When the mercury plummets, the winds howl, and the snow falls, we desire to keep our unsheltered neighbors warm and safe. See a need, meet a need.
In this episode, you'll hear about the efforts to transform our warehouse into a warming center, our need for community support, and a heartwarming story of transformation through 4 words, "food, safe, thank you, and bye."
To learn more about TRM Ministries: Click Here!
To support TRM, Click Here!
When the mercury plummets, the winds howl, and the snow falls, we desire to keep our unsheltered neighbors warm and safe. See a need, meet a need.
In this episode, you'll hear about the efforts to transform our warehouse into a warming center, our need for community support, and a heartwarming story of transformation through 4 words, "food, safe, thank you, and bye."
To learn more about TRM Ministries: Click Here!
To support TRM, Click Here!
Our dearly Father, we thank you for this day and your blessings and provisions. God, we thank you for this time and this podcast. Lord, we thank you for all of our listeners and pray that they would be blessed and safe today, during this cold weather. Lord, we thank you for our generous community that is supporting us through this time and Lord, just pray that Lord, all of our unsheltered neighbors, our guests, our staff, our volunteers and Lord just, our community would stay safe during this time. Lord, we love and praise your name, amen.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody. You're listening to our Community, our mission, a podcast of the Topeka Rescue Mission on this first podcast of 2024.
Speaker 3:Good, morning Amen this is actually Tuesday.
Speaker 2:January the 9th, and we normally put these out on Wednesdays, but we have a very special podcast that we want to talk about today. It's number 205. Wow.
Speaker 4:Isn't that great. Yes, every time I hear it, yeah 205 times.
Speaker 2:That's pretty awesome. We want to thank Josh Turley for that, who is always the silent guy down here with his finger hovering above the kill button. You guys did give me a mic a couple episodes.
Speaker 1:Oh.
Speaker 2:I try to use that every now and then. Did we give him a mic? We did Okay, All right Well he's a mic guy anyway.
Speaker 4:So, yes, I think we might have been threatened. Uh-huh, I think so.
Speaker 2:So not only is this the first podcast of 2024, but it is also a very important subject we're going to talk about today. It happens to be National Law Enforcement Day, and we want to just pause for a moment and just thank all of our law enforcement professionals locally and statewide, nationally, who have a really really hard job, especially in times like this, and so we want to thank them for that.
Speaker 3:Can I give a thank you? I didn't talk about this before, but I think I need to give a thank you for this past weekend, so I actually ended up being one of those people one of those people that got out in the weather.
Speaker 3:I was heading to my daughter's basketball game, but I had no traction with my car and ended up in a ditch. And so I'm not sure if anybody on here from Jackson County Sheriff, shawnee County Sheriff, the Topeka Police Department, holtons Police Department, but everywhere we just thank you for what you do. And I had someone come out and help me and he was so kind. The dispatcher was kind. I had even apologized and they said that's what we're here for and I thought it really isn't because you have so many other things to do. But I was so thankful that not only did I have someone that I could count on from law enforcement that would respond, but also to respond so respectfully and kindly and we were able to get it out of the ditch so that he didn't come on long, say what are you doing?
Speaker 2:No, and he had every right to. Let me tell you so anyways.
Speaker 3:But I think you know, sometimes they just have a hard job and they wear mini hats and we probably don't say thank you enough.
Speaker 2:And he went the extra mile. He could have said call tow truck, but he didn't. He helped you get unstuck, pushed me out after I said I was nervous.
Speaker 3:I said I don't want to run backwards on you and he goes, may I not? Just keep going, it's okay and I'm like okay, but anyways, this stuff.
Speaker 4:Yes, we know what we're doing.
Speaker 2:Well, there are all kinds of crises that will occur in weather like this, and certainly we remember last year in December Actually the year before last, no, I guess it was last year in December when we had that incredible cold stretch that came through. Actually it was, it wasn't last year.
Speaker 3:It was the year before last December 2022.
Speaker 2:Are you all confused now?
Speaker 3:Welcome to our mission.
Speaker 2:This is the first podcast of 24.
Speaker 3:To start over.
