What to Do Next? By Kaze Gadway
“So, what are you going to do next?” I ask a really young couple still wrapped up in blankets on the sidewalk.
They look like they should be entering their first day of college. The young man is sunburned. The young lady peers at me through elfin shaped eyes. She is tiny.
This is our second time to just talk.
“I’m visiting my kids today,” she says faintly. “When I started living on the streets, my mother took my six month old boy and now he is four and my youngest is sixteen months. I can’t take care of them on the streets but I try to see them every week.”
After some more discussion she says “I’m on the list for an apartment. Then I can get cleaned up and get a job and get them back. I don’t know how I am going to work and take care of them so I am still thinking about that.”
The young man tells me “My shoes are too small and so I take them off whenever I can to let the blisters heal.”
They are coping. That’s about it. Getting an apartment will be one step but it has its own problems. I am glad she is thinking about her future. I hope to stay in touch so she doesn’t falter if the lack of shelter, job or kids does not work out. She has all the contacts. She is waiting for the next thing. And she is taking steps herself. This gives me hope.
For the young man, I am going to look around for large shoes. That is something I can do even if I have to buy shoes on sale at Wal-Mart or a thrift shop.
Poverty is real. There are multiple issues. I am so glad when someone on the street tells me about how they are working at it.
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