Growing and Working in a Community of Volunteers
Recently I had the pleasure to participate in Don’t Walk By (DWB), a yearly three to four weekend volunteer event organized and run by the Rescue Mission in which participants walk the streets of New York interacting with every homeless individual they come across. Though I was new to this event, outreach and interaction with our unhoused friends has been a personal journey I’ve been on for the last year and a half. It’s interesting when you start to work in the volunteer world how interconnected and participatory this community is. There’s a point when you’ve lived in the city long enough where it starts to feel small, and so it should be no surprise that the number of names involved in homeless volunteerism would seem even smaller. Organizations like the Bowery, City Relief, and One Always Matters (OAM), to name a few, start to quickly become well known.
I remember when I was first invited by Bindia to serve with City Relief, my intro to this world, and one of the hosts of DWB. I went because they needed folks, and the more I went, it eventually became a habit. It also was around that time that One Always Matters had formed, and my first street outreach was with OAM around the winter holidays. Growing the courage to walk up to a stranger in Grand Central and start to form a relationship can be a difficult thing, especially when you’re combating years of cultural conditioning that impresses all sorts of negative stereotypes upon folks who are homeless. It’s easy to have lots of good reasons to not take that first step. Just like most things, though, the more you do it the easier it becomes to give that offer of friendship and service.
Every organization is different in its approach, which is part of what makes the diversity of non-profits necessary. I feel OAM sort of offers that boutique style of service, treating each person in need with unique care, a real relational engagement, and a fitted solution. It was that approach that meant so much at Don’t Walk By. When a woman arrived who was new to the country and without any resources or job, I had the opportunity to provide a Life Care Visit to her (through City Relief). After chatting for a while, I highlighted a few resources for her, but she was also in-need of some immediate clothing which wasn’t available on-site. By filling out a needs form on the OAM website, we were able to provide her with quality clothing in her size, that same week.
It was also incredibly rewarding, in the additional weeks with DWB, to put into practice some of the street outreach I had first practiced with OAM. We had some of the most real, intimate interactions with folks on the street, that I’ve ever had. Sometimes, after just talking with someone, they’d hug us or want to shake our hand. Something about our conversation or a simple gift of socks and a mask, had touched their hearts. Things I take for granted in my life, had become symbols of love and care when given freely.
We don’t always get to see the result of our volunteer efforts, but as a regular weekend member of this community, it means a lot to have organizations like One Always Matters to rely upon to help our friends and provide the follow-up. Being able to trust in the support of these care infrastructures, and the funds and supplies of the generous donors in the background, mean that when folks like me show up on the weekend or participate in street outreach, we can affect real change in people’s lives. That speaks volumes and makes me very thankful to be a small part of that family.
Carl Bentley