Water Tower and Families pt. 2

The following morning came quickly. I had slept well, largely in part because I had set the thermostat as low as it could go. Turning off the alarm clock, I rolled out of bed and got ready for the day. I packed my day pack in my room and then stepped out to the elevator to head to the dining area, where breakfast was being served. I grabbed a yogurt and a tangerine and then headed to the entrance to wait for Tom. It had been decided that Vince would pick Tom and me up, and then we would head to our designated work location. After a brief time, Vince pulled up to the front entrance. Tom and I piled into the car.

Vince informed us that we were going to a new shelter that had just opened two days prior. It was situated in the Water Tower neighborhood, and we would be working there for the time being. The neighborhood bordered the southeast part of Ferguson. As we made our way towards the shelter, I gazed out the side window and processed what I was seeing. After a twenty-five-minute drive, we pulled into a driveway that led to a daycare center and what appeared to be a gym or auditorium.

Having parked the car, we all three stepped out into the parking lot. We faced the building that would be called home at least for the day. To the right of us stood the mobile showers. Behind the showers, stood a row of port-a-potties that acted as a barrier between the parking lot that we stood in and the street.

We made our way in and were greeted by three people from Red Cross. Lori, the person in charge, introduced herself and along with Sherry and Von. They explained that the shelter has just opened and currently there were only a couple of people. Lori began to give us a tour of the facility along with explaining that it had just been opened and thus it was still being established. The way the beds were set up, single men, single women and families. Unbeknownst to us, the shelter would be called home to families including one that had eleven children with one on the way.

The reality is that being in a setting like this is traumatizing whether it be the first time or hundredth time. This, being spoken regarding adults. For children, I am not sure the depths of trauma it potentially has even when speaking with them years down the road. I have to say that my heart was extremely soft for the kids. I don't know if I projected a bit of myself onto them. Either way, there was a familiarity that I saw in their eyes.

The days ended up consisting of setting up cots and rearranging them as we began to fill up with people, attempting to keep families together with a little privacy, that being a very relatively statement. Because it was early on, food was hard to coordinate. Due to this, we at one point ordered dozens of subs from Subway. Little did I know that I would be used as a bargaining chip for getting the subs....