Rogers First Outreach

Last night was my first time with Nathanial on outreach. Like Lail we met at 9.00pm and chatted for a while about the do's and don'ts. Nathanial also gave me some good tips if a guy started to touch me / chat me up. In one sense this is expected while out on the streets and in the bars, because the men are there to pick up a guy or hustle. As a man I'm a potential customer until they realize I'm with Emmaus. But we must never let them get comfortable with that behaviour towards us. We then went onto the chapel and got on the streets around 10.30pm.

We had driven around this neighbourhood a number of times, and each time I found it hard to imagine what it was like at night because it seems like such a nice couple of blocks (here's a link of the area). But when we walked into it, it seemed to be a totally different place - it was like walking into a new world, but one that had been established for many more years. The later the night went on the more men, drag queens, hustlers and tricks came out, and the more it changed.

Like Lail, Nathanial took me to the oldest gay bar in the neighbourhood, it's been open for about 30 years, and was the reason the Gay community moved into that area. Its the bar where drag queens put on their shows and hustlers work out of, and thus the most seedy in the area. But at the same time, there was a feeling of community about it. The type of feel in one sense that you might find in any club or church: they all knew each other, they were joking around, having a laugh and catching up - it was a place were they felt safe and with people that understood them and felt like them. The greetings they gave each other and the jokes they told might have been different from that of a club or church, but it did have that same hustle and bustle about it. However underneath all that there seemed to be a sense of desperation and futility.

The streets again had that community feel. All the hustlers and drug dealers knew each other and of course Nathanial. There was a sense of openness in part to what they were doing. The same cars would slowly drive by many times looking at the hustlers, I was offered drugs on while walking around because they didn't recognise me to be with Emmaus yet. The police would be driving up and down, however barely powerless to do anything. On every corner there would be a deal going on, between the hustlers and tricks or the dealers and hustlers or just the normal clubbing punters.

But again underneath it all there was a real sense of distrust. Every one is checking their backs the whole time. Making sure their either not in danger or missing out on a deal. We of course are the same, positioning ourselves so we can see each others backs.

We spoke to a number of men over the night - all with different stories. All on some kind of drug - Marijuana, Crack, Crystal Meth. They all had two things in common - the job they were doing and the fact they need help - spiritually and physically to get off the drugs and the streets.

We finished at 2:00am, went back to the church, made a few notes and headed home. I was in bed at 3.30am.