(00:00:10) 6:50 p.m. A Winter's evening at st. Stephen's emergency shelter in South Minneapolis. We're in the basement of st. Stephen's Catholic Church rectory a rectangular wood paneled room with a linoleum floor chairs and long tables are scattered about a few of the thin Warren mattresses have already been pulled from a closet but most of the guests are drawn around the television down at the far Corner the shelter normally opens at seven o'clock. But tonight the weather is unusually cold below zero already and headed for a frigid 16 below more than half of the homeless men and women who will stay here tonight have already checked in each is guaranteed a bed for 30 days. Whoever else shows up is accommodated on a first-come first-served basis. Doug feder heart is the director of st. Stephen's shelter. The program philosophy is one of offer. Hospitality to any guest who comes to our doors there are some limitations with that if somebody shows up and they've been drinking they are made real welcome. Well let them in the door, but then refer them elsewhere usually to detox or tell them, you know, you can do that or fend for yourself, but if a guest has It has no major behavior problems and can be cooperative and get along with the 29 other people downstairs, then they're welcome here. So the philosophy was one of trying to provide safe and warm shelter for anybody on the basis that they have a right as a human being to have that provided for them. 7:15. The room is filling up with the stale Haze of cigarette smoke more mattresses are set up around the room covered by sheets and frayed blankets a bearded woodsy looking man Forks mouthfuls of cold chilly from a can across the room a young man flirts with his girlfriend on the telephone 32 people have shown up needing beds, but the shelter's capacity is 30 (00:02:05) John Paul James Wilkins Junior. Five people looking for space so you have to draw cards gets the lowest one highest highest highest (00:02:29) cards are dealt and two young tired men find themselves with the low draw. They regard their luck with blank expressions. (00:02:38) First base for you and will try calling the other shelters and that you just want to hold on just a couple minutes. It's okay. (00:02:46) St. Stephen's emergency shelter opened in December of 1981 parishioners noticed with alarm the increase in homeless people passing through the neighborhood and suggested a temporary shelter be set up in the basement the ranks of homeless people have swelled since then and the shelter is now a permanent program Doug Federer heart says that guests are usually men and usually in their 20s or 30s some have mental disorders, but many are simply destitute suddenly cast from a more comfortable Life by uncontrollable events. Pretty much what is half and Steve is there's been a collapse in their own support system. They've lost family. They've lost friends a lot of times. They've lost the ambition of the will to try to keep on going in ways. We would say Society expects of people many people have worked and been however, you want to Define productive if you define that in an economic sense, basically, they have been productive people. Some time in their lives 7:25 the two men who lost the draw follow a staff member into a small office. Yes, my name is Laura white (00:03:55) calf and I'm calling from st. Stephen shelter, and I'm calling to find out if you who might have space for two men. Oh you do? Okay. I'll send them right over there. Okay. Thank you. Bye. (00:04:09) 7:40 Willard sits on his mattress watching the others drinking coffee from a styrofoam cup Willard is a 41 year old Native American his face is heavily creased with years of hard living. His hair is long and Tangled. He wears a heavy green wool coat blue jeans and a pair of flimsy rubber boots and from the Sisseton Wahpeton Indian reservation and from South Dakota and I've been here just I've been with my cousin went my cousin moved away and I got a I got a cousin in the hospital at the end at the Hennepin County Medical Center and he's on dialysis and I have relatives but Living in the city here, but it's little bit too far for me to walk Willard spent most of the last two months sleeping in cars, but then the Arctic weather came and forced him to the shelter Willard speaks of the poverty. He lives in with a quiet matter of fact dignified tone. I'm a Vietnam veteran. And I I have an income but it's not enough to really survive on what right now is the way things are I've been doing artwork and daily labor with the AAA and PCI and I work temporary, you know, it's enough to get by on when Willard's cousin is released from the hospital. The two will go home to South Dakota Willard will leave with mixed feelings about the Emergency Shelters in Minneapolis. St. Stephen's is fine. He says but some others discriminate against Native Americans Willard wishes that a shelter just for Indians would be opened at the little Earth housing project in Minneapolis. We ourselves mortis protect each other help each other and we look out for each other and we feel out of place with the non-indian world. Not without discriminating or whatever what we just like rather be with our own people and everything is working in harmony. 