Speaker 2:We should anyway it. We had those incredible wind chills and the rescue mission, in conjunction with the city of Topeka and many great volunteers and agencies, opened up the warming center at 206 Northwest Norris and and brought people in and saved lives. And so, as the weather was looking like it was going to be very, very challenging again. Amanda, you, as executive director, to pick a rescue mission, got together with what's called the extreme weather task force, which is a few people in our community to talk about what are we going to do? So what are we doing? What is happening? You were on television yesterday talking about this. Some really great interviews there. The shelter was opened up at 8pm last night, but give this the kind of the basic of what it's for and what are we doing this year.
Speaker 3:So you know it in a nutshell is, when you see a need and you can meet it, it would be so wrong not to do it. And so sometimes that need is food, sometimes that need is water, and sometimes that need is safety and shelter outside of weather elements. And the weather elements can be different. You know, in the summertime we worry about heat and dehydration and sunburns and things like that, and in the wintertime we worry about hypothermia, we worry about frostbite, dehydration, just because of different things. And so there's not really this cut where we say, ok, it's a certain temperature or it's a certain precipitation, it is. We have to really be monitoring whatever type of storm we're going to be getting and then really understand as much as possible the safety factors that can come into play.
Speaker 3:So for this particular storm, I started watching it last week and what had me nervous at the end of the last week was we were going to get so much precipitation before the temperatures dropped. So on one hand I've been asked well, why would you open something when the temperatures were a little above freezing? And my response to that is because when we're talking about people that are living unsheltered, if they become wet from rain, sleet, snow. What then happens is their bodies are not able to regulate body temperatures effectively, and there's just a lot of different things that can happen.
Speaker 3:You pair that with dropping temperatures and you pair that with wind gusts I mean, even last night we had the wind gusts of 20 miles an hour. They were expecting and predicting up to 45 miles an hour. We still are gonna see some more coming in. So that's essentially what all we juggle is. We can't just base it off of temperature. We can't just base it off of only precipitation. We really have to look at all the different elements, and what had me concern was our neighbors were gonna be facing 18 to 24 hours of basically pure precipitation in the form of rain first, and then it was some sleet, then it was snow, then it rained a little bit more and then more snow.
Speaker 2:Many of them don't have roofs over their heads or even a good tent.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 3:And all their stuff gets soaked Right, and so then it's almost impossible to get dried off, unless you have a main heat source, which is fire but we don't recommend that either and so then it really becomes life, death. It becomes some pretty big physical challenges, and so that's when I finally, with the help of just an incredible team on Sunday, I said I think we just need to move forward and be prepared Logistics-wise and as far as team support with some community agencies. We already had that in place. So then it was just a matter of okay, let's get the building set up. And so our staff at TRM I don't know how many hours we worked on Sunday, just moving things out of the warehouse, because everybody woke up on Monday and thought it was Tuesday.
Speaker 2:That's how many hours were worked.
Speaker 4:Correct, yes. I'm not sure I know what day it is right now. How many times do we say what day is it? Yes?
Speaker 3:yes, and so, yeah, they were incredible. So it's definitely not one person can make this possible. It is the Lord just putting the desires on our hearts and the worries, and then you see consistencies, and then you just see people that all are like-minded and wanting to help, and the next thing, you know, you see great things happen.
Speaker 2:Let me ask you some hard questions here. This is not something that TRM has set up all the time. No, it's a warehouse for other operations. How challenging is that, at the turn of a dime, to say we're gonna quit doing certain operations or have to and Maryam, jump in on this because this is part of your area as well supportive services. How hard is it to just flip it over and say we're gonna clear out this space and create it as a shelter?
Speaker 4:Well, I'll tell you, it was really pretty humorous because we were thinking, okay, maybe it won't be too bad, we won't have a lot to move out of there, not thinking about the fact that Christmas just ended and so all of the decorations from all of the buildings and all of the stuff that we use at Christmas was sitting on the west side of that warehouse and we're like, okay, so we have a little bit of stuff to do, so it takes some coordination.
Speaker 2:What about this gigantic food trailer? Well, there's that that was parked in there.
