Comfort

Tonight we talked about comfort levels. One group experienced a man who came up to them at the end of their run and began to sing to them. The only thing is, he moved very close to some of the people in the group and it might have made them feel uncomfortable. They were faced with the daunting question of “What do we do?”. Luckily, the man just sang for a few seconds and then they were able to walk away. But it was still hard, even in the debrief, to come up with a truly good way to deal with someone crossing into your comfort zone. The other group had the opposite experience. There is a man that has become a familiar face on one of the routes and we have started to talk to him regularly. People feel comfortable going down to him and having a conversation with him. Tonight he got excited that we had juice, but at the same time he made sure that we left some for the people who were sleeping around him. I know that it must have taken him a while before he was truly comfortable talking to us with the ease that he does.
It just goes to show you that sometimes you have to slowly get used to a person (or people) in order to trust them. Comfort is something that cannot be thrown at you. When out on the streets, one can imagine the difficulty they must have with finding trust and comfort in other people. Belief in the kindness of the human nature is all they have, and it’s something that we can help kindle.

Introducing... Erika and Elissa!

Sorry for the late post everyone! I still wanted to put up a post to talk about last week’s run even though we have another run tomorrow. Last week we had our two leaders lead the program for the first time and I couldn’t be more proud of them. Elissa May (EMay) ran the programming (reading off the guidelines and directing people what to do while putting the bags together, and Erika Bareiss helped her facilitate. They were the ones that led the groups out into Harvard Square.
While on the groups there was a conversation that came up about the Tannery. The way that it is set up is that we have to go down a set of stairs to get to the people below. On that night we went down and there were two men, one of whom we see sometimes. The other man was one we had never seen before. They were both really friendly and the new man said to us something like “You don’t have to worry about anything girls! You’re safe with me!”. Of course, most (if not all) of us were now comfortable going down there. Once we left we talked about how he had acted. We thought that he seemed like he wanted to seem “normal” almost as if he didn’t belong there. I pointed out stairs in the Tannery and how they could be seen as a metaphor. We had to be able to come down to them. To some people that may be seen as going down to their level, or rejecting our sense of normalcy in order to give what we can. And honestly, I am okay with taking that on. The people in my group agreed with me when saying that we have now become comfortable with it. Showing people that it is okay to be equal is something that we aim to do. If that means that we go down those stairs to hold a conversation and give a smile with a sandwich, then we will keep doing it.

Three Events in a Week

This week was an amazing week for Lesley Delivers. On Monday a group of students from a local elementary school came to visit and learn about what we do. We got to make sandwiches for the next nights run with them, and talk about what homelessness is. We were so impressed with how articulate and well versed in the situation they were. Hanging out with them made our day, and they have had a lasting impression on us. They talked about how they wanted to do more to help people, and they talked about different ways to bring service to their school. We thank them so much for giving Lesley Delivers peanut butter and jelly and other donations. They were true inspirations and we would welcome them back anytime.
The next nights run went well, a man that doesn’t really talk to us talked to a group. Even though he didn’t take anything, it was still great that he felt comfortable enough to make that connection with us. We didn’t see that many people out, which (as stated many times before) could be a great thing because that might mean that they have roofs over their heads.
Another thing I wanted to address is a quick run that a friend and I did this past weekend. On Easter, two of us went on an impromptu run with some of the extra sandwiches we had left over. We also put some chocolate and hand wipes in the bags. The one thing we didn’t have was juice. We saw so many people out, including a few people who looked to be about our age. All of the people we encountered asked for juice. It made us feel terrible that we didn’t have any. I will be the first to admit that I wanted to go into a store and buy some just so that I could go back. But my friend reminded me that we were giving already, and that the bags we were handing out were going very much appreciated. The kids that came to visit had the same feeling when they realized that we deliver the sandwiches late at night and that they weren’t going to be able to come. They wanted so badly to be able to give the sandwiches they made to people in need. But once we talked to them about how big of a help they were already, they were contented to continue their sticky job of peanut butter and jellying. Sometimes we have to remember that we need to do what we can, and not over extend ourselves to the point where we give more than we can. We all have moments were we wish we could do more, but we need to step back and know that we are already giving and that says something in itself.