(2/3) "It hits the heart..."

Earlier this year the city and Penn released a study examining the process by which Philly closed the homeless encampments in Kensington along with the impact of the closures on those who were displaced and the surrounding communities where the encampments once were. According to the study, “57 percent [of the encampment residents] previously spent time in a homeless shelter; 40 percent of encampment residents surveyed were homeless for over one year, meeting the federal definition of chronic homelessness."

A little over a month ago, Philly Street Magazine, a group of 20-something-year-old entrepreneurs led by Tyjae Sullivan, a former student of mine, set out on a mission. Their goal? Play some role, great or small, in being a part of the solution. With several bags of donated clothes in tow and boxes on boxes of hot pizza along with hot coffee, and other drinks and snacks, twice they went out to feed and clothe their brothers and sisters from other mothers and misters.

When asked why doing this was so important to him, he responded...

“It’s something I always wanted to do when I was younger…and now that I have a business I’d like people to know I’m about my community.”

As important as it was for Tyjae to give back and to be a blessing to others, it also meant a lot to his co-organizers and most importantly, to those on the receiving end of the clothes and food. In this 2nd reflection on those two weekends in November,  I wanted to focus on the people served. Although the question was simple, the acts of kindness meant the world to them!

Me to them, “Why is this important?”

In their words…

“I mean it definitely is a little hard to afford stuff and it’s freezing out.”

“Very important, I didn’t have anything like last week and I came by here and I got boots, which I been tellin’ him I needed them and…clothes I got. I got a pair of jeans from here earlier and…gloves…it’s really important. It’s awesome.” Her opinion of the food? “Good, great! Thank you!”

“It definitely fills the need for warmer clothes, you know what I mean? I don’t really have pants. I was able to get some pants, some new shoes; my shoes were leaking. For her the boots, you know and for self-esteem to get some new clothes, we’re on the streets and to get something like that’s newer, nicer, it helps out, so it—thank you very much!”

“You see, when a person comes out and does something for the neighborhood like this, I think it’s important because it shows the love. It shows love for the fellow man and it shows respect too, because a lot of people feel like they don’t have respect. Sometimes you misunderstand what somebody’s tryna do, but when you find out what’s really going on, you appreciate it! I love you guys, man! Thank you for everything you doin’ and thank Philadelphia for all the good people in there!”

“It’s awesome!”

“Just a blessing you know, thank you…because we’re struggling ourselves. Thank you and God bless you!”

“It turns the tide because you have people that are lookin for positive things in the community and this is one of them. This shows that the youngsters don’t have to wrap up in negativity. This is a good thing!”

Photo courtesy of @phillystreetmagazine

In one of the more interesting interactions, there was one man who declined to take any clothes or food but came back to the site with clothes in his hand. I asked him the same question, why was this important?

Him, “It hits the heart. I grew up in this area. I been fortunate enough to get out. I ended up homeless where I was. So I know how it feels to be hungry, to be cold. I’m in a better situation now.

Me, “Can you tell us what you brought [back with you] today?”

Him, “Just whatever I had to access at the house A few jackets and a hoodie, some toothpaste, some soap, I’m ‘bout to go get some tampons and toilet paper.”

Allow me to insert, that one woman was just looking for a hoodie or jacket when he walked back up with one.

Me, “What motivated you to go back to the house and bring stuff back out here?”

Him, “Seeing you guys out here. Asking me if I was hungry when I walk by, First, I got offended because I thought maybe you thought I was homeless, but I talked myself out of it.”

Part 3 of this reflection will focus on Tyjae’s co-organizers and what these experiences meant to them.

Photo courtesy of @phillystreetmagazine