The Homeless Man in our Hobo Shed.

Yesterday, what my house would jokingly call "the hobo shed" (this old shed attached to our fence next to our garage) became a literal hobo shed.

The night before was very cold and windy, and yesterday wasn't any better. As a result, my housemate Lizzy found a homeless man with his dog hiding out in our shed, trying to keep himself warm. After calling her dad, we listened to his recommendation to ask a guy friend to come over and help us approach the homeless man.

Our friend Corey came over, and he went out to the shed with him. We talked with him for a little while. He said he was just trying to keep warm and would leave by noon; he didn't want the cops called on him. It had been a long winter -- he couldn't find a job, only had $310 left, and it was very cold. He had come from Boulder and needed to rest, was tired of shelters, and he offered us marijuana, saying he just wanted to show us what he was high on.

We asked him to open the door so we could grab something from the shed. As he did, his dog Jewel came out, immediately rubbing up against my legs, trying to keep warm. I kneeled down and embraced the shivering dog as Corey did almost all of the talking. Corey offered to take him out to get Taco Bell or a hot drink at Wild Boar. The man declined, saying he didn't need anything and just wanted to rest, but he eventually accepted Corey's offer to buy the food and bring it back to him. We asked if there was anything else we could do to help him, told him about the Open Door Mission in Fort Collins, and Lizzy ran inside to get a sleeping bag and gave it to him.

This morning, we found a cardboard note on the door handle of the shed:

"Not 6' under, 6" under. Not feet. No coffin, no cover. RIP. 2 possible human, young face, 1 dog maybe more."

A little cryptic, right? Corey and two more guy friends, Nick and Nate, came over to look at the note and join my housemate Genevieve and I in taking a look around the shed and our backyard. They found another note on the fence that basically said the same thing in much fewer words. After digging around the shed for a bit (I was half-amused/half-impressed that the boys were taking the detective stuff seriously, suspecting all kinds of crime scenes) we decided the notes probably weren't a big deal -- my housemates and I probably aren't in any danger, and we hoped the man was safe. Arms around each other, we prayed for God's provision for this man, his safety and the safety of my housemates. 

God used this unusual experience (at least, unusual for me) to show me a few things. One is the importance of homeless shelters, especially shelters like the Union Gospel Mission's Hope Place in Seattle (which I actually had the chance to volunteer with last spring break) that help rehabilitate those who are alcoholics or drug addicts so they can break the cycle of addiction and then break the cycle of homelessness. I have done food and evangelism outreaches to the homeless with a few friends before, and there is a place for that, but I felt so helpless when I could not offer them something substantial, something that will help them long-term. Shelters specialize in that; so if you want to serve the homeless, I recommend doing it through a shelter or organization such as Open Door Mission.

Keep an eye out for the homeless. Be careful for your safety, but also be full of care for them.