Societé Des Champs Elyseé

We carry a box that has the necessities for life on the street.  
Everyone gets a shopping bag for their food and then they get to pick out what they need. 
Choice is so important.  

Today, everyone was polite and happy to see us, but the desperation was palpable. 
When we pulled in under the bridge, it looked pretty empty, but, the line formed immediately.  We had plenty for everyone. Gotta order more socks wipes soap and water.  
The hardest part was talking over the screaming shouting and mumbling from across the street.  
It was not until after we turned around to go home that we saw that the figure writhing around on the ground was a man with stumps for legs. I can’t unsee it. I can’t not hear him.  And, like everyone sitting around him, I can’t do anything about it. 

The good news is that the Saharan dust is gritty in the eyes, but it’s keeping storms from forming in the Atlantic. 
And we are getting daily cleansing rains. 

But if you are homeless, it is just hot and humid. And the state is constantly harassing and moving people around, taking all their possessions. 
So, we are delivering frozen treats, fruit, water, nutritional drinks, and socks and wipes, and are thinking that our Epiphany backpacks might have to be a year round thing. 

Dark comedy moment this morning unloading the Second Harvest truck. 
A whole pallet of Taylor Farm crates. 
All filled with baked goods. Somewhere, a manager is looking at a dumpster full of Iceberg and is rightly proud that they reused all that incriminating cardboard and got it off their loading dock. 
Then, there’s the case of Stranger Things pizza. 

After feeding the camps and filling the Johnson Street Fridge, we had a case of frozen water bottles to set out in front of the house. 
I have watched all day as people stop and take one, maybe two, or a couple more tucked in a bag, but no one takes more than they need. 
If only everyone only took what they needed. 
This week we had a Xmas in July miracle. 
Last year, a local restaurant had a holiday fundraiser and we were designated as the lucky charity beneficiary. There were corporate delays and we forgot all about it until this check showed up on the day we bought 10 cases of water and hygiene and snack products.  
 

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/mardi_gras/societe-champs-elysee-krewe/article_e2a31501-be20-4f71-802e-08c81a502ebd.html?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=wakeupnola&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_content=headline#uid=

We hit camps and solo folks everywhere today. Socks. Hygiene kits. The Special Man Box of oddities. Frozen water bottles and Otter Pops. 
Everywhere we went we were greeted cheerfully and watched as the people with so little, make sure everyone gets what they need.  
If only the oligarchs could do the same.  

Our community fridge has moved a few times but has found its forever home in a quiet neighborhood cut off by train canal and highway and full of the quiet poor; hardworking people caring for their elders and infirm. 
These pictures were sent from a woman who fills fridges all over the city. 

Last Wednesday, while feeding the folks at the Calliope, Chuck succumbed to the heat and went down hard. One of the homeless called 911 and after assuring the EMT and Firefighters that he didn’t need NARCAN, he spent time in the ambulance before being released upon his getting an appointment with his doctor. 
After many years of being THE GUY WITH THE CAR, he is really retired. 
Today, a new member who has been picking up the food from the lower nine, found his duties have expanded. 
At every stop, people asked about Chuck before asking about what we brought. 
When you make a difference in peoples lives, they remember. 

The city is now actively making homeless people keep moving. 
No loitering. 
No vagrants. No tinkers. 
The parade passing by my porch is a third world line of refugees, some with ingenious floats built of flotsam. 
The cruelty is the point.  
Creativity is the answer.