This past weekend I had an amazing opportunity to travel to San Francisco with our church youth group. They went on a missions trip to minister to the people on the streets of the Tenderloin, and I got to go along as a leader. The Tenderloin is the worst part of San Francisco. It got its name because they had to pay policemen extra to patrol the area, thus the policemen could afford the most expensive cut of meat...the tenderloin. It was quite an interesting place to take 32 middle and high schoolers. We had some great activities that introduced the kids to the life of the homeless.We stayed in a hostel in the middle of the Tenderloin. It was actually a really nice place. It had comfy common areas where the students were able to hang out, and we were able to do a lot of our team meetings there.
We did a lot of walking around the downtown area. Some of the activities were to ask the people on the streets questions about where we could get a free meal, where there was shelter, where the bathrooms were, etc.... The point was to get the kids talking to people and hopefully open doors for sharing the love of Jesus. My eyes were really opened to the horrible way in which these people live. I had an idea of how they slept on the streets, wandered around with shopping carts, and basically scared me to death with their desperation and different way of life. What I wasn't prepared for was the terrible smell that lingered along every street. I was constantly watching my footsteps to make sure that I didn't step in the small "rivers" that ran across the sidewalks. And the compassion that I started to feel as I stepped out of my shell and started conversations with them. I realized that they smell and look the way they do because they have no choice at this point in their lives. I've known this, but being out there and experiencing it really made it real.
One day we packed a sack lunch for ourselves and one for a homeless person. Then we went to the Civic Center, where many homeless people hang out, to hand out lunch and start conversations with people. Some of the people took the lunch and ran, but others hung around to talk and listen to some music.
One of my favorite activities was the "Homeless Plunge". They sent us out onto the streets for 6 hours without any food or money. We were supposed to find a place to eat a free lunch, maybe find a church to attend, find shelter if it rained, and basically see how it felt (sort of) to be homeless. My group ended up going to the Rescue Mission for church, then to Glide (a homeless shelter) for lunch. We stood in a line that wound around the block for about 45 minutes. As I stood in line I saw a sign across the street...Pizza...oh how I wanted some pizza! I suddenly realized that on any day of the week I can have pizza...these people are stuck with whatever they are serving in the soup kitchen. It was a really humbling moment for me. Here I was wishing for pizza on the one single day that I couldn't have it, and these people all around me have probably wished for pizza hundreds of times throughout their lives always knowing that they probably won't get it.
Our last day there we got to do some sightseeing. We took the famous cable cars all the way across San Francisco to the Fisherman's Wharf. I was so bummed once we got to the Wharf and I realized that we had passed Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world, and I hadn't even noticed. When I went back to look through my pictures, I realized that at one point when I thought I was just taking a picture of a cool city view it was actually Lombard Street! I was really excited :)
It was a great trip with many memories made!
One of my favorite activities was the "Homeless Plunge". They sent us out onto the streets for 6 hours without any food or money. We were supposed to find a place to eat a free lunch, maybe find a church to attend, find shelter if it rained, and basically see how it felt (sort of) to be homeless. My group ended up going to the Rescue Mission for church, then to Glide (a homeless shelter) for lunch. We stood in a line that wound around the block for about 45 minutes. As I stood in line I saw a sign across the street...Pizza...oh how I wanted some pizza! I suddenly realized that on any day of the week I can have pizza...these people are stuck with whatever they are serving in the soup kitchen. It was a really humbling moment for me. Here I was wishing for pizza on the one single day that I couldn't have it, and these people all around me have probably wished for pizza hundreds of times throughout their lives always knowing that they probably won't get it.
Our last day there we got to do some sightseeing. We took the famous cable cars all the way across San Francisco to the Fisherman's Wharf. I was so bummed once we got to the Wharf and I realized that we had passed Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world, and I hadn't even noticed. When I went back to look through my pictures, I realized that at one point when I thought I was just taking a picture of a cool city view it was actually Lombard Street! I was really excited :)
It was a great trip with many memories made!
I realize that this is probably falling on deaf ears, but here's a crazy idea: work with the homeless and downtrodden where you live in Oregon. While your intentions are well-meaning, this type of charity tourism does not help and it only furthers the problems and concentration of homeless in the center of San Francisco. If you want proof, look at the fact that people have been actively working to change this issue for the last 30 years and it's only worse now. It's a massive industry at this point. One director of a homeless activism and shelter group makes $150,000 a year and lives in a mansion in the Berkeley hills. His name is Randy Shaw. Look him up and please think twice before doing these types of actions.
ReplyDelete