810 the kitchen. What are you what are you serving (00:06:17) today tonight is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches some crackers. And it looks like about it. Are we putting carrots all? Are you going to put them on the stove first heat them up a little bit. Are they warm enough to serve them? Vicious and over some leftover carrot so we'll put those out if they want to help themselves to those. (00:06:44) What's the big tank of red (00:06:45) stuff? So like a cherry Kool-Aid snacks are at a premium around here unless people come down and bring them in and on a volunteer basis and that that's whatever they happen to have that we put together. A lot of times it's the same things over and over (00:07:09) imagine on a night like tonight anything like this is warmly welcomed. (00:07:13) I would assume always. (00:07:18) It's 8:30 and John is sitting on a table in the corner of the main room slouched against the wall. He's 28 good-looking with dark hair a trembled and two weeks worth of beard. John doesn't want his last name broadcast on the radio and he asked me for credentials to prove that I wasn't a welfare fraud investigator. John says he was recently cut off general assistance and I didn't really look for any place to live expected to find a job and work my way up. I still have applications out there. Just been look for work. I'm not in GA anymore. That's all were you in the work Readiness program? Yeah. I was in it for a while. It could have gone on. I think I scheduled a go out to Anoka but then I realized I wasn't interested in going out to Anoka I still as far as I'm concerned if somebody doesn't want to drink he just doesn't go to a liquor store. That's all. What do you say to people who say that you know someone in your position is just is just lazy. Oh for myself my personal opinion. I'll admit it. Blue to that. I am lazy. There are those who are hard luck cases or need a directive in life you see and maybe this is what they really need more than anything else. I'll quit again. You know, everybody has to look know what they're looking for enough. You know. Well GA is GA now this it's a run around and I got tired of running around and I got tired of my day being tied up by talking nonsense with somebody that was talking nonsense to me. I could sit down there talk nonsense to myself any place. But as far as people go they everybody should try make up their mind what they really want what they want to do then then go about it. What do you do between the towers at the shelter is open? (00:08:53) Oh, I've been up (00:08:54) pounding pavement or sit around drinking coffee or not. I walk into a temporary area and if they look my way I might get up at leave or I might question about a job, but I'm very I'm being cautious about looking for a job. What I want to do. How long when wife what kind of job do you want to get all it doesn't make a difference. I'm not looking for anything roof. Just keep occupied make some money and You know make make ends meet if I'll I'm looking for the set goal for myself, you know, just a simple life a simple way Abed simple room or coffee pot things like that. So, you know, it's enjoy the sights of Minneapolis. There's a lot of quiet places walk around things like that large book selection at the library newspapers Etc. You read aloud to occasionally, I you know, it takes up the time depends. What's about so it doesn't make a difference Uptown library has a Playboy on on file you get edit. Then you course the main library has newspapers from throughout the country. So it gives you idea, you know, Hometown towns. You've been at things like that and just watch people (00:10:00) downtown sometimes. (00:10:11) 9:05 Tom has volunteered to do laundry because his own clothes need washing Tom is 33 short and slight is faces pockmarked and his wide black eyes flick nervously around the room. Tom does the laundry in small loads, even though the washer is the large commercial type he forgets to use detergent and can't quite decipher the instructions for the machine. (00:10:36) Start now, you know more about it. I have a place at the present time, but I can't live there at the present time because where I am at this particular person has psychological problems, and I don't know why he pinpointed me. I got an idea wife in front of me. I've never did no personal harm to him, but he I feel uncomfortable in his where I'm at. And I feel made my life is threatened. That's why I left the place but then I came here because I had no other alternative know the option I decided to move here and thank God that I'm here for the time being and after a month. I plan on I'm eligible for welfare still because I have a disability and so I plan on getting a place and then continuing school and