The Street Angels are, in technicality, a Mission Partner of our church because they have been deemed by the St Columba's Foundation to be worthy of using our space free of charge and doing good "Christian" work in the community. But as far as I know, no one from my church has ever volunteered with them or has the slightest idea of what they do. So I decided I would do that.
However, I was very apprehensive for a few reasons. One, I had gotten no sleep the night before - maybe 5 hours or so (I like sleep and need a lot more than this to be functional). I was also coming off a super busy week and didn't want to be out as late as 3 am. I also thought that the Street Angels were solely there to provide aid to those who were drunk. I had heard someone at church tell me their volunteerism was directed solely to drunk people and not to help the homeless or anyone else. This made me feel like it was going to be a night of pulling recalcitrant drunk people up to their feet.
Originally another fear was that they did evangelizing to drunk people, but this was corrected when I arrived; someone did know enough to tell me that evangelizing to people is not part of their mission or practice at all. Phew.
I volunteered with Lisa, our Volunteer Leader, Paul, and Caroline. Lisa and Paul have been at it for a while but Caroline was only on her second or third run.
Lisa was so welcoming from the start and that gave me a warm, welcomed feeling, which was a great beginning to the night. She explained a lot as she and Paul rushed around and packed up our bags. We all got large orange coats that kept us so warm throughout the whole night. We prayed that God would help us help others in need on the streets (Street Angels, obviously from the name, is a Christian organization). And we set off!
Working with the Street Angels was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful and incredible experiences I've had since I've arrived here. It completely defied what I expected and was so much about accompaniment and service to others.
To start, we made our way down Micklegate to the River Ouse and crossed over. Already it was packed with people. We walked to the left, in the direction of a large shopping district, where we ended up talking to ages to homeless people. Nathan, Debbie, and Stewart have all been on the streets for a while. Debbie remembered Lisa, and after we had given them water we all chatted together for about half an hour.
The conversations we had were really emotional. Debbie is having a very hard time - more than just being homeless, which is hard enough - because her partner of 32 years just died. I surmised that they had lived together and then were homeless together and this was a very recently loss. She was devastated and kept asking why God wouldn't take her, too, because she didn't want to live without him. It was so sad. Lisa was so incredible at talking to her and providing comfort. I listened for a while and then ended up talking to Stewart.
Stewart told me all about his life. He is a heroin user who is trying to come clean and he told me all about this, as well as his recent trip to the dentist - a first in 14 years, and he was so happy about this. He told me proudly that he takes really good care of his teeth and showed me that he carries around a bottle of Listerine. He was given a backpack and a sleeping bag by the new mosque that opened in York not that long ago, and he had recently started going to church, so he shared his thoughts on faith.
At one point, he mentioned that he was 25 and I was so shocked. He is my age. What different lives we lead; how incredibly blessed I've been.
If you've ever worked with the homeless, elderly, or other disenfranchised people, you will understand when I say they have sometimes pressured speech. It's as if they need to get all their words out and someone is finally, finally listening, and they want to share a lot about their life story. I don't often share my life story to perfect strangers (or non-strangers for that matter) and it's not my natural instinct to be much of a talker with people outside my family. But when I meet the homeless I learn so much about them.
This goes back to my theory that the dominant human need we have is community. People need to be heard. They need to feel love. They need to feel like they matter. This need is as strong as the body's need for food, water, and sleep; it is a need more strong than the need for shelter or cleanliness or even medical attention sometimes.
When I think of privilege, my vision of this word is changing to include the access to people who will listen to you. Being lonely is its own poverty; the opposite is the knowledge that you will be heard. I feel so blessed that I am heard by so many (including here on this blog) - people value what I say. I always feel like people I love are there for me. What a privilege that is.
After a good long time, we got a call on our radio. A man was on the ground up by the theatre district and could we go assess and help until an ambulance arrived?
We left and made our way there. The man was on the ground and could respond, but only just. His friend had asked a nearby door staff to phone an ambulance after the man collapsed. They were middle-aged men wearing wedding bands who had been out with friends. At first we assumed too much alcohol, but his friend said he hadn't drunk much but he was diabetic. When the paramedics arrived, the man was loaded onto a stretcher and taken into the ambulance. What struck me was that we asked the friend if he needed us, and he said he'd like us to wait with him. It made me realize again that the human need for companionship in times of crisis is so strong.
The paramedics eventually had to take the man to the hospital to administer a more intense drug and the friend went with them. He thanked us and we went on our way. I can't remember exactly what happened next but in general a few things that happened were:
- We gave out lots of flip flops and water bottles to drunk people, and water bottles and lollipops to homeless people. We talked to a lot of people - most of the time it was fun conversations with people who wanted to know what we were doing.
- Lots of people wanted selfies with the four people in massive fluorescent coats.
- We met a bunch of people who remembered the Street Angels. One remembered Lisa, which I thought was amazing, and told her, you literally saved my life! and went on to describe how she had gotten so drunk and all her friends left and Lisa took care of her and helped her into a taxi.
- We did lots and lots of walking. Walking has been my number 1 hobby here and I love exploring the streets - this was a great way to do it!
- We got called a few more times to go assess situations but sometimes it was sorted by the time we got there. Sometimes it was just offering a drink and making sure the carer(s) (usually there was one or more other less drunk people surrounding a wildly drunk person) were OK too.
- We picked up a lot of glass bottles because those can be used in fights which are extremely common in York.
