“You’re not your mistakes; You’re not your past; You’re every time you get back up; When nobody thought you would” Lyrics from song, “Built from Broken” by Georgia Phantom.

Today, we had the privilege of serving 35 people.

• Our friends were scattered around the city this morning with the cold weather starting to set in.  Some of them choose to stay near the shelter at the other end of town.  We have met friends who are the second generation of street life.  They have told us they can’t live in a normal living situation; they have tried it and end up returning to the street with the only family they know.

• We met our friend (Mary Ann) who was severely injured about a year ago after being thrown off a bridge.    We fixed her up with a sweatshirt, hat, socks and some gloves.  The first pair of gloves we gave her wouldn’t fit over her paralyzed hand, so we gave her a pair of men’s gloves that fit much better.    She wears many battle scars from the street as do a lot of our friends.  She is always grateful for our packet of $10 bill/$10 Dunkin Donuts Card/prayer card.  She always tells us she wants to go into treatment and maybe someday she will.   

• We always hope and pray that Our Friends make the leap of faith, but the enemy (fear) stands in the way.    We hope sometimes a change of scenery will set them on a new path.    I was thinking about seeing things for the first time.    Some of us are avid walkers, walking the same route and direction every day.    I was walking the other day with Tito and decided to go in a different direction on my usual route.    What I saw was houses and yards, trees that I never noticed before.    I think sometimes we need glasses and scenery to see the direction our Lord is leading us to.   This is what we hope for our friends on the street…a new set of glasses to see a new landscape.    We have to remind ourselves that our friends have come from broken homes with no sense of any normal family life.    Some have been physically and mentally abused without any feeling of being loved or cared for.    The trauma they suffered is real and when those feelings of being unloved or not cared about come up, they get pushed back down with their addiction.    For the brief encounter we have with them, they feel human again.    That’s all we can ask for, God Bless

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With the weather changing, sweatpants and hooded sweatshirts along with gently used winter coats (men’s and women’s) are needed.    Thank you to all who support OSM.

PLEASE NOTE:    We have changed our location for donations for On the Street Ministry from Holy Cross Retreat House to My Brother’s Keeper.    We currently have a box in the main stairway on the 1^st floor of MBK.    If you have recurring orders through Amazon or any other retail website, please change the delivery address to:

On the Street Ministry

C/o Shaun Teed

67 Turner Road

Scituate, MA 02066

Thank you and God Bless,

Kathy Flaherty

Shaun Teed and Tito

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“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as God in Chris forgave me” Ephesians 4:32