Speaker 4:Yeah, there was that, and having to then clear out the west-east side, whatever side, that side where the sun comes up the east side so that we could move the trailers in because we needed to have them in a safe location. So, but it just happens, we have a team that is flexible and just rolls. They just roll.
Speaker 2:They don't say yeah, but yeah but. No, not one We'll find a solution, whether it's your food services people, your distribution services people, your outreach people, your shelter, everybody, everybody, everybody.
Speaker 3:And just that one building alone. I think it's important to note it impacts a minimum of four departments, because we have food operations happening there because of our freezer and our cooler. We have facilities and maintenance because they have things stored there. We have the distribution center because they have things, and that is where street reach operates out of as well, and so it's not like Miriam and I just have one person to talk to because we've got multiple people using that building for multiple purposes, and the fact that we can bring those leaders together and just say, hey, this is what we need to do, answer a few questions they may have and then they run with it and the next thing we know, Miriam and I are able to do another 10 different things on the list that need to be done, because they're doing it all.
Speaker 2:Two more questions. Why don't these folks that are outdoors just come to the homeless shelter, called to pick a rescue mission? There's a men's shelter and there's one for women and families, so why don't they just come in?
Speaker 3:You know, I think I'd like to answer that question maybe with another question, and that would be think about a time when any of us were in need. How easy was it for us to go to someone to get help with that need? Most of the time we struggle regardless if that need is needing shelter or if that need is needing help financially. Maybe it's a physical need because we're down with some kind of ailment. It is not easy. I have never met some person that just walked up to me and said, oh yeah, it's really easy for me just to come and ask for help.
Speaker 3:So my first response to that is any time we question someone that is unsheltered, or really anybody, if we could just question ourself first to say, well, why would I struggle with that? Why wouldn't I just come into the shelter? Why wouldn't I? And so there's lots of answers in that One. You know there are animals that they're worried about. They're their pets and so they can't come into our shelters because of the way we're laid out with animals, and so that's difficult. We have some that have not been clean for very long, so they're in the middle of still utilizing drugs because they're not ready for that next step yet Cleaning in regards to drug addiction.
Speaker 3:Yes, and so our shelters, we say you cannot actively be using At the warming center. We don't want that to be a barrier, and at the warming center the structure is different because people are not yet going there to seek rehabilitation, whereas at the shelters they are. What's amazing, though, is we had an individual last year and we could not get him to come out of the tent to go to the warming center, and it took the outreach teams three or four attempts and finally they did Got him out, and the next morning his entire tent and tarp was collapsed, and I have no doubt in my mind that I'm not sure he would have made that through. That individual utilized the warming center, but did go back out on the streets, and our team continued to engage him, which he was really standoffish, really wasn't interested in quote unquote getting help, and over the course of several months, myself and many team members just continued to engage with him. When we had the opportunity, we would remind him we're so glad that you came into that warming center. Thanks for trusting us with that.
Speaker 3:We know that that wasn't easy, and I'm proud to say now that that individual came into the shelter last November. It took him 11 months, but he finally got the courage to be able to be in a congregate setting with other men. He started working in our kitchen, volunteering, and I had been asking him to promise me since the summer that he wouldn't do another winter out on the streets. And he said he couldn't promise because he didn't wanna break a promise to me. And this went from a man who wouldn't speak to me at all to caring enough for me that he wouldn't promise me something that he knew that he couldn't keep.
Speaker 3:And so when he came into the shelter, a chef and some of the shelter staff called me and said hey, so and so is here, and he just wanted us to reach out to you so that you knew he still can't promise you, he's gonna do everything, but he's at least taken the first step. So he was successful in our shelter for several weeks as he was awaiting to get into drug treatment, and that individual is in a drug treatment program right now, halfway through. And so it's just incredible that there are a lot of barriers and challenges that could prevent people from coming into the shelter or coming into the warming center. But we cannot be frustrated with that, nor can we judge, because he finally did say a yes, after multiple attempts and then after months, then because of the warming center, something that he didn't even wanna utilize, but finally did. That started a different rapport and relationship and now that individual is clean for a minimum of 45 days and is in that program.
