It is snowing like crazy outside. The cab driver told me that they are expecting six inches today and it’s just started. The weather Gods got it wrong again as they’d reported it was starting yesterday afternoon but it held off until this morning. I’m leaving just in time.
Springfield, MASS is an interesting place. The downtown area where I stayed is nice enough. It is about eight blocks of hotels, restaurants, and shops. The interesting thing about walking around is that there was absolutely no one there. It is as though the Rapture occurred and I was left behind along with the bartenders and convenience store clerks.
I was ok with it.
So I wandered back to the Sheraton and found the hotel bar and set up the computer and went to work. I was writing up a report for an organization named Roca, which is based in Chelsea but is starting operations in Springfield.
There are 26 gangs here. They average two murders every three weeks in gang wars. Maybe the reason nobody is downtown is because of the gangs.
I’d spent the entire day in a Board room of the Sherriff’s office listening to this fascinating group of people describe how they spend their days and nights on the streets. Anisha had jet black hair, eyebrows, shirt, pants and shoes. She could almost pass for a Ninja if had she covered her mouth. She is a street worker.
Roca Street workers literally go out and work the streets finding gang members, introducing themselves and saying “Hey, I’m Anisha and I’m going to be your friend.”
The surprised gang member normally responds with a verb followed by a pronoun. The pronoun is “you”.
“Yeah anyway,” Anisha replies, “we’re gonna be friends.”
And every day for the next six to nine months Anisha shows up after tracking down the gang member wearing a bright orange shirt and Ninja everything else. Day after day after day, she shows up.
It becomes water dripping on a rock.
Finally the gang member grows to rely on her, then trust her, and then they start planning a life away from the gang. Talk about dedication!
Later I am surrounded by ten young men wearing blue shirts, blue jeans and work books. Each wears tattoos on their neck proclaiming whichever gang they were in. I shake all of their hands, look them in the eye and introduce myself.
“Hey Micheal,” they all say in response and tell me their names.
They are part of a work crew and were heading out to the Department of Public Works for a contract they had. I asked what they would be doing there.
“Car Wash,” Antonio said laughing. Everybody else laughed.
Seeing that I didn’t get it Antonio explained, “We get to wash the dump trucks.”
Then off they went happily to work. It was amazing.
What is more amazing is that Roca has a 90% success rate with these kids. Over 800 left gangs, found work and started new lives last year. I was blown away!
Molly, the woman who started this work, has been doing it for 21 years! We wandered away from a tour at one point and just talked. She was in the middle of a construction project on a new center that could accommodate 250 gang members leaving their gangs. Anisha joined us at the end and we all hugged and promised to stay in touch.
I sit here now watching the snow at the airport hoping that my plane takes off. I’m ready for home and to breath inside the things that I love. But if my plane is delayed or canceled, I’ll eventually get there.
But these guys … I think to myself. It takes people like Anisha and Molly who just make a decision that they will not spurned. They will become friends with the most unlovely people because … the most unlovely people deserve a chance too.
