Taking Shelter

Taking Shelter

Cecil County Emergency Shelter

Cecil County, MD

December 2016

It is the week before Christmas and the county’s Emergency Shelter does not have the staff it needs to stay open.  It’s a busy time for everyone so volunteers are hard to come by.  But it is cold out there, really cold.  With the wind chill factor, the temperature feels like 10F. People need to get out of this brutal cold and get warm. A desperate plea went out to many of us, asking us to step up and help.

I sign up to assist on Tuesday night.  My shift starts at 10PM and I finish up around 8AM.  Our guests have been here since 5 this afternoon and are winding down for the day by the time I arrive.  A few of them are already curled up in their beds, trying to ignore the conversations and the glaring ceiling lights.  “Lights Out” doesn’t happen for another hour.

Those who are still awake are playing cards or chatting or staring in to space.  As I scan the room, no one looks familiar to me.  It’s been a year since I volunteered here. None of these people were here last year.  So, the questions on my mind are (1) where are the people from last year and (2) where were these people last year?  How many people slip in and out of homelessness as a regular lifestyle?

One man tells me he was renting from his boss and they had some sort of ugly confrontation.  So, he lost his job and his apartment.  “And my damn teeth.  I don’t have no damn teeth no more.  I got a call that he dumped all my shit outside and I said to my friend, ‘Get my teeth for me’ but he don’t find them.  Now I don’t even have no teeth. I got no job, no home and no teeth.”

There is a young man in a wheelchair. He has limited speech and mobility. He comes here solely for the company.  He watches as the others play cards. When lights go out, he leaves the facility, alone, in the dark and the cold.  I don’t know where he goes.

A young child is with us tonight. Maybe he is four years old. I wonder how he and his father spend their days. Tonight, they sit in front of the TV and watch Sponge Bob on the VCR player. I wonder if he is looking forward to Christmas.

The lights go out and people settle down quickly. A few of the guest roam around in the darkness as they go to the restroom one more time or get up to find a throat lozenge or get a quick drink of water. There is lots of coughing. The years of smoking and being in the constant cold must wreak havoc on their lungs. At any time, I can distinguish four or five different people hacking away.

Then there is a moment of quietness as the 16 of us lay here in this basement of this church. We rest in silence and warmth.