hopefully after my training is finished getting (00:11:23) employment Tom doesn't like living in the shelter mostly because there's no privacy when you live this (00:11:29) kind of Lifestyle. See certain people in certain groups of people that fall into this category mentally Disturbed with all the types of psychological problems. We got the people that are that are uneducated. I mean, I may be illiterate people that are do not know how to speak English you're reading this year, you know, and then you have people that are women that are you don't have children and don't have no other option but to go on welfare, but I don't know what percentage is but I say I've met and there does exist a lot of people that have that unfortunately the government set free from mental institutions. I would say a great percentage that my still out in the street and the bulk of them lead psychological evaluation and need to have need to get their life (00:12:27) intact, uh, moved to Minnesota nearly a year ago at the suggestion of a friend. And he used to live in Pennsylvania, (00:12:34) Philadelphia. I did a sort of jobs. I was a security guard. I did many jobs went to high school. Some college didn't do well at all kinds of psychological problems. But thank God my mind is clear. I don't I'm not depending on any drugs, but basically what it is is that when you experience this kind of Lifestyle, it's one thing to speak about it and wanting to tear read it intellectually in and paper than 22 experiences through the lifestyle, you know, how you can intellectualize a lot of things in life and you can read all kinds of things about this happened that happened how what it is to experience is when you actually live this kind of lifestyle is far more, you know, a book tells a million pictures well in living this lifestyle tell you exactly how fortunate you are that at least I have I know at least I have a sound mind and a clear mind. A lot of people here is pitiful condition and a lot of people here will probably live their life living in shelter from shelter to shelter and living in the street. (00:13:43) Tom says he's studying at a local vocational school to become a cook or a baker when he's not at school. He spends the day studying eating free meals at a soup kitchen or just walking around looking at things Tom tries to keep busy at positive tasks to keep from hating his situation (00:14:00) people actually believe that it's enjoyable to be home is as enjoyable to live this kind of life people actually believe that people there's access your there's a percentage of people that accept this way of life, but a lot of people here don't particularly care for this way of life want to work want to be productive citizens, you know, I mean, I you got to be a half-crazed you have lunatic to think of this as a pleasant Life to Live, you know, I got burned out of my apartment. It was arson. I come here (00:14:33) 940 in the shelter office. Julie is 20 years (00:14:36) old. Actually the first time I was here it was me and my boyfriend we were living with a friend of mine. And she kicked us out. So we started sleeping outside and everything. This was last winter then we find out about st. Stephen's then we come down here. We stayed here for three months. We got an apartment. We got burned out. I came back here. He went to live with a friend. We got another apartment together. We couldn't keep up the rent. So that made me back here to where I'm hoping to get an apartment of my own now one bedroom so I can get ready for the baby. Now I'm having (00:15:16) Julie is eight months pregnant her belly swells inside a pair of long johns and the neon orange bathrobe. She is wearing her skin is the color of coffee with too much cream in it. Her strawberry blond hair wet from her shower is wrapped in a towel. Julie has been living at st. Stephen's shelter for several months. Now she split up with the baby's father but says she's not much worried about the future because anything is better than the past Julie left her. Apple is home at age 12 and moved to Chicago where by the time she was 14. She had two babies and got involved with crime (00:15:51) when I was living in Chicago had two uncles closed up the mafia. I ran cold came back and forth. I got caught with cocaine. I got put up for murder. And that's when the state of Chicago gave me a choice. It was either too. Go to prison for the rest of my life in Chicago or never come back to Chicago. So the choice I picked was not to come back to Chicago (00:16:19) her two boys taken from her by the courts. Julie moved back to Minnesota and her life spiraled deeper and deeper into violence and crime (00:16:27) had quite a feel salts when I come back here got picked up for carrying illegal weapons. Got picked up for stealing cars. and I got picked off for voluntary manslaughter So I've had my share a lot of people wonder a lot of people say oh this person talk me into this but you already know for a fact. I don't blame that on nobody. I blame that on myself. No