He said “I know that’s sad but it’s true”.
Meet Martin
This man was standing on a street corner, he wasn’t begging but you could see he was in need.. He had a cane and he has been Homeless since February due to a car accident… He has been trying to get disability and he is still battling that and in the mean time he is on the streets..I asked him about the Homeless shelter and he said you are only allowed there for 10 nights per month and then you are on your own..Mine are up..It’s just hard out here.
Meet Amhamad
He is 28 years old, has been homeless since November because him and his mother had some problems together… as I was passing him by I seen him on my right side setting on a ledge. He looked at me and said “Hello” he was reading something, I said “Hello.. What are you reading?” He turned it over and it was the Bible, well you all know we had a great time talking.. We must have shared together for over a half of an hour… We both shared our testimonies together and he read some scriptures that were on his heart for over 30 minutes, then I prayed for him before I left. He was very thankful for the Cash Card and thankful for the Lord’s provision and His divine appointment’s.
Meet John
This gentleman is 68 years old and has been homeless for one year by choice..why? Because he has been married for the past 31 years and just could not take it anymore so he walked out and that was it. I asked him about the mission if he stayed there or was receiving help by them and he said “NO!” for my own reasons. He feels it will only in able him so he has decided he will not be apart of it… I said you are the 2nd person to say this and he told me about the boxes that are all around town on the corners for the people who pass by, They are told not to help the homeless that the boxes are in place to help us but we never see a dime of that money. John used to be a truck driver for all for his working years, he knew the highway’s and help give me directions for when I change my route to Highway 52.
Meet Martin
This man was setting there begging and so we stopped and spoke with him. He is 49 years old, is not married and to be honest his story changed all the time so I can’ really tell you much more than that..Not sure what the real story is? But at least he will eat today.
Meet George
When we first walked up to this gentleman and started speaking with him about what we were trying to do he said, “Oh no, I am not interested in that or any pictures!” and started to with draw. I said “well thank you for your time, Be Blessed” and the boys and I started walking on down the street. When we were about half way through the block he started walking fast dragging his suit case yelling out for us to come back… JD said, Hey He’s yelling for you?” I turned around immediately and walked back to him.” He said “OK! OK! I can take a picture with you; I just had to ask God first if it was OK?” We then shared about our faith together; he had a bible that was covered by a jacket. His Bible had been used a lot it was duck taped together. He was thankful to the Lord for the cash card and that he made the effort to have us come back!…
Meet Amanda
It is 6:30 pm and it was time to go back down town and get back on the route. We parked the car and I looked over to my right and there was a woman setting alone in a empty parking lot on a short ledge, picking at her feet… I went over to her and said” Hello, are you OK?” She said well if you call being Homeless and Hungry OK, I guess I am doing alright.” Well I knew that was my cue I began to share about what I am doing and I asked her if she would share her story with me… Her name is Amanda, she is 49 years old and she is suffering with severe eczema. All over her feet, legs and arms.. she said I just can’t afford the medicine so it just keeps getting worse. I asked her how long she had been on the streets and she said 3 months and I am looking for a job..Believe it or not I am a Nurse. I have practiced medicine for 28 years and then I went into a depression, I am a real clinically depression… I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep my laundry just started stacking up and I couldn’t afford the medicine and I lost my job.. I don’t do dope, or drink, I am just homeless because I had a rough time that lasted longer than I thought it would..But today I was able to get my hair washed and some clean clothes on and I am going to go over to this job opening Monday for a nurse working 3-11pm..The Lord immediately stirred me give her what you have on you… I yelled over to Casey and said “Go back over to the truck, and bring me my purse. I reached in see how much I had on me and I had $40.00 so I said “This is all I have on me, but I feel I am suppose to give it to you” She grabbed me and put her arms around and planted her lips on my cheek an just kissed me… Thank you have no idea what you have done… I prayed to the Lord for the money to get a uniform and shoes for this job and here he has brought you. I said I wish I had more and she said” No I don’t need anymore, I just needed this…and the Lord has granted my request. She went on to say, “I laid out prostrate and cried to the Lord today and he has sent you”…I told her you are the first person I have given cash to, But I could sense the Lord prompting me to give you what had in my purse so He is the one we Praise and give Glory to… I said “Can I pray with you before I go?” She said “unless you want me to pray?” I said “Please by all means, that would be great!” She motioned for the boys to join us and we all joined hands in a circle and she started to pray and the presence of the Lord showed up in a big way!…She prayed first and then I prayed for the Lord to continue to protect her, to guide her, to make a way for her to have this job come Monday and to heal her skin disease…Please continue to pray for Amanda when the Lord puts her on your heart..By now it was almost dark and I said “Amanda where will you sleep tonight?.. She says” I can get into a place over here, they will let me in”.. With that she said,” It is almost dark so I better head that way!” We exchanged hugs and we parted ways…
Meet Barbara
She is 60 years and has been on the streets for a month now.. She has worked all of her life as a secretary and the company that she worked for closed and after a few months and a very difficult divorce she lost everything. She is looking for work every day and she says I have great credit through it all, I made sure I took care of keeping my credit good. I said “Do you have any children?” “Yes 4 step children and one biological child.” I said “Do they know you are on the streets?”” OH Heavens No!” she replied, “I could never tell them, I do not want them to worry about me, besides they have there own struggles, some of them have medical issues, they are raising there own children so No, I couldn’t do that to them.” I told her “You know we can all experience tough times and difficulties at any time in our life, and those are the times when we may need our families…that is what a family is supposed to do. Families are there for each other when it gets bad.” I asked her “where do you stay at night? “Anywhere I can that seems safe. Sometimes the bus stations or air ports will let you stay there, and you can clean up a little. I am still looking for work everyday. They say people do not discriminate with age but that is not true they do!” I asked her if she had ever stayed at the shelter?”. She said “There are only 2 shelters for woman and 2 shelters available for men. The woman’s shelter is full and I am on a waiting list but so far, no… I haven’t been able to stay in one”. I said “That must have been so frightening to be out here the first night alone”.. She said “You have no Idea; It is very frightening out here”… I asked if she had made any friends out here yet?”, she said “she speaks with a couple of girls and there are some guys that are really nice and will kind of help watch out for you. It is dangerous out here!. There are so many people being added to our numbers everyday. A lot of people are committing suicide and there are a lot of fights among the guys to.” This woman was very stable and just had not been able to make ends meat, She said “At least I am not sick, I have my health and I thank the Lord for that. I thank the Lord for this weather, it has been so nice”. We shared together about our Faith and she said “there are a lot of people out here who do not know Jesus but I will tell you one thing, these circumstances make it easier for them to find him, when you’re down this low there is no where else to look but up.” You could tell she had a relationship with the Lord she was completely dependant on him. She wants the Lord to use her to touch the lives out here on the streets as well. I asked her if I could pray for her before we left and she was very happy to have the prayer support. She thanked me again and was so thankful for the cash card; I knew she would use it to eat for at least 3 days.
