| Out of the blue, Father Ron Thomas, my Episcopal | | | | of the homeless, first talked about the deceased, |
| priest, asked me if I would like to attend a memorial | | | | Chuck. |
| service for a homeless person. | | | | "He had a dog, called Lucy," she began. "He loved the |
| "Can I tape it? I asked. | | | | outdoors, so, he camped down by the Jordan River. |
| "What on earth for?" he countered. | | | | Chuck got sick, and then he got sicker and sicker." |
| "I'll tell you later." | | | | She recounted her difficulties in persuading him to be |
| Ron was to be picked up immediately after the | | | | seen at a free clinic and then at the hospital, where |
| morning prayer service that was just beginning. Since | | | | they did surgery and discovered metastasized cancer. |
| I wanted to get my tape recorder and had walked | | | | "They treated Chuck with dignity," claimed Pamela. |
| to church that morning, I literally ran home after the | | | | "They actually kept him for three or four weeks |
| service. | | | | longer than they should have done, 'til we could find a |
| "I'm writing a book about the homeless," I hollered | | | | place for him." The hospital has a policy that forbids |
| back to Ron, standing in the church doorway. "Pick | | | | discharging a patient without a safe place to go. |
| me up at my apartment." | | | | "He could swear with the best of them," related |
| When the red Chevy mini-van arrived, I was pulling a | | | | Pamela, "But somehow or other you never got |
| long black skirt over my wool tights and threw a light | | | | offended. He was a good man." |
| parka over my shoulders. I got out to the van and | | | | "Loved to tell stories," Ed commented over his |
| found the three new people inside all recognized me | | | | shoulder. |
| and I them. | | | | "He also loved his biscuits [cookies]. We had to take |
| I had met the driver, Ed Snoddy, at Volunteers of | | | | cookies out for him," continued Pamela. "But his |
| America, when I was there for a job interview, a | | | | greatest love was for his dog, Lucy, who slept in the |
| few weeks earlier. While waiting to be seen by his | | | | sleeping bag with him." |
| boss, I chatted with Ed about the homeless | | | | Pamela digressed to speak about the needs of the |
| population. He does Homeless Outreach for V.O.A, | | | | homeless, some of whom stay out in the cold all |
| cruising Salt Lake County's streets looking for | | | | winter. The outreach workers just make sure they |
| homeless people who might need his help. Next to | | | | have extra sleeping bags. "When it is very cold our |
| me, on the seat behind Ed, was Pamela Atkinson, a | | | | numbers go up in the winter shelter," she said. "But |
| British woman who's practically a living legend in Salt | | | | some of them will never, ever come inside. We just |
| Lake City. She has worked tirelessly for the homeless | | | | make sure they keep warm, that they don't freeze." |
| for years and is vice-president of Intermountain | | | | The ones who are in danger of freezing, the |
| Health Care's Mission Services. Today, however, she | | | | alcoholics like Chuck, are the most vulnerable |
| was dressed in jeans and a sweater. The man in the | | | | population. "And particularly if they hide," said Pamela |
| far back seat, whose name escapes me, was an | | | | with dismay. Most, like Chuck, stay out camping as |
| alumnus of a workshop I had given on spirituality the | | | | long as they can. |
| previous summer. I recognized him, when we got out | | | | It was the cancer that got Chuck and the people at |
| of the van. Father Ron sat in the front seat next to | | | | his memorial service were all near and dear to him |
| Ed. | | | | and had cared for him at the end, as well as others |
| On the thirty-minute drive to the funeral location, | | | | who were homeless workers. |
| Pamela, excited to inform a newcomer on the plight | | | | |