one can talk you into nothing the things I did in my life sure enough. They don't look good when you talk about them, but I did them (00:17:06) after the baby is born. Julie will think about going back to school to finish work on an accounting degree. She still visits her parents in town from time to time but says she can't live with them. Julie's parents don't know about her two older children or the time she spent in jail. All they know is that she's trying to reassemble her (00:17:24) life people wonder since we do since we have been on the streets for a long time, we do live in shelters. We have lived in shelters for a long time. Does that make us quit on life? No, no one can take away your dreams. My dreams, I don't plan sure enough I need for right now while I go to school and while the baby's growing up. I need to have DC but I don't plan to be there forever. I have goals in my life that I like to accomplish. I've accomplished a lot in my life, but I have a I have done a lot to hurt myself in life, too. (00:18:00) 1023 the coffee pot is unplugged signaling the end of the evening. Nearly. Everyone is already in bed. Some are quite particular about how their sleeping quarters are arranged one husky man in a wool stocking cap stretches out on top of a table spooning out the last bites from a quart of chocolate marshmallow ice cream another man prefers the hard floor no mattress pulling himself into a tight ball under a pile of blankets Six Women and 24 men are spending the (00:18:28) night. (00:18:38) The television finally goes off and volunteer Mark Delehanty locks the outside doors for the night. Delehanty is 28 years old. He's a law student at the University of Minnesota in the two years that he's been donating time to st. Stephen's Delehanty has come to know many of the guests quite well, he looks forward to the night. He spends every few weeks sharing a room with the homeless don't know really what got me down here. Just I had a friend who worked on here and invited me to come over for a night and I saw that they had a need and now I enjoy coming down I get to know most of the folks and (00:19:08) it's really no no trouble at all. (00:19:10) Enjoy. Usually just end up playing cards are watching TV over the evening and very rarely has any trouble or in my needed for anything other than to help get cleaned up get things cleaned up in the morning from time to time a guest arrives drunk and has to be sent away or lights up a joint in the hallway. Sometimes a scuffle develops between guests usually over what to watch on TV or who gets to put mattresses where Delehanty handles those situations firmly but also with a boyish Flair for jokes and fun is past includes Union organizing and pastoral work in South America working here at the shelter. Delehanty says keeps them in touch with what he calls the real needs people need a place to stay and makes me feel like I'm doing something worthwhile when I can be part of offering them a place to stay and also just because it keeps me sane. There's a surprising amount of friendship and camaraderie that you don't see when the people are on the streets and people take care of each other down here. And that's real nice to see it kind of breaks through some of the stereotypes of you think most people think of me going to the shelter. They think of the bums. Why would you want to sleep with the bombs? There's a real little little tiny sense of community down here. That's (00:20:17) encouraging. (00:20:27) It's 5:55 a.m. After a quiet night quiet as you can expect with 32 people sleeping in a church basement Mark Delehanty and the other overnight volunteer prepare breakfast an old coffee urn moans in the background as Delehanty cracks eggs two at a time into a large metal Bowl. Breakfast is scrambled eggs toast with jelly and of course coffee. Some of the guests refused to budge until the coffee is brewed others just don't want to move. It's 16 below outside and no one likes that thought (00:21:08) Carol six o'clock. Is there a cording? I'm not here, but I'll get back to you in service of be right with you sir. We just find trying to check and see if we've got the right room. Is that orange marmalade or a grape jam, it doesn't matter just and I need my boots shine (00:21:40) after breakfast a few of the guests will volunteer to help empty the trash and to sweep the floor mattresses and blankets are stuffed back into closets because in a few hours this room will be used for senior citizen Bingo. There is no tidy ending to this story because there is no end for these people. It's the beginning of another work day the work of trying to find a warm spot to sit of waiting in line for charity food of getting kicked out of hotel lobbies or hustled out of doorways by a cop of another day down at the welfare office or at the job training class or nowhere in particular. Shelter for the night was written and produced by Stephen Smith technical Direction by Scott Yankees with (00:22:29) assistance from Patty Rudolph.