Seasonal Stirring
“Pardon my drinking. I only do it to manage the pain. I don’t drink to get belligerent. I only drink enough to be able to function.”
Client: “I lost all my toes on one foot last winter due to frostbite. So it’s not easy for me to get around now. I was surprisingly doing well riding a bike. But when we came back to camp the other night, someone had stolen my bike.” (Starts to tear up)
ROC Member: “I got a bike you can have. Let me go get it, and I will be back soon.”
“You all may not hear this often, but there are some of us who really do appreciate what you all do.”
“Is there any way I could have more hand warmers, because it is getting pretty cold at night?”
“I should be getting into an apartment soon. I almost didn’t take it at first because it smelled musty and moldy. But I decided I better take it. Winter is going to be here real soon. It has four walls and a locking door. That’s all I need. I can make it work and take care of that musty smell.
“I am making some renovations to my shelter. I’ve got to get it sealed up for this cold.”
“Hey! I know y’all aren’t supposed to, but if somehow y’all come across any propane, we sure could use it to keep warm. We haven’t blown ourselves up using it in the past.”
“I wanted to let you know they aren’t renewing my lease, so in a few days I will be homeless again. We will see if I will make it through this winter.”
ROC Member: “I know we have met before; your name is (states client’s name), right?”
Client: “Wow, yes! I am impressed you remembered!”
ROC Member: “It’s part of the job. People are worth remembering.”
“I have been out here too long. I’m so ready to get somewhere else!”
“Oooooo! I hate the cold! We really aren’t looking forward to being out here again for another winter.”
Fall is always a season of significant change. The energy is different in the atmosphere. There is a feeling of constant stirring. The wind takes on a howling voice in the woods as it blows, swaying the trees. The various vibrant life-filled colors fade to a solid shade of brown. The ground becomes loud and crunchy, making very small things stirring in the leaves sound like very large things stomping towards you. This week one ROC member almost screamed and had their heart jump out of their chest while walking on a camp trail. All was remotely quiet as they walked along, and then a frenetic loud rustling erupted right next to them! They thought for sure it was an apex predator pouncing towards them! It turned out only to be a squirrel on a mission to find some fallen acorns. The insects buzz and swarm swiftly around this time of year as if they know their time is running short. The air fills with the smell of campfire smoke and becomes crisp to where it makes the back of your throat slightly sting after walking long distances. Everything seems to be stirring as if giving the warning:
“Time is wasting away! Winter is coming soon! Leave this place! Don’t stay here! Hurry, seek shelter! You won’t be safe here much longer!”
Our clients hear, feel, and know this warning that completely surrounds them. You can hear in their voices how they are heeding the proclamations nature is directing towards them. Yes, they dread how uncomfortable the summer and its challenges can be. But there is an innately strong fear of the winter. The winter has the power to kill, and kill quickly. This threat tends to stir our clients. They become more focused. They begin to ask more questions of us as ROC members and how we can assist in guiding and connecting them to resources that will help them escape the winter. We often find them busier within their encampments, making sure their structures are hemmed in enough to protect them from the chill.
Right now is the season of warning. But what good is a warning when you have no way to avoid the warning’s consequences? And those who wield the power and resources to provide an escape sit idle and stall out, saying:
“What warning? What do you mean time is wasting? Let’s not rush! Let’s take our time with this. We are too stirred up to make this decision now. We need to make sure this escape serves the needs and concerns of everyone in this community.”
But it is not their time they are taking. It is the precious life-preserving time of those that are currently (as in right this very second) experiencing homelessness whose time they are taking.
One ROC member said this week:
“I don’t know what we are going to do. How are we going to get enough winter supplies for people? We barely have any blankets or sleeping bags right now.”
Thankfully there is still more stirring that happens every time this season. The hearts of community helpers stir. It never fails how the energy and contributions of different groups kick up between November and December. Just this week we received several hats and scarves from the “Knit Witts” knitting group at Burks United Methodist Church, along with more from a ROC member’s family member who makes winter hats all year long. Our friends at White Oak Bicycle Co-op asked what winter supplies they could collect on our behalf. Our friends at Becaffeinated committed to providing hot coffee for camps again this winter. A local salon, Labella Jewels Salon, committed to doing a donation drive for Christmas. And Brainerd Baptist School said their first graders will be putting together homeless supply bags again this winter.
We know these posts don’t get many reactions and probably don’t get many readers. That is probably due to how long they are and because of how the material challenges and conflicts. This is the point. These posts are meant to stir you up. Be unsettled! Be stirred up with us. Be stirred into action. And through the action of all of us being stirred together, may that result in a recipe of resolution and restoration!
#ROCAndRoll
#ROCRetrospective
#SeasonalStirring