Speaker 2:Mary Melamanda used the word. It took him a lot of courage to do that, which it does for lots of different reasons. What else does it take? What was in that process that you heard about with this guy? That was not just his courage, but that was some of the essential elements for him to go from where he was to where he is today.
Speaker 4:It's about just they just continue to love on him right. They persevered, they weren't deterred, they didn't feel like okay, he said no, it's hopeless. They just kept saying, okay, not yet, but we're gonna just keep building relationship, and building relationship, and building relationship, and that's why it worked.
Speaker 2:We can't get around relationship development, can we? Because we would love to say housing will solve it, or food will solve it, or money will solve it. All those are essentials, but without healthy relationship of trust building, which takes time, and a warming center is just a tool in that process like it was in your account there, Amanda.
Speaker 2:All right, let me ask you another question. This is the hardest one. It's blowing snow out there right now. It's cold. It's gonna get really, really cold here in a few days. Don't know how long the warming center's gonna be open. It's gonna be based upon volunteers and resources to keep it open, because it's not a guarantee. Topeka Rescue Mission shelters and serves a lot of people throughout the year, Every day, 365 days a year, 24-7, reaches out to the unsheltered homeless. Why is it the responsibility to Topeka Rescue Mission to open up this warming center and not somebody else?
Speaker 3:I don't think it's an and or I think it should be in addition to so. I think that Topeka Rescue Mission, it is our role. When we know that there is something that should be done, it's our role to do it and we follow that one because of just the commands the Lord has given us. We believe a staff that he told us, because it's in scripture, to love him and to love people. And knowing that there are people and that I have no right to determine if they are owed or if they deserve shelter that's not that I am not that person to make that opinion that God has not asked me to decide why people can't access things. He hasn't asked me that. He didn't tell me any of that. He told me to love people, and you just can't tell me that you would want any of your loved ones to be out there in this. That's not loving them, and so I view our unsheltered neighbors as my loved ones and I need to take care of them in the same amount of as possible as I do my family, my friends. They are my friends and so is it the Topeka Rescue Mission's role to open up? Yes, because we have the building, we have the facility. That belongs to the Lord. It doesn't belong to us. It doesn't belong to our staff. Anything that we have been blessed with God is depending on us to then serve our community with them.
Speaker 3:Now, my other thing that I would like to say with that is we cannot and should not be doing it all.
Speaker 3:Our unsheltered neighbors do not belong to TRM.
Speaker 3:Our unsheltered neighbors are constituents of Topeka and Shawnee County, and so anyone else that's in Topeka and Shawnee County who claim to be for the people and to claim to love people, they should be trying to find out what their yes is, and sometimes that is churches or agencies or businesses that can provide food.
Speaker 3:Sometimes it's people that can provide manpower Sometimes. I'm not saying that everyone should be able to open a warming center, but everyone in this community should be able to help out somehow, and the least amount that I think is needed right now is that people really become informed on this topic, and homelessness is a topic. It's not people. People are not homeless. People are people, and so the Topeka Rescue Mission has for 70 years and, lord willing, will continue for another 70 to be the leader and to love people the way that we see, regardless of people tell us we should or we shouldn't, and we should take those first steps. But I am saying that there are other people in this community that should be stepping up as well and finding what way they need to love on people as well.
Speaker 2:I think that's a great answer to that. I mean, if during this particular cold snap and again last year, if Topeka Rescue Mission and all of its wonderful supporters, volunteers, the staff, would not have come around this, it may not have occurred when there was a minus 40 below windshields and may not have occurred here on January, the 9th of 2024. Not to and I ask you that because you're the executive director now. I wouldn't want that question asked me when I was executive director, because it sounds like you're being proud, but you're not. It's a need. It's not like to pick a rescue mission as the only game in town, but it's the only game in town that took this on at this point and so. But you're also saying that there's needs out here that one organization can't take care of. We've been saying that for a while, haven't we, maryam?
Speaker 4:Oh, my goodness, as long as I've been here, that's for sure.
