Late July, Early August (London, England)
Rochester Row is the name of a street located about 5 blocks from Victoria Station in London. I traveled there from White Chapel (East London) on the Underground to volunteer to "sit with" as we call it. I am learning the discipline of listening. Rochester Row is also the name given to little the Salvation Army Church built in 1912 where the outreach center is held. There is a sign out front which says "The Salvation Army Outreach Centre. For Homeless people jointly sponsored by The Rotary Clubs of greater London and the Salvation Army." There are no pews, only a large room with tables and chairs. They are allowed to have up to 35 people at one time. Everyone who enters must sign in. There are several sky lights in the building and this brings a great deal of light. There is a small kitchen and an office in addition to the large meeting room. They also have a computer room but I am told that the management has recently stopped allowing the clients to use the internet there. The room faces the large room so it is easy to see what someone has on the screen. They also use a web-filter but the management felt it was not necessary for the clients to use the internet. So the clients only play games now. People frequently ask for a warm coat, a sweatshirt or a sleeping back at RR. They store these items in the basement. There are also two bathrooms and a shower. I have observed several people using the shower. One man put on the only clean clothes provided to him while his clothes were being washed: a dress.
I arrived at 4:00 pm as requested by the schedule Jill Patient gave me but there was no one there. There was a sign on the door stating that the SA would open at 5:45. I walked around the neighborhood a bit and then got some tea and waited while I read the paper. In the paper there was an article about how the Westminster city council had just voted to "get the rough sleepers (the homeless) off the streets." I'm told that Westminster is the area of London where most of the tourists go. The article stated that in 1998, there were more than 200 'rough sleepers' each night in Westminster but that this year, there were only around 100. The city's plan initially is to have officials walk around the area, wake up the sleepers and move them on. Then, in about a year, their intention is to get the names of each person sleeping on the streets in that area and to officially begin denying them any of the government benefits afforded to other homeless people. Amir, whom I have talked to the most at Rochester Row, told me that he had been sleeping in Westminster.
As I was drinking my tea and reading the paper, I observed Karen (the Chaplain) go inside the SA so I decided to pay up and move on. Everything costs more in London than in the US. In fact, I think this is the most expensive place I have ever lived. Before I knocked on the door, I sat down next to Kay whom I had seen at RR several times but had never spoken to. Kay must be in her late 50s. She is a very kind lady who is also another chain smoker. I found myself having to 'put up' with lots of cigarette smoke. I don't think anyone would have considered this a sacrifice but in reality, this was a sacrifice and to some extent even suffering on my part. I said nothing to anyone about what the smoke was doing to me.
I knocked on the door and after some time, Vic answered and let me in. I asked him how he was and he went into a long answer reflecting his obvious frustrations with the way things were going at RR. Vic has been working there for years. He told me that Ginger had quit and was making about three pounds more per hour. Ginger was the first staff person I met at RR several weeks ago when he and another volunteer took Pamela and myself to the Tate's Art Museum. Vic also expressed his anger and resentment at the low pay scale the SA has for its workers and at the new manager (who does not start for another few days). Vic said that the last time he had seen the manager (who is being transferred from managing a hostile for the homeless to RR), he observed him sitting at his desk sleeping or surfing the internet. Vic said that the man only has 2 more years before he retires and Vic stated that he didn't think the new manager would come with much vision for RR. While I was not all too surprised to hear this, I was quite saddened at the impression the SA is making upon the not-yet-Christians who work for them. I got this same sense (although much more professionally stated) from Jill and also from Gordon. I could only stomach so much of Vic's negative talk and the cigarette smoke so I asked Vic to introduce me to the people in the office I had not met. It turned out that that the person in the office was Jonathan, a son of SA parents and a very nice young man (and clearly a Christian) who had been asked to fill in for Jill while she was on holiday. Jonathan and I talked for some time about why people are homeless and I shared a few tidbits from my experience of being homeless in the US.
