As I stepped out of the kitchen I noticed a couple that frequents the kitchen speaking with each other, but as soon as they noticed me they stopped.

“Julie” immediately made a beeline for me from across the street, and when she was about three feet away, she stopped and said “I need a hug”. I usually only do that when there are others around, but her boyfriend was there so I felt that it would be alright, so I gave her a hug.

As soon as I did though, she started to weep so I asked if everything was ok to which she sobbingly stated, “I’m tired, so tired. And I’m tired of being tired”. I just let her know that she was an ok person, then acknowledging her boyfriend, I turned to my vehicle and left.

Julie is a very attractive young woman who in my opinion carries herself with a posture that almost seems a bit regal. She is always very clean and well dressed and very little about her demeanor would suggest that she is a streetwalker.

It has taken about two years to get to know this thirty-five year old (just guessing), and her friend, and in that time there has never been a time when we had any contact close to what just transpired outside the kitchen.

On the odd occasion I would see her high, but on this particular occasion she had been drinking but was not drunk. I find this to be not uncommon when they have been working; they trick to drink, and they drink because they have to trick to do so. Talk about a conundrum.

The following evening I drove to the kitchen for a meeting and Julie was outside the building with a group and as soon as she saw me, she came over to me again, but this time she gave me a hug and started to chat about the day and other general stuff.

I mentioned that she seemed a lot more cheerful than the day before, to which she replied, “Well sometimes y’know, you just get tired of it all, and you need to be reminded that there is a normal world out there.” I then assured her that anytime she wanted to talk, one of us would be there for her.

She gave a smile, and as she turned to go back to her group, she stated, “I know, and I probably will sometime.”

Although it may seem to be a rather insignificant event, in my mind and in my heart, this is a huge event, a colossal breakthrough, an absolute earth shattering moment!!!

Why you ask? Well maybe I’m being a little over dramatic, but what this showed me is that some are starting to see that we actually care and also that we will not knowingly betray their trust in us. They know who and what we are, and they know that we only want what is the absolute best for them.

We do not pound our beliefs into them, but we do make them available if they so chose. They do not have to choose our way of life for us to give them whatever help they might need to get off the street, but they also know that this is the way we work.

So, is this an event or is this an event? The way I see it , it sure is.

— Chris