As we were walking around talking to folks yesterday, I came to a place where several folks who are homeless gather around and talk. It is in a parking lot that is not too far from a main road. Over time, chairs, mattresses and clothing have been brought there to offer comfort. With so many people walking through and bringing food, clothing and other items, things begin to pile up. I have brought trash bags and have watched the individuals who stay there clean up. There is a dumpster not far away that they have been given permission to use. Things can begin to pile up; however, with the amount of foot traffic that comes through the parking lot.
About 1 – 2 times each month, we assist them with cleaning things up while visiting. They seem to run out of trash bags within a week or two, so we walk over to a store that is close by and get them some more. Yesterday we filled up 3 large yard-size trash bags. We gather up clothing while there and I bring them home to wash for them. They enjoy it when I come back the next day with bags of clean clothes! They keep telling me I can throw the clothes away as they are very dirty, but with some hot water, laundry detergent and a little bleach, the clothes come out looking and smelling great!
I gathered one large yard size trash bag of clothes yesterday to bring home. As I was gathering them up, some individuals from another homeless camp were shocked that we would wash clothes for them. I offered to wash theirs as well, if they would bring them there, or meet me at their camp with the clothes. There are about 8 individuals at the other camp, and some of them work odd jobs to help out with food and washing clothes at a local laundry mat. They asked me if I knew how expensive it was to wash clothes at a laundry mat.
We are grateful to help out with this task, and more importantly, to show them that they are cared for and loved. There is no judgement when picking up soiled clothes and bringing them back clean and smelling good. There is only love. This one act has brought the trust level up one notch, and opened their hearts to want to do better! I am looking forward to seeing what comes out of this one simple act of love!