It's A Long Walk From The Street - A journey with a guy named "Joe" - Part 7:

Tuesday:

With renewed vigor and determination, I met Joe at the church that next morning. I had been praying for wisdom and direction. The challenges became clearer to me. But my goal was ever before me. By the time I was done, Joe wasn’t going to be living in the bushes. He’d be staying at some shelter somewhere, some housing facility, some safe place… but not the bushes.

Our first stop for the day was Hardee’s. Like the previous day, I wanted to feed Joe. I wanted to restore within him the value of starting the day with a hot breakfast. He liked the sausage biscuit with egg & cheese. He liked it with coffee – I like it with orange juice. It was a good time to talk about our lives and for me to get more acquainted with Joe. The day before, after leaving the Department of Human Services where we met with Bill, Joe and I went to Alice Mae’s Restaurant for a late lunch. While we ate (Joe couldn’t believe how much I was eating. I actually surprised myself too. I was hungry!) Joe told me about his childhood. He explained the effect epilepsy and osteoporosis had on his life. He called and spoke with his daughter and his brother. So, sitting at a meal was our time of bonding. This Tuesday morning would be no different.

After breakfast, we went to the City Hall building and waited for our escort to take us up to The Office to End Homelessness. The receptionist received us and began to gather Joe’s information. During our interaction I sensed that she was a person of faith and later discovered that she was a minister of the Gospel. Once she gathered all the information that she needed, she escorted Joe and me back to the first floor to an office where Joe was able to get a City of Norfolk ID Card.

As Joe took his ID photo, I saw the weight of hopelessness lifting from his shoulders. When the City agent handed Joe his card, it was like a wonderful Christmas gift. I saw a smile on his face that I hadn’t seen before. I was fighting back the tears. You see, without certified ID, you can’t really prove who you are. You don’t exist in the system. It’s easy to become homeless without ID. But with an ID card, Joe could get off the street. He could get in a shelter. As a matter of fact, we didn’t need an escort to go back upstairs in the City Hall building. As we walked out of the City ID office headed back up to the Office To End Homelessness, Joe kept saying “Thank You. You really came through.” I just assured him that I was doing what Jesus would want me to do.