He
Came and sat on our gym floor
Scruffy, dirty clothes, reeking of booze
Body held tensely,
Ready for flight
Eyes – sad, wounded, angry
“I swore I’d never set foot in a church again!” he slurred
I nod sympathetically
“Not all church people are the same.” I said
He ate
Then left
Leaving footprints in the snow
Next night
He’s back
I watch
Quietly he takes a mat and a blanket
Creates a space for himself
He eats
He’s quiet
He stays
Days and nights of freezing cold pass
He is still with us
He smiles more now
This night he shares his pain and his frustration
We
Share gentle words of kindness and encouragement
We
Do not pass judgement
His life has been a sad one
Like all the others
He now greets me by name
“I only had two beers today!” he says
“Way to go!” I reply
I give him a hug
Tonight
He is curled up in a wing back chair in the lounge
Reading a book by the fire
Body relaxed
He looks up and smiles
“I’m going to donate this book to the church library.” he tells me
I smile
I notice he is looking healthier, cleaner
He’s putting on weight
There is a glow about him
I feel sad
I can’t sleep
The snow has almost gone
The temperature is rising
Soon I will have to return him to the streets
Back to the cold
Back to the dumpsters
Back to anonymity and loneliness
Back to the thugs who beat up the homeless
I am angry and frustrated
I will fight for a permanent shelter
But that is little comfort
To this man
Whom I have watched, nurtured, encouraged
Who has just begun to recover
His dignity
There are more than two hundred homeless estimated to be living in Richmond at the present time. They find shelter in abandoned houses, under bridges, in covered parking areas and in parks. There is one, ten bed shelter - for men only, currently in operation and there are few services available.
St. Alban first opened its doors as an Extreme Weather Shelter in 2008. This winter, we saw the longest and coldest spell of weather in decades. During this time, our church housed and fed up to nineteen souls, five of them women, thanks due in part to community agencies such as the Richmond Poverty Response Committee and the Women’s Resource Centre as well as our partners in faith.
Food and volunteers poured through the doors. There is a continued outpouring of support from the community.
As a result of our experiences this winter and of the connections we made with our guests over the 28 days we were operational, St. Alban has become part of a larger community movement to fight for a continuum of housing that addresses the needs of all of Richmond’s residents.
We have also begun a bi-monthly outreach program to continue to connect with and support the men and the women we came to know this winter and to let them know we still care.
The poem is © 2009 by Margaret Alexandra Rose Eng