Hope for New York

Don't Walk By is a massive homeless outreach that started on January 8 and will go until February 5. Every Saturday, hundred of volunteers fan out the streets of NYC looking for homeless men, women and children. These men and women are then offered a meal at a church nearby and once they arrive, they are offered blankets, clothes, medical assistance, and resources.

For those ready to leave the streets, a place in a residential recovery program is offered, featuring a Christian discipleship curriculum composed of one-on-one counseling, career and educational training and Christian growth.

Below you will find one of many stories of a new beginning, a second chance that is given to all of us. In Him.

"I met Susan at last Saturday's Don't Walk By outreach in downtown Manhattan.  She was talking with one of our Assessment Team from Teen Challenge, and I was asked to come and speak with her about some possibilities of where we could help her get off the streets.  Since she did not have a drug or alcohol problem, Teen Challenge was not a good solution for her.

I sat down with her and started sharing a bit, and before I started looking at other possibilities, I said to Susan, "You know the only way out of this mess is to surrender, give it up to God."  As I raised my hands in a surrendering demonstration, Susan began to weep, saying that there seemed just no end to her miserable road that had led her to homelessness and great loss of family relationships.

After talking with Brian Johansen of the Bowery Mission, we discussed the possibility of  the Bowery Women's program, as it is not only for drugs and alcohol recovery, but for women like Susan who's lives were falling apart, who need guidance and help, and God, to get their lives back on track.  We determined that we could get her into the program, but not until Monday morning.  

I then contacted a group called "Radical Living", which would take a woman for a few days, allow her to stay in a home with their staff, and then be placed in another facility.  I was able to make those arrangements; Susan went to the shelter, (Radical Living), made her way via a gifted Metro Card to the Bowery Women's Program on Monday where she is today and is doing very well.

The great thing about this encounter was it started with Susan going to the Relief Bus during the day on Saturday, being given a flyer for the Don't Walk By event that night, her going to the DWB event, being sent to Radical Living, and then ultimately to the Bowery Mission Woman's Program.

This is the church in action folks."

Bill Hoffman