Speaker 3:And you know, and it's not just about groups, I mean, it's about even as an individual. So last night I came off the streets it was probably 1030, 1045 and we were transporting people, and so we pulled up in front of the warming center to drop off two people that were going to seek refuge there, and there was a U-Haul truck and I had noticed the U-Haul truck kind of circling slowly around the mission and we passed it and then I thought I bet they're trying to find the warming center. So we were gonna drop the people off and then go back. Well, the individual driving the U-Haul kind of just followed us, probably because they thought, well, that's where they're going, they're going the warming center.
Speaker 3:Why would anybody be?
Speaker 3:driving the U-TV at this point. Correct yes, and so there is this big U-Haul right and I get out and I said I'm just gonna go and talk to him or her. And I get out and this little lady gets out of this U-Haul, driving a U-Haul at 10 something at night, and I said hi. And she said is this the warming center? And I said yes, and so I reached out, I shook her hand I know what her name is and I said it's so nice to meet you. I'm the executive director. And she said, oh, my goodness, it's you. And I said what she said I just saw you on the news. And I said yeah, I've kind of been everywhere today she said I have been moving.
Speaker 3:And she said as I was moving I heard that there were needs. And she said but I still had the U-Haul. So she took the U-Haul with her personal belongings that are in the back, been packing, been moving, stopped at the store, got us boxes of snacks and had it in the front seat of the U-Haul and I said oh, my goodness, what a blessing. And she said it's not much. It's not much. And I said it doesn't have to be much, because even if it's a little, someone else could do a little.
Speaker 3:And God uses that to pair those littles and it makes it much. And she said I didn't think about it that way. And then, while she was moving, she also had like warm boots and she said can I donate these? Because surely there's people in there that need them. And so this woman in the midst of her own, like I don't know about you all, but every time I've moved I've hated it yeah, she has a smile on her face, it's 10 something at night and she still stopped what her needs were to get what she could. And it's just things like that that sometimes if we just did what we can, regardless of how small or big, it really counts in big ways that sometimes we don't even see.
Speaker 2:And Maryam, who wouldn't want to be a part of this story? I'm telling you, you know, with all the challenges and the sadness and the brokenness and the junk that goes on in the world today, then you hear about that and you go, wow, the planet's not that bad.
Speaker 4:That's exactly right. That's exactly right.
Speaker 2:Maryam, you worked the center last year, the warming center, and this is not your normal job here to be a rescue mission. You're a back office, support and business administration, those kind of things. I saw you on Sunday when we were talking about this, light up Like strategically looking at this, but also light up when you knew you were gonna get to work, and again last night.
Speaker 4:Absolutely why? Because there's just nothing more rewarding than being able to see the people that you help. You get to know people, you get to talk with people, you get to know that you're making a difference in a different kind of way, and just to meet the folks that came in that, trust us, you know that just needed a place to be warm. I mean the relief in their voices as they were coming in. You know the relief is they were making a cup of hot cocoa. The relief is they were getting a cup of coffee again. Just that. I'm just so glad to be here. Everyone is so kind and so gracious and so grateful for what we're doing. It's just, it's a beautiful, beautiful experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is. Let's unpack just a little bit of the details. And then, amanda, I want us to end on a story that you were sharing with us this morning about something that happened last night. Yeah, get the hankies ready. But let's talk about this. This is a warming center. It's on Northwest North Street. It's the warehouse to peak a rescue mission. It's been converted into a low barrier, means you can come in if you're higher intoxicated, as long as your behavior's okay. It's got food, it's got staff. It's got a restroom facility. As of today, dr Allison Crow and Street Dog Coalition are gonna try to help facilitate opportunities for people's pets to be boarded while they would come here who are unsheltered, because we don't wanna leave our four-legged furry family members out there in the cold either, and it is a bunch of volunteers who have come around to drive a U-Haul up with a few things in the front seat.
Speaker 2:I, when I walked in there last night, looked in this storage area it's an office area there and there was a lot of cool supplies that had been given by an already community servant, which would definitely not want their name mentioned or who they work for, but out of their own pocket. They were already serving every day in the community protecting us and kind of gave that part away. But they brought in these supplies to take care of people. And so there's still a need for more of what? Still more supplies, more food, financial resources.
