Our Sunday evening outreach crew. Lisa Woodward, Jackamoe Buzzell and Tom Garrity. Dr. Jeremy Reynalds not pictured.

It was Sunday evening and I was in my office. Monitors for the security cameras strategically placed around our main building at Joy Junction showed me everything was well.

I believe in multitasking. My left eye was looking at the security camera monitors, while my right eye was on my computer screen and my fingers were typing away on the keyboard. My mind was thinking about everything to be accomplished during the upcoming week.

After feeding hundreds Sunday, I saw that the kitchen had closed up for the night. However, some of the sack lunches they’d prepared would be on the van with us when we started street outreach at 9 p.m.

As my left eye kept looking at the monitors, I saw a Joy Junction resident services supervisor in her office talking to guests and program participants who were coming in and out of her office.

The limited number of single men we take in were all on their mats in their assigned area, looking forward to a safe and restful night’s sleep away from the perils and terrors of the street. They would wake up to a good breakfast and coffee.

I saw that our multi purpose building was filled with a sea of families settling down for the night. They were safe and dry.

I saw that as usual, a program participant was manning the guard shack as part of his life recovery volunteer program duties, making sure no one unauthorized entered our shelter complex.

I left my office and went outside, where the ground was wet from the earlier rain shower. I drove to our Downtown parking lot to meet Lisa Woodward, our transportation manager. It was time for street outreach, where the only thing certain for those who would sleep on the streets Sunday night was uncertainty.

We made our way to the northern part of Downtown. It was still spitting with rain, and while we were nice and cosy in the van it wasn’t an evening to be outside.

We arrived at our first location. There was no one there, so we moved onto the next spot. Riding along with Lisa and I were volunteers Jackamoe Buzzell and Tom Garrity. We arrived at our destination and found five people trying to stay dry.

One guy was sleeping very close to the street. I told him it was potentially a very dangerous spot. He said it was better than being close to the building where he was getting soaked from rain running off the roof. He did admit, though, that drivers of cars passing by threw firecrackers at him. How awful!

We drove into the heart of Downtown Albuquerque. With the Railrunner train passing close by and the rain beginning to ease up, we fed and gave beverages to 13 people sleeping under the highway overpass.

One guy grabbed my hand and said, “Thanks. You guys came to the rescue again.”

We drove along a packed Central Avenue, where we heard music blaring from souped up cars with their windows down and bikes revving their engine. In front of us was a car which had three television screens in the back. I couldn’t help thinking how ironic it was that here we were seeking out the homeless and hungry, and in front of us was a luxury car with all this expensive media.

We checked out an alley frequented by the homeless. No one was there. The next couple of locations were just as quiet.

We drove down some more alleys. They were deserted, but I wanted our volunteers to see where a number of homeless people camped out in the colder winter months. That’s because the narrow alleys provided protection from the chilling winter winds.

We made our way east to another highway overpass where homeless people have camped out in months gone by. Ironically, we were behind a well known restaurant. We all got out of the van, but no one was there either.

We made our way back Downtown to our first formerly deserted location where we fed and gave water to six newly arrived grateful souls. They were very happy.

By now it was 11.50 p.m. We found a couple of people sleeping, or half-sleeping, in a very public area. We gave a sack lunch and beverage to one, and left the same for the other individual who was sleeping.

Just as we were about to call it a night, a guy ran up to us. He said that he and three friends could use some food and water. We walked over to their location, where we found the three huddled in a doorway charging their cell phones! We gave them sack lunches and a beverage and walked back to our parking lot, where we ended the outreach and went to our respective homes.

Tired? Yes! However, we were all happy that we had, I believe, in the space of a few hours made at least a little bit of difference in the lives of those with whom we had come into contact. That was my evening. How was yours?

Would you please pray for Joy Junction and our various outreaches? You may donate online or find out more by going to www.joyjunction.org