SHOWERS OF GRATITUDE!

"Have you ever had a conversation with an unhoused person?" 

On the last Sunday of September, some members of the SGUUF Social Justice Team opened the doors of the Fellowship House and greeted our unhoused neighbors, who were arriving to enjoy a shower and a hot meal.  Keith Rogas, new to our SJ Team, shares his experience by starting with a question,

"Have you ever had a conversation with an unhoused person?" 

He continues:

"I hadn’t done so until a couple of weeks ago, when I volunteered for SGUUF’s monthly shower day held in the Fellowship House. What do you think an unhoused person acts like? Before this event, I had compassion for unhoused persons but generally kept my distance, because I assumed most of them were erratic if not aggressive, due to mental health issues and addictions. There are unhoused who behave that way to be sure, but Michelle Augustine had been working with the folks we would be visiting with and knew they weren’t that way, although some of them had apparent mental health issues, if not addictions. I confess that I nonetheless had a bit of anxiety as Michelle and I pulled up to the Methodist church west of the city square to shuttle guests back to our church. But that anxiety quickly dissipated after we got out of the truck, and Michelle was greeted with smiles and hugs. After loading a cart that contained one of our guests' belongings, we made the short drive back to SGUUF with three of our guests, while one rode his bicycle (and almost beat us there) and two others came in their own vehicle. Lauren Tunnell and Zach Hunter were ready for us when we arrived, and Michelle’s daughter and grandson also joined us.

Our guests had to be disciplined due to the limited quantity of hot water in the tiny water heater in the Fellowship House and the number of guests, seven, who showered. After another quick trip to the road leading to the courthouse to shuttle our last guest, I sat down with a group of them while they ate. I had a great time! One of our guests, who was only a few years younger than me, grew up in Austin like me. It was great reminiscing with him about that sleepy college city filled with students and government workers that we grew up in. His dad and brothers had owned multiple restaurants, and he had spent many years in the restaurant business, including working as a consultant to a restaurant to determine the number of employees it needed. I wondered to myself how he ended up in his present circumstances. I also talked to a young man who had been in Georgetown for a few weeks after having been in Austin. While waiting for some of our guests at the Methodist church, he told me that he hadn’t eaten anything since the day before, so, given that it was mid-afternoon, he went and sat under a tree to eat the food he got at the Methodist church. Despite his circumstances, he had a friendly disposition and was polite and grateful like all the other guests. At the Fellowship House, he and I got a little rowdy, laughing about various movies we had watched.

The third person I sat with was quiet, but occasionally spoke up with the answers to questions that neither the two other guests nor I, who were sitting together, could come up with. When I shuttled him back after the meal and shower, he talked about how he had two interviews at restaurants the day before, which were unsuccessful, but that he had three more interviews at restaurants the following day. He thought out loud that he had shaved the day before for those two interviews, and with an optimistic, anxious tone, said today he had both showered and shaved before the interviews the following day. Michelle told me the next Sunday that he got hired at one of the interviews the following day! That was a big step in the right direction, but Michelle had previously told me about unhoused persons who worked but didn’t make enough to afford permanent shelter.

What a blessing it was to me to participate in this event. I informed Michelle the following Sunday that she was stuck with me because I planned to volunteer for every subsequent shower day I could. It was a great experience. But I have a lingering unease about the jovial and seemingly innocent young man. I wondered when the last time had been that he had had a good laugh before shower day? With the (hopefully) many years ahead of him, what will be the road he travels, and will he still be ready to laugh in the future?"