MY LUCKY DAY
Homeless in New Orleans
When I'm on tour I make it a point to explore the city I'm in. Most times looking for homeless people and/or the services offered in that community. On February 19, 2011, I traveled to New Orleans on tour with another national recording artist. After checking into my hotel around 11am I immediately set out to walk the streets for food, some shopping and any opportunity to help someone living on the streets. I ended up in a music store that I knew sold my cd's. I purchased some new headphones, and during my purchase a man with a limp entered the store. He approached the counter and asked the cashiers (both teenagers) if they could spare any money to help him get something to eat or pay for a place to stay. They both declined stating they cannot remove money from the register. I looked the man over as he stood next to me, I was waiting for him to ask me the same question. He looked at me and said, "man, I'm really sick. I'm just trying to get something to eat. Can you spare anything to help me?" -- It was my lucky day. I offered him $10, and asked for the opportunity to help him all day. He didn't know how to take that statement. The look on his face was shock (and he was speechless). The cashiers were also lost for words as I gave him the cash and made him promise to tell me all about himself and how I could help him. We shook hands and began to walk down the busy sidewalks of Canal Street.
Johnny is his name.
And as we walked down the street I wasn't surprised to receive some dirty looks and a few glances of disgust from onlookers. Johnny was in the habit of speaking to everyone that walked within a few feet of him. "Hello young lady." "How are you doing today sir?" This is what he'd say before soliciting people for money. Even without asking for money 99% of the people he encountered ignored him as though he was invisible. Not surprising. Before getting into detail on how he ended up in his predicament I suggested we both get something to eat. We enter a McDonalds (his choice). My first thought was "Ugh. I had a bad experience before with another homeless man at a McDonalds in Detroit." At the McDonalds in Detroit, we were thrown out because my friend was homeless, and I feared the same thing or similar would happen in New Orleans with Johnny, so I told him to have a seat and I'll place our order. He only wanted a Chocolate Sundae. While sitting he solicited everyone that entered - almost as if he were on auto-pilot. Instead of me signaling for him not to do that I watched the reactions of people. I was totally disgusted at how he was treated by every person that entered McDonalds. I didn't expect anyone "to be me"... but I did expect at least 1 or 2 people to at least look at him and say hello back to him. No one did. They moved further away. One gentleman appeared as though he wanted to assault Johnny (for no apparent reason). The question "how would I handle this?" ran through my mind. Another more well-groomed, young homeless man enters asking if anyone had change for a $10 bill. The only person that stood up was Johnny yelling "I have change my friend". The younger homeless man laughed and said, "I'll be damned. YOU have change for a $10?" and I watched Johnny pull out a wad of money from his dirty pants, I wasnt surprised.
While standing outside of McDonalds I looked Johnny in the eye and said "Be totally honest with me. I'm here to help you. You can tell me anything you like, just tell me the truth. Either way, I'M GOING TO HELP YOU TODAY." Johnny began to tell me the obvious. He's a daily crack user. He panhandles all day long for money to support his habit. I asked how much money does he receive on average, and he said close to $100 a day from tourists on a good day of begging and pleading. He said that he sleeps in front of stores on the sidewalk at night and was very tired of doing that because he's sick and it's been unseasonably cold at night. He then told me he had AIDS. I began asking him a lot of questions at this point. I needed to confirm that what he was saying is that he spends money for drugs over shelter. I also wanted to know how important receiving medical help and shelter was to him. He stressed he didn't want to be on the streets. It was unsafe and it made him feel very ill. I felt stumped. Here I am in a busy tourist area with about $100 in my pocket, a 4 star hotel room in my name and about 19 more hours left until I moved on to another city on the tour schedule. I knew that I had to tap into DO Foundation's resources. I immediately called Nicole Lancaster of DO Foundation. I gave her a summary of what was going on and some info on Johnny. She quickly called every resource in the area (shelters, drug abuse lines, taxi's, Salvation Army, etc). It was Saturday and at many of the places she called, no one answered. Should no one ever need help on the weekends? She finally reached a service that matches Johnny's needs. When she explained that the founder/chairman of DO Foundation was in New Orleans helping a homeless man on the streets they hung up on her, not once, but TWICE!!! I muttered a few bad words at this point. No place to go. No one in the city to call for help. NOW I UNDERSTAND MORE OF WHAT HOMELESS PEOPLE GO THROUGH. Johnny also mentioned he knew of most of the places that Nicole mentioned. He said they won't take him because he was sick. He's gone to the hospital at times of severe illness only to be released back onto the streets within hours.
