Happy Autumn everyone, as warm days give way to cool evenings let’s hold a warm thought for those outside. This month we are excited to introduce you to our newest team member Ricky Wade! Here are a few words from Ricky:
I have watched how the homeless community has grown over the years and this has always weighed heavy on my heart because these people are our neighbors, they are someone’s dad, or mom, brother or sister, son or daughter. So when I heard about the new Recovery Program that would focus on helping the homeless community get help with their addictions I wanted to be a part of it. I believe if we can help even one person recover from addiction that is a huge success, after all I was that one person and someone helped me which enabled me to be able to help others.
Before this I was working in the field of recovery helping people find their way through their addictions. I have been helping men, women, and kids for over 15 years now. I have visited jails, prisons, and institutions working with adults and youth and with parents who have loved ones struggling with addiction. My main area of focus has been spiritual renewal to overcome and recover from any addiction.
I was once homeless, I was once addicted, I was once lost and I had no hope. I even thought of suicide, desperately wanting the pain to end. Every relationship I had was damaged due to the way I was living and I thought for sure I would not have lived much longer.
Here I am today with 19 years clean and sober, pursuing my education, married with children and have made amends with all my family who I see often. All this is thanks to the life changing program of recovery.
–Ricky Wade
We are also simultaneously launching “Street Club,” an exclusive club for our top supporters which will give special benefits to recurring donors, including access to exclusive Street Club events, Street Club merchandise & rewards and a Street Club newsletter that will give members behind-the-scenes information about Street Life. It’s a great way to join our team helping out those who need it most.
Every.org, our donation processing website, is matching the first 50$ for two months of any new recurring donation started in November! With the matching campaign active, this is the perfect time to join our new exclusive group for our supporters who donate at least 50$ per month.
We need Accent Cooks from 5:30-6:45pm.
Please let us know if you or someone you know can help!
Our evening food and fellowship events are in need of accent cooks; our current amazing returning volunteers need a break! This role does not require chef experience but food handling experience is preferred. Our Accent Cooks perform the following easy tasks:
- Prepare pre-packaged salad, and warm bread, make the beverage, pre-cut desserts such as pies and cakes, and wait for the driver
- Heat up other dishes for the meal. This could be overflow food from the previous night or Cooks do on occasion deliver the meal to the PCC kitchen requiring it to be heated at the designated time.
- In some instances, the entire meal will be from our donated dishes and require heating.
- On rare occasions, it might be necessary for the Accent Cook to cook simple dishes such as rice or pasta.
Kev’s Korner
Wassup folks??
Welcome to November!! I gotta tell you, usually October is my favorite month of the year, but for me, this October kinda sucked. Vicky got through her knee replacement with flying colors, but my legs started giving out, and at one point I had to miss Street Life because of it. I’ll tell yas all about it, but first – top off that coffee and get somewhere comfortable and relaxing. You know the drill – Kev’s gonna take you for another ride..
Well, like I said, Vicky’s come through with flying colors. She can bend 135 degrees now, and you can’t even hardly see the scar. Pretty amazing how she bounced back – even if she’s kind of an over-achiever. She’s back at it and running the show. Me, not so much. My legs have been messed up for years, but I learned how to grin and bear it. Towards the end of the month, though, I had a couple incidents where it hurt too bad to walk, and one of those incidents actually put me in bed with a 102 degree fever. Yeah, not ideal at all. I finally was given a referral to a wound clinic in Fremont and when I got in there, the doctor diagnosed me from across the room. See, I thought I was supposed to Unna Boot my legs to keep the swelling in check, but apparently I’m not, which got me referred to a lymphadema clinic. I’ve also been complaining about my left foot for some time, saying it barely even looks human anymore. Turns out the medical name for my left foot issue is elephantiasis nostras verrucosa. Before anyone goes looking it up, though, you need to know that my foot looks nothing like the pictures you will see. Those are severe and “worst case” pics. I am neither severe, nor am I “worst case”. Although it is true that it won’t ever be back to normal, I can still make it better than it is right now. I’ve got some hard work ahead, but nothing I can’t handle. My main issue is that I hate to look weak. Always have. Guess I got some work to do in that area as well. Anyways, that’s what makes me think October kinda sucked…
We’re almost constantly seeing new faces these days at the Lot. A whole lot of new folks that need a meal. Amazing to me that in 2022 we still have so many homeless and low-income people in our midst, and still so few that want to do something to help. It takes a village, my friends, if we’re ever going to make a dent, let alone try to defeat homelessness. That’s just a fact. We can’t do it alone. To that end, we’ve teamed up with LifeMoves and The City of Redwood City to work towards bringing the number of homeless down. Read more about it on our website…
Well Father, we’re skidding through November and heading straight for Christmas.The Feast of Your Son’s Birth. I’d just like to offer you thanks and praise for watching over us all through the year. I ask that You bring the new faces I talked about earlier closer to You, and keep them safe and warm in Your Mighty Embrace. I pray that they turn to You for Living Water and Divine Guidance. Please watch over us as I am certain You do.
Lord, for keeping us all in Your Ever-Watchful Gaze. Amen.
See you on the streets.
