Sometimes it’s the little things that make a big difference. Even something as basic as a sandwich can save a life.
Or at least, that’s what James says.
James never knew his father. And he suffered the abuse and neglect of a mother addicted to crack, who tore at James’ self-esteem—telling him he was a damaged “crack baby” who ruined her life—when she wasn’t ignoring him.
Desperate to escape his broken home life, James spent more and more time on the streets—and eventually stopped going home at all.
But life on the streets is hard on a teenager with no money, no education, and no support system. Many turn to drugs or prostitution to get by.
And some start to feel that a quick death is preferable to the daily grind of life on the streets. That’s how James felt one wintry evening:
“Well, there was a point where I felt like I just didn’t care no more. I was living on the street. My clothes were dirty. I hadn’t had nothing to eat in about two days. The weather was supposed to get really cold.
I don’t know … I just started feeling like what’s the point, you know. I mean, why try anymore? Nothing was working. Nobody cared about me. Even my own mother thought I was screwed up. Her little crack baby.
So I started thinking I didn’t want to keep trying anymore. Really. I just didn’t see no point.
That’s when the Covenant House van came around. And you guys were handing out sandwiches and hot chocolate.
All that night, I kept thinking ‘Why did they do that? Why’d they come all the way down here to the bad part of town to give me a sandwich? I mean, I’m not stupid, even if I am a crack baby. I didn’t think you came all the way down to give ME a sandwich. You didn’t even know ME. But somehow, knowing that somebody cared enough about other people to go down there and give out sandwiches …
All that night I thought about that. It was too cold to sleep anyway. And in the morning, I came here to Covenant House.”
James’ eyes filled with tears, as he added, shaking his head slowly, “And … that was the best decision I ever made. No doubt.”
James is now enrolled in Covenant House’s Rites of Passage program, where is studying for his GED and enrolled in the program’s culinary academy. Upon graduation, he plans to get a job as a cook to help pay his way through college. He is bright, motivated and optimistic about his future—a far cry from the hopeless teen who bedded down on the trash-strewn city streets that wintry night.
As Covenant House’s President, Sister Patricia Cruise, explains in a letter to supporters:
“You and I know God always cared about James … even when his mother was calling him her little crack baby. But James couldn’t hear God until you and I got his attention with a sandwich.
Sometimes it’s a sandwich. Sometimes it’s a hug. Sometimes it’s just that our door is always open. So many kids like James have told me that they didn’t think anyone in the world cared about them until that moment.”
FOC is proud to support Covenant House in its effort to rescue and heal forgotten and broken children – one sandwich, one hug, one open door at a time.
