Homeless? DID I HOOK YOU?

So... when one nonchalantly mentions I lived in a homeless shelter a person may do a double-take.

Did you?

Want more details? 

I didn't choose this homelessness on a whim.  Earlier in the year you learned about the African genocide.  It's not just other places that have a large population of their population struggling to survive.  It all works into the humanity theme of the year. 

So here's the story.  Stories. 

1998/1999:
Bowery Mission.  NYC.  This shelter actually only has beds for men.  My group (all teens from the northern NJ) actually stayed in the shelter, but on our own floor.  Our accommodations were the same as the guys downstairs: mattresses slung on the floor with only a few inches between them to walk to your own.  We had all sorts of jobs: cleaning, cooking, prepping, organizing, or building.  I opted to build shelves in the basement.  What I DIDN'T opt for were cockroaches the size of a pencil...and not one of those worked-to-tip-and-chewed-on pencils.  I bet those cockroaches spent their entire miserable lives in that basement--- cans, boxes, breads, produce, and seasoning were piled LITERALLY floor to ceiling.  A cockroach would have a happy feast there day in and day out.  I bet if people knew what was going on in that basement, they'd have opted for a different meal--I know I sure did.  Our task was to make that basement more sanitary---wall to wall shelving units.  Work boots were a must  because of the construction dangers.  Although, I must admit, I was more happy to have a thick sole to stomp on scurrying cockroaches.  OH! That CRUNCH.  Ick.  Ever cooked for two hundred people?  Not an easy task.  Ever eaten dinner with two hundred people?  That's where I'll put my money.  Sitting and chatting over dinner was the best part of the weekend.  I met so many interesting people and learned many interesting stories.  My favorite was a group of guys that were actually earning their room and board by cooking and managing the kitchen.  After their kitchen duties, they would sing and write music.  There's no price for seeing the release that singing is and can bring.

More to come...
3 weeks in Yakima, WA
3 weeks in Denver, CO