Runner Girl Ch. 12

John spoke up, "Well, Ray knows what he's talking about. If we can house the same number of men and give them the dignity of a little private space, I agree." A collective murmur of approval spread throughout the group. "And Ray, you said you wanted to talk about laundry?"

"Yeah, I did some research and found a company that will supply washers and dryers and even maintain them, if they're coin operated. But I think we should buy them outright and put our own coin machines on them."

"Why not make laundry free?" Beverly asked. "We can cover the cost of the machines."

"We can give them a coin allowance - or even tokens so they don't spend them somewhere else. I like the accountability of using coins. Even if we give them a coin allowance, or tokens, they might think twice about washing a single item all by itself, you know? It's just human nature to take advantage of any situation. We don't want to make anything too easy on them. They should feel like they are getting a fair deal, a foothold. Not a handout."

"This is a homeless shelter!" Amy blurted out, not realizing she spoke out loud until all eyes turned and looked at her.

"No, sweetheart, not a shelter," John said. "We're not just providing a shelter, more of a..."

"A foothold," Herman said. "I like the way Ray worded that. A foothold for homeless men who want to get on their feet."

"Yes, shelter is the basic need, but it's way more than that. We'll be providing an opportunity for guys like me. Guys that want to work, but need a little help getting on track. No handouts. Lots of accountability."

"I like the name 'Foothold,'" John said. "We should vote on that, so next meeting bring your ideas. Let's put a name on this project."

Amy stood stunned in amazement. Right under her nose this big thing was going on and she didn't even know about it. She felt humbled that she had been so judgmental about John and his money. What charitable thing had she done while he was making plans - big plans - to help the homeless? Sure, she fed some people on Thanksgiving, but...

John noticed Kyle at the doorway and nodded towards him, "Dinner is ready. Shall we eat?"

Amy wanted to ask John why he didn't tell her about this project, but she realized before she formed the question that this is not something he would brag about. She listened to the discussion over dinner and learned that Lenny and Don worked with Ray and that they were going to be doing the rehab work on the building, to make it habitable. They also had plans to train men to work in construction, if they wanted to learn a trade. William planned to create the media center, and Beverly had a slew of volunteers lined up from her church to help with resumes and job searches. Amy watched how they deferred to Ray's expertise and how he referred without shame to his experience of being homeless.

John told the group about a woman on the West Coast who had success with a similar project. "Ms. Butler has been very helpful in correspondence, but I want you all to meet her and learn from her experience. There's no reason to recreate the wheel. They've got a great model we can learn from and then adapt as we see fit."

"Another dinner at John's in a month?" William joked.

"Why not? I think that's a capital idea," Herman said. "It would give me reason to visit New York on a consistent basis. At least until we get 'Foothold' established." He looked at Beverly, who smiled demurely.

After dinner, Amy found an opportunity to intercept Ray as he emerged from the restroom. "Ray, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," he answered.

"Were you really homeless?"

Ray laughed, "Well, technically I had an address. But I couldn't go home and I spent a lot of nights sleeping outside."

Amy paused, "I think that's pretty admirable. I mean, not that you were homeless, but that you talk about it so freely, without shame."

"Oh I wasn't always like this. You should have seen me shaking when I told Alicia," he laughed. "I thought she'd break up with me if she knew how I lived. But as time went on I told more and more people. I mean, I don't use it as an icebreaker or anything, but if it seems like it can be useful, I don't mind telling people. It was just a thing I went through. It doesn't define me."

Amy nodded in agreement, although it was just sinking in. "So the criterion is, you tell people if you think it might be helpful to them?"

"Yeah, but I don't always know when that is. So basically, I'm just honest if it comes up. That's what led me to being involved in this project. William asked if he could tell John about me and when I met John he said he'd been looking for something to put his money into. So were Beverly and Herman. So John asked me to help out and things just started falling together. John found the property and brought in Herman. We both knew Beverly, and when I told my boss about it - that's Don - well, he wanted in too. But it started with me and John. I think it's pretty funny that I can be useful to such a smart business guy, but John doesn't know crap about living on the streets." Ray laughed good-naturedly.

Amy smiled back at Ray and thanked him, for his transparency. She knew now what she needed to do.