Around 12:30 am, we decided to go on break. We have keys to a church in the city centre called St. Martin's. It's an ancient cathedral next to a bunch of clubs. In front of the doorway was a girl and her friends clustered around her. She was sobbing and sobbing, lying on the ground in her friend's arms, and had apparently banged her head. We assessed to see if she needed further medical attention - she didn't - but the sad part was she was sharing things with her friends that had happened to her that were very difficult and she was super drunk and hysterical about it. Apparently the friends had had no idea and everyone was upset. We stayed with them until the girl's boyfriend came to take her home about twenty minutes later. I occasionally felt weird, as if we were being intrusive on this dramatic scene and also kind of awkward because it felt like we were part of this deep moment of sorrow and revelation as perfect strangers. But at the end one of the guys came up and thanked us profusely for sticking around and said he was really grateful we were there.
If you're wondering, never once did my teammates offer to pray or try to talk about God with people. Lots of drunk people on the streets recognized us or saw the name tags and would yell, drunkenly, "You're doing God's work, keep it up!" and other such obnoxious things. But I liked how this program is simply about companionship and sharing community with no pressure to be Christian or share faith. That can really turn people off, as I've experienced myself since I've been here.
After a break of tea and candy bars in the church, we headed back out. Paul and Lisa joked that you never knew what would happen after break - it could be dead quiet or it could be insane. Like stepping through the wardrobe in Narnia, they said, except you never knew where you'd end up!
The revelling was in full swing but we didn't get a ton of urgent calls. We continued to attend to people in need just with water and flip flops, and talk to those on the streets. We had a couple other long-term encounters, including one where we helped two hilarious very drunk ladies find their hotel. We saw Stewart a few times throughout the night again and talked to him again a bit.
Then as we were hoping to wind down, we walked back to the clubs near the train station to do a final sweep of the area. We were quickly approached (I guess those orange coats command authority or something) by a hysterical, mostly sober girl wearing a skimpy dress and freezing her butt off. Her friend, who we found out later was only 17, had wandered completely drunkenly off while the girl was waiting in line to get them both food at a takeaway shop. The girl looked around and realized her friend was gone, and other people at the shop told her she'd left. We looked around the immediate area, which were very crowded streets of drunk people getting food, with the girl, but there was no sign of this friend.
At the shop, the door staff said he'd not the seen friend in an hour and we radioed in for people to be on the lookout. The friend wasn't answering texts or calls, and apparently this was their first time going out together. The girl we met was super upset. She looked about 12 (I think she was probably actually only 17 herself, although she was careful not to mention this), and I could tell from past experiences that at that moment all she needed was some parental figures to help her survive the night. After more radioing, we took her to the cab stand and got her in a taxi, after we all decided that she needed to tell the girls' parents. The police and door staff were looking out, but it could be more serious (possibly a missing persons' report needed to be filed, for example)
That situation left me feeling really worried, because apparently there have been some sex attacks in York over the last few weeks late at night, but after we did all that we could, there was nothing for it. After a bit more, we packed in and went back to St. Columba's.
I left with the utmost respect for Lisa, Paul, and Caroline - what incredible Street Angels. They were so patient and kind to the people we met. No one ever made scornful comments about how drunk people were getting or made assumptions about anyone - they just wanted to help. I loved my team. Lisa especially was just so patient, kind, and capable in the most intense situations we encountered, but all of them were really great. Paul teased me about my accent and not wanting to wear a backpack, and I told him I'm American and it's in my DNA to be blunt and forthright. They also were impressed by my imitation of an English (non-Yorkshire) accent! Woohoo!
I went home, ate some toast because my stomach was rumbling after six hours of walking, and was asleep at 4 am.
The Street Angels completely defied what I'd heard/expected. Firstly, they do spend a lot of time talking to homeless people, which we did last night. They consider this an important part of their ministry to the community. Talking is just a big part of what they do in general, because that's often what people in crisis need. Secondly, they are connected with the police and pub/bar/club door staff through a radio system that every person wears to communicate with each other. This is augmented by the CCTV cameras set up in the city centre of York. Essentially no matter where you are you're being filmed, and the police use this to direct Street Angels to different areas. This reduces pressure on emergency services and also helps those in the situation find comfort. The police call on the Street Angels to go assist with many different situations - maybe to diffuse something or to provide comfort in another. They really rely on them and I think it's an amazing system.
I kept trying to ask my teammates in a roundabout way if York was a party town. It was just completely packed with some of the drunkest people I've ever seen in one space. Granted, I'm not a huge partier or drinker, as my friends will be the first to point out, but I've been out in Baltimore and it can be quite the scene, depending on where in the city you are. But it's NOTHING like York is. Every alleyway and street was absolutely crammed with people in varying states of drunkenness until 3 am, when we signed off. Many of these people come from out of town and get hotels, because York is a big city in Yorkshire and surrounded by lots of cute little villages where there seems to be nothing else to do at night besides eat steak and kidney pie and watch football in your local pub.
I don't often talk of my faith at home, but it is very deep and it is what guides me to service. And lately I've been asking God to guide me to two things: one, a way to help the homeless because there are SO many homeless people in York. And two, a way to help those who are lonely, because I feel so strongly that community is such a basic human need.
The Street Angels completely answered this prayer. Their goal is simply providing comfort and guidance in crisis experiences on the street (although lots of times they don't just experience crisis situations, just help with the average everyday drunk person who needs a taxi or water, which is good too). I was dreading it and parts of it did suck - I'm still exhausted the next day and my back and feet hurt - but it's nothing compared to the joy of providing companionship for those who so desperately need it. It is a practice in accompaniment, which is the guiding word of YAGM. I am planning to sign up for once-monthly shifts because it was such a good experience in practicing community. I can't wait for my next one!
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