By Dennis HanI had been looking forward to going on Tour of Fullerton for the homeless where I might be able to gain some hands-on perspective on the situation.
Our first stop was Bastanchury Park. We arrived to see a circle of people standing around Chris Lee who was sharing some things about the park. Bastanchury Park is a nice park that looks new; one would never guess that a string of homeless people live just out of sight on the edge of the park. Chris shared how the homeless who live there keep to themselves and don’t intend to bother anyone but people complain about them being there so they are regularly driven out of there by the police. Chris then invited one homeless man named Corey to come share with us about some of his daily experiences. He shared about how sometimes when he sleeps in the field, he would wake up to see ants crawling all over his legs. He said that the ants do not mean to harm him, but they are just trying to get to where they are going. As Chris had told us earlier, the homeless don’t intend to bother anybody and after hearing Corey share, I believed that statement. As he was sharing, a girls’ soccer team formed in a line behind us to buy snacks at a snack counter. Their chattering drowned out Corey’s voice and I got to thinking about the juxtaposition I saw with the girls’ soccer team, oblivious as they were, and the homeless man in front of us. At that moment, I felt glad that I was not oblivious.
Our next stop was the FIES Food Distribution Center where an employee named Michael Shepherd gave us a tour and talked to us about operations. I learned some interesting things such as not having a refrigerator creates a host of problems for people and this center actually provides services to address this issue. This center seems small and meager, but it is heavily relied upon in this city. With the approaching holidays and cold weather, Michael addressed increasing challenges and hinted at the need for more volunteers. By now I was beginning to feel that problems continue to mount, but not new solutions.Next was the FIES Inter-Shelter Network. Michael explained that this shelter was for those who were serious about finding a job. I was unaware that a shelter had this type of condition. The shelter has a shower, and the staff sets up cubicle like dividers for its clients so they can be in an environment conducive to research and study. Michael invited volunteers here that could teach life skills. Once this tour wrapped up, it was lunch time and we were all invited to a barbeque in La Palma Park.
La Palma Park is home to quite a few homeless people and is one of the regular destinations of the Burrito Project. Thus, many of the homeless people there already know many of us so it was going to be a time of fellowship among friends. I observed in many of the homeless that I saw here that they have a passion for life and I felt excited to catch a glimpse of it. I also saw Corey there. He walked around, mingled, and had fellowship. I began to think to myself that all we need to do is to get Corey to the place where he would be able to help others because he looks like he is ready. What prevents this from happening are various things: the city council as Johnny Lee described, that seems convinced that addressing the homeless issue hurts progress for the city, the people who feel paralyzed because of feeling overwhelmed with what must be solved, etc. If we each realize that one step upon another is what allows someone like Corey to finally get out of the park he sleeps in, maybe we wouldn’t feel overwhelmed.
As I’ve learned these past few Sundays, God only expects us to do something as opposed to everything and I think this tour helped me to understand this better.
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