Skid Row Streets

It’s only a short drive from the Dream Center to the streets of Skid Row, but a world of difference. These streets are lined with clumps of people, either sitting along the dirty walls or pushing all they own in makeshift carts. Unlike many of the surrounding areas, cars don’t travel these blocks as much. Instead the people roam the streets, looking for food, looking for drugs. The government and a fair share of charity organizations have tried to help out this hopeless community. But even with the homeless shelters and government housing, the hopelessness is still visible, and it covers everything.

In one particular homeless shelter, the women and men’s sleeping quarters are divided. It may not be what any socialized person would consider “sleepable”, seeing as it consists of a concrete floor and concrete roof. But to these folks, it is the most comfort and coverage they’ve gotten all week. A frail, middle-aged woman named Don had been one of the many making use of this shelter on Skid Row this week.

“I’d really like some prayer,” she said, slumped over the food we had just given her. Her eyes were heavy, red and watery and they very scarcely made eye contact. She looked down in shame as she told her story, her reason for wanting prayer. “I just want him to come back, my husband of 14 years won’t talk to me.” She had suffered all kinds of abuse from him and other men in her life, along with being used as a prostitute. But this life only left her lonely and desperate in search of what would truly make her happy.

I grabbed her dirt-covered hand as we talked and prayed of that true happiness. We cried, and she held my hand even tighter. “Thank you, you guys are heaven-sent.” Her desire to leave this hopeless life and put God first was very evident. In the midst of these other weary, sleeping women, she raised one hand and prayed aloud God’s intervention in her life.

The food we brought along was the gateway to interactions like this. The funds you provide when adopting this block change lives one prayer at a time. Don’s life was changed by one of those prayers. It is through friends like you making it possible for us to take the food and love she and others like her need right to where they are on the streets of Skid Row. We will keep going back each week to others like her with your help. May we all be ready and willing to always provide the help and hope that this world needs.


Changing the world together, one block at a time,

The Adopt-A-Block Team