ightwatch
OPERATION
May-June, 2010
Newsletter
Newsletter
FROM THE PROGRAM COORDINATOR
A few weeks ago I met a young woman, whom I will call Theresa, at our hospitality center who was living a tragic story. She was homeless. She was moving slowly due to a painful infection in her leg. She was in an abusive relationship. She was weary, perhaps from going through a heroin withdrawal. Theresa was in many ways an embodiment of all of the pain and suffering that can exist on the streets. In addition to the physical pain she was in, the added vulnerability of
being a young woman—potentially with an abuser on the streets—made her situation a little more urgent. After closing, I stayed with Theresa for a while, calling the Portland Women's Crisis Line (bless their hearts, they are available 24 hours a day) trying to connect her to some emergency resources. Eventually we called an ambulance because the pain in her leg became too much to bear. She went away with the ambulance safely, but likely would end up back on the streets soon thereafter because she did not have health insurance.
I was sad, confused, frustrated, uncertain. Did I do the right thing? Did I fall for a sob story that she has used
I was sad, confused, frustrated, uncertain. Did I do the right thing? Did I fall for a sob story that she has used
many times to get extra help? Did I play favorites and ignore the needs of so many other people who come through our doors? This led me to other questions. Why was she homeless? Why was she discharged from the hospital one day earlier when her leg clearly was not in stable condition? Why was she in an abusive relationship? Why had she left her family in New Jersey? And on and on and on...All of the questions running through my head did not follow any logic or have any easy answers. I could not wave a magic wand—or even set up a “case management appointment”—to try to solve her problems, whether they were the result of bad personal choices, drug abuse, emotional trauma, family conflict, or an unequal and unjust socioeconomic system (Truthfully, it is probably a combination of all of the above).
There were no clear answers in this situation. But I suppose there are never clear answers in situations of suffering, isolation, or injustice. There is no clearly demarcated good or evil, right or wrong, black or white solution. It's all in the gray area. I once heard Eve Ensler, famed author and women's rights activist, say, “Truth lies in ambiguity. Go to that place of ambiguity, that gray area, with an open heart and discover truth.” I think that is where hospitality—our mission at Operation Nightwatch—comes in. We try to create a safe, positive place where we can dive right into that ambiguity, that messy gray area that is life, with an open heart, getting to know people for who they are and where they are at in that moment. We can't fix everything. In fact, we can't fix much of anything. But we can show people compassion and respect. We can ask questions of a society that creates such suffering. And we can share the stories—both tragic and uplifting—of the people we encounter.
Jeremy Marks
There were no clear answers in this situation. But I suppose there are never clear answers in situations of suffering, isolation, or injustice. There is no clearly demarcated good or evil, right or wrong, black or white solution. It's all in the gray area. I once heard Eve Ensler, famed author and women's rights activist, say, “Truth lies in ambiguity. Go to that place of ambiguity, that gray area, with an open heart and discover truth.” I think that is where hospitality—our mission at Operation Nightwatch—comes in. We try to create a safe, positive place where we can dive right into that ambiguity, that messy gray area that is life, with an open heart, getting to know people for who they are and where they are at in that moment. We can't fix everything. In fact, we can't fix much of anything. But we can show people compassion and respect. We can ask questions of a society that creates such suffering. And we can share the stories—both tragic and uplifting—of the people we encounter.
Jeremy Marks