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February 26, 2008

The Mobile Mission is Union Gospel Mission’s newest outreach ministry. The fully-outfitted Dodge Sprinter roams the streets of Vancouver between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am, deliberately heading down the darkest alleys to bring much-needed supplies and relief to the residents. Whether it’s a sleeping bag, a bottle of water, a referral or a conversation, the Mobile Mission has already brought valuable help to Vancouver’s community. Below, driver and outreach worker Arnie tells of some of the highlights from the first month of operation. (Names have been changed to protect the identity of the clients mentioned.)This is a story of a lady who I met during my first days in the Mobile Mission. Her name is Wendy she is approximately mid-50. She has lived in a warehouse loading bay for the last year and a half -- and I stress lives. When I first saw her domain it made me chuckle. It had all the fixings of home; even Jay Leno was playing on her little colour TV. When I first met her, she declined our help. Even as the days went by and as we have kept dropping by just to say hello, she would again continue to decline our help.
    However, we have noticed something very exciting. She chats with us, and a few more words are spoken the more we drop by. One day recently, we dropped by and were able to spend about 15 minutes talking about whatever she wanted to talk about. It was small talk; nevertheless, big strides for her.
    I get the impression Wendy is a victim of the mental health closures of the late 80s and has been on the street ever since. She is very quick-witted and has the memory of an elephant. During our stop last Friday, the conversation was about her little TV breaking down. After we left, we found a new TV/VCR unit and brought it back to her. She flatly declined to accept it; we left it outside of her area just in case she changed her mind.
    Anyway, the next day we stopped to say hello and to our surprise she asked us if we would stay for a coffee. WOW, this may not mean much to some people, but I felt honored that she trusted us enough to invite us to her humble abode. The conversation was fun and I got the sense that she was having fun, too. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the TV/VCR combo was sitting in the corner.
    I made a remark to that effect, and she stated “I don’t like being a free loader,” but thanked us for the thought of giving it to her. She was about to reveal something, as she put it, “very personal” from her past, then suddenly a friend of hers showed up and the chance vanished. As we left I said to her “we can chat another time” and she quietly said to me “thanks for your respect of my space.” Stay tuned for more updates.
 
    On another evening we ran into a 24 year old male named Trent. He is a nice kid in need of encouragement. When we first met Trent, he resided in a cardboard mattress in an open parking garage in an East Vancouver industrial district. We offered him food and a sleeping bag, which at first he declined, but after some coaxing he accepted. We chatted for a while and discovered he’s a kid with a good heart who is very quiet and shy. We offered some ways to get off the street, but seems to have a low self-esteem and thinks he doesn’t deserve it.
    The next time we spoke to him we were within a hair of getting him into the shelter. At the last second he declined, and so we left him where he was and told him we would be back soon. The next time we met up with him he stated he is “not ready.”
    After leaving Trent we move into our next area, which is the Skeena projects. Within our travels through the projects, we run into Roy who is Trent’s father --funny how God leads. The first thing Roy says is how he would love to see his son in detox and recovery and asked if we could help. The dots are connected: Trent is in the contemplative stage of “I will quit tomorrow.” Sad to say that though, Trent hasn’t been in his usual spot the last few days pray God will help us find him.

 
I would also like to introduce you to Arthur from Abbotsford: he is in his mid-30s, living on the streets of Vancouver for the last 6 months. He has a good head on his shoulders, not on the system, works temp jobs and also struggles with depression. We have helped him via the Blackberry to search out shared accommodations on craigslist. With a little encouragement, he has gone on to secure accommodations for the end of the month. However, as of Thursday, his squat is empty. He said if he gets a place he would inform us via general inquiries to thank us for our help.