The Mission: August 2010
Sixteen years of heroin and Skid Row summers took Carlos’ life away. A simple act of kindness gave it back — thanks to people like you.
Growing up in Santa Ana, my stepfather abused me, so I left home at the age of 12 and ended up on the streets. I was hurt, angry, frustrated, and filled with hate. But at the age of 17, I discovered heroin. It took all my pain away. Before long, however, it also took all my life.
In 1992, I ended up on Skid Row, living like an animal on the sidewalks. Every day was the same: I’d wake up and get my fix of heroin. Then I’d hustle all day to get another fix every three or four hours, until 10 o’clock at night when I’d collapse on the hard, unforgiving sidewalk, exhausted again.
But the long, hot summers on Skid Row were especially hard. Despite the brutal heat, restaurants and stores won’t give you water, there aren’t any drinking fountains, and all the water taps are locked. Somehow I survived 16 summers on Skid Row.
But by August 2008, I was not only thirsty, I was tired of my whole life. I knew I had to change or I’d die.That’s when some people came by and handed me a bottle of cold water. I asked them what organization they were with. They said Union Rescue Mission. The very next day I came here and completely surrendered my life to God.
Thanks to Union Rescue Mission, today I’m in college studying psychology so I can one day be a substance abuse counselor. I want to help other people like me get back on the right path.
Today I thank God, because a bottle of cold water and a simple act of kindness changed my life forever.
** In loving memory of Carlos Godoy, 2/26/1965 to 8/19/2010. **
Surviving on Skid Row is hard enough any time of year. But during the summer, when temperatures rise to 90 or 100, life is particularly brutal.
Often people who are addicted and living on these streets — like Carlos — are more focused on looking for their next fix than asking somebody for a drink of water.
Right now, there are people literally dying on the streets. That’s why, every summer, the Union Rescue Mission goes into life-saving mode to make sure people don’t die of dehydration or overheating. Any time it’s over 85 degrees, we go out at 3 o’clock and hand out 1,500 bottles of ice-cold water to folks on the street.
This is one of the ways we reach out to people on Skid Row and remind them that we’re here and available to them — and remind them that God loves them right where they’re at. When we do, many of these precious souls are convinced that we care, and they come in to the mission to give life another try.
We hope through these efforts that not one human being will be left on the streets of Skid Row. That’s our goal.
Blessings,
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http://www.urmblog.org/2010/08/24/3965/ Water Walk Changes Life, One Bottle of Water at a Time | Union Rescue Mission
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Margaret Perez