The Beautiful Crowd Street Life Attracts

The people who show up to Street Life are a special crowd. Take Steven for example (in the blue jacket). He rides his bike to Street Life in Menlo Park and carries a large bike lock around his neck. Steven is quiet, calm, and very articulate. As the night gets later he will start checking his watch, to make sure he leaves on time, and he always leaves on time.

Steven is someone who could get off the streets, but he would need help transitioning (because he has been living on the streets so long that he has gotten used to it).

Another gentleman is Jeffrey, aka Ghetto J, Rapper J, Nacho Guy, 7-11 guy. Jeffrey seems like a shy person until you say “hi”… then he’ll get busy telling you one of his many stories! Here is Jeffrey doing his famous “Running from the Police” pose 🔼

Jeffrey visits our Redwood City location and will usually take 2 - 3 to-go meals back to his campsite to hand out to other folks living on the streets.

Jeffrey could totally get off the streets too, but he has spent so many years on them that it’s all he knows.

Not all of the folks living on the streets are this ready to get off the streets, but a lot of our folks are. We seem to draw that crowd.

These people are ready. They just need focused help in dealing with their addiction and transitioning off the streets, and many of them will succeed.

This is why we are launching the Homeless to Healthy 12-month rehab program and this is why I am so excited about it. I see the potential. I see people ready to change.

God bless,

Kev’s Korner

Hello again, my friends, and welcome to August !! I gotta be honest – I’m kinda glad to be putting July in the ol’ rear view. I mean, every month has its ups and downs, but July was a rough one for me. We started Friday services at Street Life. Adjusting to that hasn’t been as easy as I expected it to be. Some might say, “but it’s just ONE extra day, how hard can that be?” Well, let me tell you – it takes a whole lot of planning and coordinating to make it all happen. Every Monday, Wednesday, and now, Friday, takes an army of cooks, servers, drivers, musicians, and volunteers to make happen. This stuff ain’t as easy as we make it look. I mean, there are days that I don’t even SEE Vicky – and we live in the same house. It’s crazy how much work it takes to make it work to the standards we have set for ourselves. Also, that doesn’t even cover Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Menlo Park Bus station OR Mondays in Palo Alto. Nor does it cover Last Sunday of the Month breakfast, or Bingo on the first Saturday of the month. Yeah… I’m amazed almost daily at the level of commitment shown by everyone involved in making Street Life Ministries what it is.

Being a part of the team is what makes me thrive. I love kicking it at the end of the night sometimes and hearing everyone talking about how smooth it went. I always think it went like a duck on a pond – calm and cool above the water, but beneath… Hehehe. Sometimes that’s as accurate an analogy as there can be. We roll with whatever happens, however it happens, and we make it look good. It’s what we do.

We are always looking for new volunteers. Always. With the opening of Fridays, we could sure use more. Not just servers, but accent cooks for Fridays would be awesome. More drivers wouldn’t hurt either. If anyone reading this feels like they’d like to help out their community but don’t know how, I’d suggest checking out volunteering with us. https://streetlifeministries.org/volunteer/ . If you want to make a difference, I’d say that’s the way to try it out. We can use what you bring to the table, believe me.

Lord, I ask that you Bless everyone involved in Street Life. They don’t quit. They make every service come together, and they do it with style. The heart they show, the determination, the dependability – they do it all for Your Glory, Father. Please keep them safe in Your Loving Embrace. I ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

See you on the streets.

Homeless to Healthy Rehab (updates)

✔ Chic-fil-A of Redwood City, Survivors M/C SF-Bay Area, and Jim Breen’s San Mateo State Farm have all agreed to partner with us in this new rehab program. These three groups will be helping us teach life skills to our participants.

✔ We will be doing an exciting online fundraiser on August 26th and you will be invited. It will pull back the curtain on this new rehab program and show you everything that’s going on!!

✔ We broke $100K donations and are at $103,251.27 (10% of our goal)