Since we only have two weeks before we depart, Mark and I are going through hundreds of pictures we have stored on our computer. We are trying to put together a slide show that will "tell the story" of our 10 months here at the Inn. As we looked at pictures of the guests, we realized that there were several key people that we had not photographed. Slowly, we are taking their pictures as we serve the evening or morning meals.
One of the things we are trying to do is have pictures of individuals that represent the various categories of guests. There are the senior citizens, who come here to get a hot meal, stretch their limited social security checks, and interact with other people. There are the families, mostly headed by single moms, who are trying to supplement their food stamp money. We have some of the single men who are working poor--day laborers, delivery men, restaurant workers and others who are not in a union and may not be working 40 hour weeks.
By far, the largest category of the guests is that of addicts. So many of the people we serve are addicted to alcohol or drugs, usually heroin and/or cocaine. For example, yesterday a young man was sitting on our steps. I was exiting the house on my way to the Inn to get some aluminum foil. He jumped up and stood aside. When I returned, he asked if it was okay for him to sit on the steps. I told him it was fine, and thanks for asking. He then complimented me on the way I had held my temper when a woman had berated me while I was doing the lineup the day before. I mentioned that the guests had been a little wild that day, and perhaps it was due to the heat. He responded by saying that the heat did cause behavioral changes. I could tell from his speech that he was an educated person and asked him about it. He told me his name was Frank, that he was a graduate of Rutgers, and he had recently completed a drug rehab program. He had goals and plans that he had made during his time in the program. He thought he would be able to stay with his mother and get back on his feet. Unfortunately, she had not taken him in, and he had been on the street for 7 days. Without any support, he had slipped right back into his drug habit of heroin. He hoped to go back to the drug rehab and start again.
I told him I would pray for him, and he said that would be very good.
We have heard this same scenario so many times during our stay. Sometimes the addict is a young woman who left home, began using cocaine or heroin, and supports her habit as a prostitute. It could be a veteran who came back from the battlefield, couldn't find work, and began spending his days drinking. Or it might be a young man like Frank who started taking drugs in college as recreation, but soon found that his whole life was focused on the next fix.
What sort of ending is there for these stories? A few have happy endings; the addicts get in a program, go to meetings of AA, move away from Kensington, get a job, live one day at a time. Others are sober for a few days, a few months, even years, and then an event occurs that triggers a return to the drug or alcohol. After some period of time, they start all over again. Unfortunately, more than a few end up dying from an overdose, AIDS, liver failure, or violence.
Every day at Mass, someone prays for the addicts of Kensington. I can only add my prayers to theirs.
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