Her cold, little hands grabbed my wrists and it surprised me. I looked down and she slid her hands into mine, smiled and asked me what my name was. She was probably five years old, and I was taken back by her unexpected gesture.
We were at a homeless shelter, and even though I am trying to target older kids, I had to take the time out to talk to this little girl. I didn’t do much talking though, she just wanted to tell me her big news: they were getting a house for real this time and her mommy was going to have a sister. I smiled at her, but had to keep going, we were there to meet older kids.
I met a gang of teens, between the ages of 15 and 20, and as I explained about our center and handed out food and hygiene bags, another girl about age nine came over to us and asked for a bag. I know her mom is older than 21, and I tried to explain to her why we only help older kids with out mommies or daddies. She kept persisting that she needed a bag and that her mommy needed help too. Explaining demographics to a child is nearly impossible, but we can only help unaccompanied youth under the age of 21, those are the rules of the organization.
Part of the challenge of doing street outreach is denying people in need. It’s heartbreaking to tell a child she can’t have a bag of fresh hygiene products, or to tell a gaunt, starving old man that he can’t have a food pack. Often, it’s those faces and voices that haunt me the most.