Speaker 4:Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2:Utilities.
Speaker 4:Volunteers to help with staff.
Speaker 2:Volunteers. The United Way of Topeka yes, it's coordinating the volunteer piece of this. Is that correct? Yes, topeka Rescue Mission Facebook's talking about this. It's been in the media. So again, this is January the 9th. You may be listening to this way down the road and hopefully you're listening to it while it's still pretty cold out, because there's still a need. The temperatures are gonna be in the negatives Start tomorrow night or tonight.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I had a meteorologist give me a heads up this morning that we're looking at single digit temperatures or negative temperatures for at least another week. Yeah, so I haven't even had time to process that yet, but I'm taking it a day at a time.
Speaker 2:This is not a normal operation of anything in this city, including Topeka Rescue Mission. It's an extra, but it's an extra that's important to make sure that we do this. And again to your point, amanda, rescue Mission takes the lead. Rescue Mission's trusted Rescue Mission stewards things well. But also, as time goes on, we're gonna have to look at it being more than just to pick a rescue mission, but that's a topic for another day.
Speaker 2:Hopefully when it's warmer we can have this conversation, amanda, people by and large do not understand chronic homelessness. By and large, they question, when they drive over a bridge and see people down along a river or in a trail or somewhere, that they just need to get a job or they just need to make a change in their life. They need to quit using drugs, they need to quit drinking, they need to go into mental health treatment, whatever the case might be, because it is uncomfortable to see it, it's uncomfortable to talk about it, and so we want quick fixes. And so there are many stories that the outreach team and our shelter management folks deal with every day that are textbook everything. There's a movie in everybody's life.
Speaker 2:Here there was one particular one you were sharing this morning about an individual that you've engaged with personally on the streets when you've been without outreach. That did come into the Warming Center last night, and would you unpack that just to paint a picture of one individual, just one, who's unique, who was born A little baby, just like all of us? Something happened. We don't know what happened, but today they are very broken and they came in that center last night. Talk about this person.
Speaker 3:I think I'm gonna quit telling you stories.
Speaker 3:No, you're not, because then you're gonna make me tell them. So there is an individual that I have been noticing around the Tobika Rescue Mission for a while, and it is a male who dresses atypical of what we normally see around here, and I have tried to engage with him a couple of times. Our outreach teams have you can tell that there is often times where his state of mind is not clear to us, doesn't mean it's not clear to him, but there is a breakdown in us being able to understand some of the things that he's doing, some of the things that he's talking about, and so we continue, though, to try, when we pass by him, we try to talk to him. We get out, but we also don't try to force it, and so last night I saw I was actually thinking about this individual and I thought, well, we'll be able to try to engage because he's usually pretty close. But I came back from transports and the individual had already made it into the warming center, and so I was so glad to see him there.
Speaker 3:And this individual often times is doesn't normally just sit still, like we're able to do, and this individual needs to be up and the individual needs to be moving. The individual often is very pleasant, smiles a lot, there is a sense of happiness in the middle of what you can tell is disconnected with him. And so I was so glad to see him and he was doing some of his dances and his motions around the mats, but he was not bothering anybody and so I told the team I said go ahead and allow it, this is what is his normal, because we can't really define what anything is normal. But I know that there's normal behavior for him and he's not bothering anybody, so let's just leave it.
Speaker 3:But my heart broke because I just want to still be able to engage with him in a way that makes sense to him, even if it doesn't make sense to me, because I can't imagine going through life alone or always being the one that is seen as different. And quite frankly I was reminded of so oftentimes we are the one that's different but for whatever reason, we can mask it better, or maybe people don't know, you just can't mask. So I knew that if I try to make eye contact and engage that way a lot of times it's a deterrent and so. But I tried anyways, because eye contact is important. And he did. He turned away from me pretty skittish didn't engage with me, didn't talk to me, and so-.
Speaker 2:He normally doesn't talk to people, does he?
