Just Surviving
An icy wind is blowing the dusting of snow that fell last night. I was outside earlier, but I didn’t stay long. Now I’m sitting in front of the woodstove, soaking in that radiant heat that warms you to your bones. I’m always grateful for the warmth. Years of working with homeless people in all […]
Inappropriate
John’s dark, pain-filled eyes pierced my heart. He stood on Lafayette Square facing the White House. His back was to St. John’s Episcopal Church, a quaint but elegant yellow building. He asked the usual questions homeless people ask us when we start conversations with them. Where are you from? How long does it take […]
Dignity and Respect
I hadn’t been to Washington, DC for our Street Ministry with homeless people for a while. It’s not necessary because William Daniels, our DC director, does an outstanding job of leading groups. But on March 8th, I took Dave Thompson, our Program Director, on his first trip to see the Street Ministry in action. We […]
In the Beginning
Everything he had was in a shopping cart. I watched as the old man shuffled across the plaza at the Kennedy Center to a place where he could sit in the sun on a cool September day in 1987. His unbuttoned coat exposed his bib overalls. He watched me as I crossed the plaza and […]
The Walkabout
After our youth groups with The Street (our homeless ministry in DC) serve everyone who lines up for food, volunteers walk around the park handing out the food that’s left. I call it “The Walkabout”. It’s where most of the impactful relationships between teens and homeless people take place. It can be as simple as […]
A Little Bit of Everything
We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. The denizens of McPherson Square in Washington, DC enjoyed basking in the sunny, slightly cool weather. I arrived late, but the youth group from Fairlington Methodist Church was still serving homeless and other low-income people. TOP turned 38 that month, and I wanted to experience the […]
George and the Sandwich
It was a beautiful afternoon on Father’s Day. The youth from the Society of Saint Andrew’s Harvest of Hope descended on Franklin Park, just four blocks from the White House. As they got out their bags of sandwiches and drinks, about 50 homeless men quietly lined up for something to eat. When I asked how many of them […]
Marcell
We had to weave around a lot of traffic to get to Franklin Park in Washington, DC on a chilly Saturday morning. The youth group from Bethany Community Church was making its first trip with Teens Opposing Poverty’s Street Ministry. When we arrived, the crowd was relatively small, which we expected. It was a better […]
Divine Amnesia
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in March. We had so many clothes for the TOP trip that one of our older youth, Mike, drove his car in addition to the minivan I rented. We arrived at Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House, a little before the meal truck arrived. By the […]
First Time
“Oh, no! Where are we going to park?” It’s almost always our biggest problem when TOP heads to DC to serve homeless people. Drive around the block. It will be OK. Well, OK enough. Each of the four vehicles soon ended up with a place to park. Fifteen junior and senior high teens carried coolers to […]
The Joyful Sacrifice
The cold wind blew right through our coats on a late winter day in Washington, DC. The youth volunteers with Teens Opposing Poverty were handing out clothes at LaFayette Square. The White House stood right in front of us. We had just packed away the few remaining articles of clothing. I think all of us […]
And Yet
The drive to DC on was pleasant that seasonably cold December night. I didn’t have to fight traffic, and the Christmas lights were a joy to see. I went there to take some winter clothes to the guys who stayed around New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. Five men were sitting in a small plaza beside […]
The Guy on the Grate
We were serving homeless people through TOP’s Street Ministry in a little plaza at 21st St and Virginia Avenue in DC. It was directly across the street from the State Department. The plaza was surrounded by a low wall with some bushes on the Virginia Avenue side. The bushes made the little plaza a desirable […]
Look at My Collection
Gerald had a crack cocaine habit. It ruined his life and dumped him on the streets with only the clothes on his back. For over two years he struggled valiantly against his addiction until he finally beat it. He said the key to overcoming a crack addiction is to hate what it does to your […]
Linwood’s Smile
Every time I saw Linwood he was drunk. Most of the homeless people we serve through TOP on Sunday afternoons stay sober. They don’t want to put off the people who are serving them. Linwood didn’t care. He wasn’t obnoxious or threatening, but you could tell he felt no pain. On a chilly Sunday […]
Melting the Ice
Reggie stood beside the pulpit after sharing his story of homelessness. The tall, muscular African-American stood in stark contrast to the all-white congregation. Their eyes were fixed on him as he paused to look around the sanctuary. He adjusted his posture to stand a little taller just before he spoke. “Take the hand of the […]
The World in a Backpack
When you’re homeless, chances are you carry all of your worldly possessions in a backpack. If you’re lucky, you have a place to store or stash some extra things. All too often, everything you own gets stolen, ruined by foul weather, or thrown away by city or park employees. After over 37 years in ministry, […]
3 Things Homeless People Need to Break Free
Preview in new tab It’s not easy to “beat the street.” The road to a better life is full of obstacles and setbacks. I know dozens of people who have succeeded in moving out of the homeless life. They faced the same setbacks as others, but they never gave up. Lots of people throw up […]