The feeling of helplessness:
What more could I do other than give him more money (which I did not)? I asked Johnny if there was some place to go for the day. I felt the least I could do was help him get a shower, more food, sleep in a bed at least for a night. My room at the hotel wasn't an option this time because they were day rooms. We were to leave on the tour bus later that night. Johnny mentions knowing of a man that rents rooms by the day. It's across town in an area that's not very safe and very unfamiliar to me. I told Johnny I would get him there and pay for the room (possibly for a few nights). At this moment thoughts ran through my head of walking into a possible crack house or being perceived as an undercover cop. So, I asked Johnny "Would you put me in harms way for trying to help you? Is this location your dealer?" He gave me his word it was safe and not a drug dealer.
Taxi Drivers can say no!!!
We hail a taxi to get from the tourist area to the boarding house
Johnny mentioned. I used my iPhone to pinpoint the location so I'd know
where I am - 8 miles away from my hotel. The taxi driver asked me where
we're going, and as I proceeded to enter the taxi he takes a good look
at Johnny and tells me he can't take us, and he sped off. I tried
flagging another taxi only to be skipped. We opted for the bus (much
longer - 1 hour between bus pickups)...
See video for our experience at the bus stop here:
While on the bus we meet a gentleman that's in a wheelchair, he appeared
to have had a stroke or disease that caused him to not walk and have a
severe speech impediment. He was a pastor. After listening to Johnny and
I talk about not doing drugs he cut in and told Johnny to stop saying
"God is good". My initial thought was he was going to blame God for his
own disabilities or Johnny's crack addiction. Instead he made it very
clear to never say "God is good" if you don't mean it from the heart.
Otherwise God will not help you. The moment you mean it God will help.
He will send you an angel for that. The pastor pointed to me. He told
Johnny to open up for my help and do what I told him to do. It hit me
like a ton of bricks. I wasn't expecting that message. The lady sitting
behind us said "Amen". Ugh. I felt choked up for a moment. I had an
overwhelmingly feeling of allegiance with a few other passengers.
Imagine how much we could help if we all came together for the cause.
Laundromat housing:
We exit the bus at a tiny laundromat in the middle of the block. No homes or apartments around. Did Johnny lie to me? For the first time I felt afraid but thought no matter what happens I'm intent on helping this man simply because it shows in his eyes that he WANTS help. The laundromat has small studio apartments or rooms attached to it. Someone other than the owner steps out as though she knew Johnny. He told her I was there to pay for a room for him. She grabbed her cell phone and called the owner who spoke with Johnny. He proceeded to beg and insist he had someone with him that could pay for it. He gave me the phone. Without saying hello the owner said "Its $400 per month with a $400 deposit". I was confused. Johnny mentioned he could pay by the day. The owner insisted on the amounts stated. I felt helpless again. I told the owner who I was and what I could do that day only to be declined.
Seeing true sadness in a mans eyes.
Johnny's demeanor changed drastically after that phone call. My feeling of helplessness turned into wanting to quit the band just to stay with Johnny until Monday when all the agencies and shelters opened. I could not. Now I needed support. I called Nicole again to explain the situation. We concluded that there was nothing more I could physically do at the moment. 5 minutes later I was beckoned to return to the hotel for an impromptu soundcheck. UGH. I had about 30 mins to get back.
Leaving Johnny:
All I knew was I needed to get back to downtown or I could lose my job and/or get lost in a not so friendly area. Then came the fact that I had made a promise to Johnny that had to be broken. Johnny insisted I leave and that he'd be ok where he was. I wanted to promise I'd return but I wasn't sure I could keep that promise now. My last words to him was to get help. Keep trying those agencies until they have to take you. He was certain they'd never take him in. I have to leave Johnny, and then I find that the bus runs every hour. I started walking in hopes of seeing a bus or taxi. No luck. Nicole arranges transportation for me.
The Conclusion:
I plan on returning to New Orleans in hopes of finding Johnny again. In the meantime we've taken note of all the agencies that close on weekends, turn people away (even the most severe cases), and those that provide no real support. The staff at DO Foundation is keeping track. We're also learning all the things we need to do and NOT do. My going on the streets to help individuals is called "outreach". When DO Foundation establishes a physical presence in New Orleans and recruits like minded staff/volunteers such as us the lives of homeless people will improve 100%. That's a promise I will not break.
