Last January was one of the coldest months
in recent history. Some of our fellow citizens froze to death because they
didn't have warm places to stay. The welfare department responded by fitting
the old
In early October, around 7 p.m., I walked
over six or seven blocks through the dark streets and a railroad tunnel to the
area of
As they moved quickly past me, one of them
waved in the direction of the school.
At the school entrance, I met James Kelly,
whom I knew. He was surprised to see me, but he understood that I wanted to
stay for the night. I joined a double line of about 15 men who were preparing
to enter. Three or four of them knew me, and said: "Hello, Father."
Three tables were waiting for us. Apparently
one was for general registration, one for Social Security numbers and one for
bed assignment
One man said to me: "Are you here for
inspection?"
"No, I want to sleep," I replied.
It was only at the third table that I got
any trouble. "You shouldn't be here," one man said.
"'Why not?"
"You have a bed, haven't you?"
"You are keeping somebody out of a bed
here."
I said, "Well then, I'll sleep in a
chair."
"What are you trying to do?"
"I said, "I want to see how my
brothers in Christ are treated."
I felt I might as well fling the whole story
at him since he wanted to know.
I went downstairs to prepare for bed. We
took our clothes off. Each of us got a plastic bag and a tag with our name on
it. The inside of the bag was sprayed, and the clothes were tied up so tight it
was hard to untie them the next morning. Then we walked over to the shower
room. One of the shower sprays was open, and I ran under it. Fortunately, the
water was warm as it had not been a couple of nights before, they told me.
After I came out of the shower, somebody threw me a good towel, and then we
were given short knickerbockers and a kind of jacket, both clean and fresh from
the dryer.
As we dressed for supper, we went in and sat
down at the table; about 50 men at the time. The supper was very substantial, a
plate full of hot sauerkraut with hot dogs mixed in, two good sized sandwiches,
one of meat and one of cheese and a cup of juice or coffee.
On the way up to bed, we were given a pair
of light felt slippers that felt good on the cold stone and on the iron steps.
They motioned me to a bed behind the night desk. I am afraid it was a special
bed rather than a dormitory bed. Sometimes they call is a bridal suite for
snorers. (I heard one man snoring during the night he almost rocked the place.)
Someone threw a big blanket to me, and I slept about two-thirds of the night.
Before 5 a.m., men were moving around
getting ready for work. At 5 o'clock we were roused up. I folded my blanket and
went downstairs and got my clothes.
After the men dressed, they moved out into
the street to the two vans that would take them to the employment centers.
About a dozen men were standing there for a passenger bus.
"Put Father in the first bus,"
they said.
I said, "No. I want to take my
turn."
So they put me in the front seat of the
second bus.
Two African men talked to me about the
difficulties of employment while pursuing studies. A half dozen times a man
said to me: "What are you doing here?" Each time I told him plainly:
"I am trying to see how my brothers in Christ are treated."
Arriving at the bus station in the dark, I
figured I had better go home for some coffee and morning Mass. I wish the
shelter had given us some morning coffee and a couple of slices of bread.
In general, the shelter seemed to be a hard
but sufficient provision for dependent people what you might call sufficiently
or survival treatment.
Progress toward a more humane treatment of our fellow human beings is the responsibility of the churches, synagogues, and mosques; indeed, of us all.