Speaker 3:No, no, he talks to himself a lot and things or people that he sees. So I went out on transport, came back and he was a little bit slower in his movements and so I kind of just went by him and I heard him he was saying food. Then he said it again food. And so I just kind of went and got within like arms distance of him but I didn't look at him, I didn't make eye contact or anything and I said I hear you saying food. And he didn't run away from me, he didn't turn away, but he said it again food, food. And so I said I pointed behind me because the food table was behind me and I said there's snacks, there's granola bars, there's cheez-its.
Speaker 3:And I was trying to think let me end up, think what's on that table? You know I've walked past it 12 times and I said you can get food. There's food there, it's for you. I said I'm not eating food. So I walked away from him starting to go to the food table and he followed me to the food table and so I just stood in front of the food table because I didn't need anything and he grabbed a granola bar and a water or maybe started pouring hot chocolate I can't remember and I stood next to him and I just said it's for you Food, yes, it's for you. And so he started eating it and all of that was like, oh my gosh. I was able to connect with him.
Speaker 2:And I'm talking about a toddler here, talking about a grown man.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I don't know what his need for food was. I mean, I don't know if he was starving. If he wasn't, I don't know what he was trying to communicate, but in that moment we communicated about food. Somehow there was a need. He met it and I think he knew that it was reciprocated, because I knew what he was saying.
Speaker 3:So I left, needed to do more transports, came back and he was kind of still doing the same thing, and by this point it's almost midnight and so I was needing to go home. So I started telling everybody by the volunteers that were over by the food table, hugged a couple of them, thanked them, talked to some of the neighbors, told them I would come back tomorrow and be checking on them. And I went to say bye to one of the neighbors that was sitting in the chair and this individual came, didn't look at me, but came side by side with me and he said thank you. And I knew I couldn't look at him because I didn't want that moment to be gone, and so I just stood there with him to my side and I said you don't have to thank me, we want you safe. He said thank you again and then he said safe and I realized he was staring at me at this time. So I slowly which I'm sure was probably comical, if you're watching this right From not knowing what in the world I'm doing with him and what he's doing, and I just kind of slowly started to look at him and he didn't just skittish away or anything, he just kind of turned his head and I said I'm glad you're safe, you matter, and I'm so glad to see you here. And I said thank you to him. He probably didn't know what that meant because, but I just needed him to know, thank you for even coming. So I said thank you. And then I said thank you for trusting us and I go to take probably four or five steps kind of behind him and to the side. And then he said bye and I said didn't look at him, my back is to him. And I said bye, we really care about you. And I said I'll be back tomorrow, I'm gonna be seeing everybody. Bye, I said bye.
Speaker 3:So I don't know this individual story and I can only hope that maybe God will give me the privilege and blessing to get to know more of it. But I do know, because I've heard it, what other people's story of him is and that's just not right. And I know not everybody has the time and not everybody's line of work is this and not everybody can mentor or spend months and months and months getting to know people and all of that. And I understand that and I'm not asking people to, but I am asking people just to not make up their own stories about someone and to support us as the Tipeka Rescue Mission in the work that we know we're called to do and that if we are choosing not to make stories or our own narratives or our own opinions about people, we just ask that the community supports that and, even if it's not their role to do the same, I just ask that people are kind and people to realize that the individual who might not seem their norm, to remember that there's still people.
Speaker 2:Yes, thank you for sharing that Five words Food safe, thank you, bye. The beginning of a transformation, and that's what. Thank you, lemond. I know that's hard story unpack, but we need to hear that and you who are listening, I hope you heard that and I hope you forward this onto somebody else that needs to hear this, because these are our neighbors. These are people who struggle greatly, not bad people.
Speaker 2:We don't know what happened, but we know we're here now, we know you're here now and they're here now, and sometimes it gets to be broken down into not a whole lot of words, but a whole lot of meaning food safe, thank you, bye. Thank you for listening to our community, our mission here on January the ninth 2024. Thank you for supporting the warming center in this crisis for many people in our community. If you're interested in more information about the warming center or the Topeka rescue mission, you can go to trmonlineorg. That's trmonlineorg. If you would like to promote our community, our mission, you can subscribe, rate or share and also look for Facebook about the warming center and Topeka rescue mission. Thank you for listening.