Wandering the Streets

 Wandering the Streets

It was around 2:30 p.m. when I started visiting the people on the streets today, Sunday, December 8th, 2024. I've come to understand that the best way to meet people is to walk around, not just set up shop in the trunk of my car to share the water, song sheets, cards, and the occasional case of bananas. 

I leisurely meander, and I visit…

I started at the corner of Ruth Street and Somerset Street, in front of The Last Stop. I walked to Kensington Avenue and down to Tusculum (at the intersection in the opening scene of Rocky, specifically at the 51-second mark). I crossed the street and made my way back up towards Somerset.

Along the way, I welcomed and heard the stories of the people who call this community home. 

A block from Somerset, I saw a face in the distance that I had not seen in quite some time. She was walking toward me, although she did not know it in that moment. She was just doing her thing as she does day in and day out. We got within range, and I called out… 

Hey Kimmy! 

She looked up and gave me a big smile. We met in the middle of the intersection. She initiated a hug and just hung on for a while. 

We had not seen each other in possibly a year. We asked each other how we were doing, and she mentioned how she hadn't seen me in a while. I explained that I'd been moving from one Delaware County location to another. She seemed to appreciate how busy that would have made me. 

Kimmy is an equestrian who almost presented her skills at the Devon Horse Show, but addiction issues prevented her from doing so. 

In the past couple of years, Kimmy has been shot twice in two separate shootings in front of Rocky’s rental apartment that led to the death of an individual in each of those shootings. And I must admit I ask her each time I see her if she has managed to avoid bullets. She smiled today and said yes. 

As we were talking, Dave walked up to us on the corner, and so the three of us were just talking about the stuff of life, some related to the streets, and some just really the things of life. People living on those streets do appreciate the opportunity to not dwell day in and day out and minute in and minute on addiction-related topics. They want to be treated like humans. And that's what I try to do. 

Before we said our goodbyes,

I made sure that they had a new supply of cards to share with people who might be treating them disrespectfully. I also gave them each a song sheet, a fresh supply of water, and one more hug to Kimmy, who again initiated it and just hung on. 

This is a community of individuals living a literal hell. Some people would say they are doing so by their choice, but as the Reagan administration finally came to understand, “Just say no” does not work. Nor does that phrase 

They're just not ready. 

These incredible, inspirational human beings have been made in God's image and are worthy of the highest dignity, honor, respect, and love. The city of Philadelphia must find a way to deal with this situation to represent this concept and provide the care these fantastic human beings would genuinely like to have. 

I pray that Kimmy can get back to her equestrian activities someday. I pray for Dave. I pray for the other estimated 2,000 people living this nightmare.