On Tuesday January 17 and Friday January 20 I walked to and from work, over four miles each way, to help bring awareness to Homelessness in Syracuse, NY and beyond. The idea to do this came from the reminder that the majority of homeless individuals get from place to place by walking; whether to and from work, to a bus stop, or simply passing time before they are able to go back to the shelter they may be staying at. This stayed with me for quite awhile and that is why I made the decision to use walking as my form of transportation for two days this past week. I chose two specific days based on my schedule, and promised that I would do this no matter the weather conditions.
Tuesday morning’s forecast was calling for freezing rain with the potential for ice-covered roads. I prepared for the worst, and was thankfully met with clear, dry roads. The walk to work was uneventful until I was just a little less than a mile away. I was passing by a church that had signs out in front advertising their relationship with the CNY Food Bank and as I was glancing over the signs something else caught my attention – a homeless individual who had sought shelter in the covered entryway of the church. This individual was on the cold concrete in near freezing temperatures. It was in that exact moment that I was reminded of WHY I was walking to and from work. WHY I was raising funds to support the Rescue Mission, and WHY Runnin’ 4 a Reason is important to me.
The rain came through Tuesday during the day and was not going to let up for the walk home. Although I had prepared for icy roads and cold temps for the morning, I really was not prepared for steady rain. I got lucky when I found a waterproof jacket in my office that I had brought in weeks previous that had a hood on it, and my coworker offered me her umbrella as well. I took the umbrella with me, but didn’t want to have to use it if I could help it, because I felt like the umbrella would be somewhat of a luxury that most homeless don’t have. Needless to say the walk home was WET, but really that was the easy part to manage. The route I took home was different than the way I walked to work. I felt that walking during rush hour on such a main road like I traveled in the morning would be unsafe with traffic. Unfortunately I didn’t take into account the potential threat to my personal safety with some of the neighborhoods I would be passing through, or the lack of streetlights that would highlight me to oncoming traffic even with me wearing a reflective vest and headlamp. The walk home was far more stressful than I could have mentally prepared for. Fearing for my personal safety was completely unexpected. I imagine this too is something that homeless individuals encounter from time to time.
Compared to Tuesday, Friday’s walk to and from work was “easy”. This was due to many factors including unseasonably warm temperatures and of course having already done this just days before.
I am incredibly thankful for this personal experience and the awareness that I have been able to bring to the Homelessness through my walking, my various Social Media posts, and the support I have received in terms of comments and shares of these posts, and let’s not forget the financial donations that have been made in support of the Freeze Out 5k to End Homelessness.
Overall this was a very humbling experience for myself. I freely admit that there are things such as sleep and freedom that I have taken for granted. I typically wake up around 5:30am during the week, but I had to make sure to be up at 5am to give myself enough time to get ready for the day and get to work on time. It typically takes me 12-20 minutes to drive to work depending on the traffic, and about 15-20 minutes to get home. Walking home took 90-minutes and was a huge chunk out of my night. I absolutely underestimated the freedom I have to just get in my car and be home in no time at all.
Most of all though, the one emotion that I experienced that I never would have anticipated was loneliness. This was more prevalent at night when I was going from daylight to darkness, but it was absolutely magnified by the rain on Tuesday night. If you had asked me last week at this time what I was anticipating from this experience I really would not have been able to give a good solid answer, but I don’t believe that loneliness would have come to mind either.
I want to thank each and every person who has supported me throughout this fundraising campaign. From the comments of support, the shares of social media posts, and the financial donations, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am incredibly grateful for everyone’s support. The fight to end homelessness is far from over, but participating in the Freeze Out 5k and raising funds to support the Rescue Mission is certainly a step in the right direction.
To donate: http://rescuemission.donorpages.com/SyracuseFreezeOut5K2017/MonicaEverdyke2013/