Last week, I got a call from someone who’d heard of my work on the streets and asked how their church could help. All of my clients are unhoused, or they live inside some abandoned structures without heat, as I once experienced. So I thought of the coming weeks and how bitter cold it will be. I immediately said I’d love to be able to give away long johns this Christmas.
This time of year, homeless people will receive all kinds of gifts from the places they frequent. But, with the pandemic and concerns about safety, a lot of those contact points have been eliminated. You cannot understand the importance of those highly valued garments by those experiencing homelessness. They can be a difference in making an uncomfortable situation at least bearable.
Some years ago in Michigan I had tried every way I could to work my way out of homelessness, including working any temporary jobs I could get. I was registered with two temp agencies and a labor-ready type of one. I did everything from wash dishes to light-industrial work, including shoveling snow at apartment complexes. I worked in the snow without boots because I couldn’t afford them.
One of the things I remember fondly is taking an assignment as a bell ringer for a well known charity. I was assigned to be outside the entrance of a big box discount department store in Ann Arbor. I rang that bell for 8 hours a day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s bad enough to be cold as you move around, but try standing in one place all day. I guess I was still noticeably freezing, wearing sneakers, even after following the advice to stand on multiple pieces of cardboard.
A lady walked by and asked, “aren’t you cold.” She walked past, unassuming, into the big box and I continued to ring that d*** bell. Low and behold, she later walked up and handed me a bag. She kept going without a word. As she moved toward the parking lot, I peeped into the bag and, what do you know, in it were two pairs of long johns. I looked up and she was gone. She had put nothing in the nonprofit’s kettle but she put something in mine: the gift of warmth.
So this time of year, I think back to that Random Act of Kindness towards me that day. I want others who are experiencing homelessness to feel the same warming security I felt when I ran to the restroom and slipped on that game-changing anonymous gift. I hope others will do that too in coming weeks as I ride around giving 100 pairs of this precious gift provided by a church congregation who have demonstrated they really believe they are their brothers’ keepers
