It is time to talk about Ruthie.

Ruthie is the homeless woman my wife and I met working in our local warming place. This is not a shelter, as it's only open under certain conditions.

She was there all the nights we worked, and I saw her in the public library occassionally.

I had done advocacy work on behalf of the homeless before, when I lived in Portland, Oregon.  For me, once I was aware of the problem, it never really left my world.  Moving back to my home town, I  saw people I assumed might be homeless.  Working in the library, I definitely saw people who obviously had nowhere else to go and so stayed in "the community living room" for most of the day.  Some of the time, that included my wife's brother who had worn out his welcome with my wife and so was without a home. As a low-level public employee for most of my life, I was well aware of how close most of us working class folks are to losing our homes and living on the streets.

As we had more interactions with Ruthie, both my wife and I realized quickly that she was a remarkable woman. Articulate and savvy, Ruthie has her routine pretty well fixed, and it seems to work for her.  She is aware of various agencies that help the homeless, and knows  how to access that help.  She has technology that keeps her in touch with the wider world.  She has been keeping a blog since 2004 about what it's like to be homeless in the United States in the twenty-first century.

I wanted to help her, as did my wife.  We called around and got funding from two churches to put her up in a motel for two nights the warming place wasn't open.  As a good library clerk, I gave her information to contact the mayor and the board chair of the warming place, a deacon in our church, on where to send what she had gathered. I even set up a meeting with the mayor that take place in our library.

Then thing went south.  Through my own carelessness, I sent her an email that included my concerns about getting involved so personally with her.  She told me in person she'd be "cutting us loose," if I remember her phrasing correctly.  She  sent me an email to that effect as well, and mentioned it before I had a chance to read it.  When I got it, I responded by justifying myself to her.  In re-reading the email to my wife and friends, I realized how "douchy" I sounded. How "thumbs-pulling-on-my-suspenders, rising-on-the-balls-of-my-feet" my reply sounded. I was ashamed of myself at that moment.

Her response was two sentences: "Get over yourself.  You're a hindrance." My response was the only thing I could think of at that moment: "God bless you, Ruthie."

She was certainly right on the first count, but she is completely wrong on the second.

A few days ago Ruthie's picture was on the front page of our local paper with a long story on her, other homeless persons, and the warming shelter.  It included quotes from our church deacon,  the aforementioned board chair of the warming shelter.  I thought it was a good article; I could not fault any of the information presented, but I felt the volunteers did not get proper credit.

Today, before church service, I apologized to our deacon.  He was extremely nice about it, but I know I still owe him a public apology in the form of a letter to the editor in our local paper.  I also discovered I owe an apology to the volunteers who were staffing the warming place the night the newspaper article came out.  Those poor people were caught flat-footed and felt very uncomfortable being there.  My hope is that the article and whatever else ends up in the paper because of it will help get more volunteers, which is the biggest impediment to our keeping the place open.

And as for Ruthie, I only wish her well.  She's had a rough life and deserves, as does everyone, at least a room of her own, where she can go in, shut and lock the door on the rest of the world, and feel safe.

What Ruthie and some readers may not understand is that the warming shelter only exists because of volunteers. Her demands for consistency are reasonable but unattainable in this particular year.

I will continue to do what I can, when I can, to help.

What about you? Please think about your community and what you can do to make it better, in whatever way you feel you can contribute.

Have a good day and keep reading!