Give or take

I wrote a few weeksaor so ago about a homeless man standing by an off-ramp on the east side of Detroit, religiously. He stands there through rain, sleet and snow. He sits or stands in mud or sun-baked ground in sweltering heat, always holding a sign with a message that pleads for help.

I wrote that his mission takes commitment, rightly or wrongly, and I debated about whether to get involved. Well recently, I stopped and offered him a 2-1-1 card (to United Way's 24-hour helpline for assistance for people in distress) and gave him some money to make the phone call. That was weeks ago. Yesterday, as I passed by, in a snow storm, he was still there. Apparently, any help he could have gotten was not better than what he gets from his perch. I wondered whether he was sitting on the card and what used my money for. I can say that I tried.

I honestly believe some people don't want a ladder out of their situations, and he is one of them.

As fate would have it, I also believe others do, eventually, embrace the helpful hands they are offered. One of those individuals is Freddie, a homeless man aided by Southwest Solutions, a human service agency with its own community development corporation (CDC), in southwest Detroit. Harris caught the eye of one of the agency's employees, a guy named Steve. Steve is one of those people who you could call a fried of Detroit, who befriended Freddie and helped move him into one of the Southwest's redeveloped apartment buildings.

The project was novel in that the building includes art gallery space in the basement and a workshop for community residents, in an effort to create a sense of place for people in the area. It was a fortunate pairing, because in addition to being homeless on and off for the last 15 years, it turns out that Freddie is a talented, self-taught artist. Make that incredibly talented. His craft is drawing, and his specialty is characters and abstract designs.

Freddie told me he draws whatever comes into his head. He uses pen mostly (as in cheap ballpoint), on (cheap) notebook paper. He draws several works some days, none on others. That's because Freddie has a lot to deal with. Southwest is helping him with some mental and physical health issues, via its human service arm. He's taking the help offered to him.

Funny thing is, I discovered as he showed me his apartment, he's still getting used to life off of the streets. The last 15 years he passed by trying to survive in the neighborhoods of Detroit are just a part of the 30 in his life he spent without a permanent home. He doesn't use the furniture to sit or sleep on much, but he's getting along just fine. He's safer and getting the help he needs -- for the most part.

You see, he still has a few needs, but they have nothing to do with food, clothing or shelter. He needs art materials and supplies. He told me he'd like to have some help framing his half-dozen works hanging in the gallery of the building and the tools to create more. I'm going to help him out.

He hopes to be able to sell his works and build a business as an artist. I hope he succeeds, because he definitely has talent and I admire his ambition. I hope he maintains it.

I also appreciate people taking -- excuse me --accepting help, and making the most of it.

Can we escape the misery?

This morning I read a headline that said Detroit ranks seventh on this year's list of most miserable cities. It was against that backdrop that I went to a mayoral forum sponsored by the MorningSide Neighborhood Association featuring former City Councilwoman Sharon McPhail, Sheriff Warren Evans and former City Councilman Rev. Nicholas Hood. I am a member of the MorningSide board. While the forum was unspectacular, it was interesting.


Sharon McPhail said she wasn't crazy. Nick Hood said he had integrity and passion. Warren Evans said he will fight crime and spur redevelopment. I expected to hear each of them say what they said, and wasn't disappointed.

I recently read a book on leadership, from which my biggest takeaway was "great leaders inspire us." Well, I didn't leave the forum inspired. I was, however, pleased with the showing by Warren Evans. I like Evans and businessman Dave Bing in the race -- for what that's worth.

McPhail deflected her involvement in any problems created by the train wreck that was the Kwame Kilpatrick administration. She lifted up her accomplishments, some unfulfilled, others unappreciated. But at the end of the day, she had something upon which to hang her hat. Hood had little to show form his time on the City Council, and while his reputation is clean and his work as a pastor commendable, the reality is that he had an opportunity to create some semblance of change and came up short. Evans talked about his performance as sheriff, and his work has shown promise.

Current mayor, Ken Cockrel, Jr., wasn't there because he was giving the state of the city address, but to me it wouldn't have mattered much. He has had an audition that his opponents in the race did not have and has squandered the opportunity.

Each of the candidates remarked that they were pleased with our turnout, about 50-60 people. They said it was the largest community turnout they had encountered during the race so far. That admonition is scary.

Social justice, in my opinion, is the balance between power and inaction. The fact that 50 people in a city of 800,000 represents a show of force is sad. How can we hope to ever change the conditions in this city if so few of us try? Judging by our ranking on the Forbes misery index, it's time to stand up for justice. We can in a couple of weeks.

The Feb. 24 election will come down to the wire because, with a 10 percent participation rate expected, the votes will be split and diluted. Remember the overwhelming of the polls in November? That is how you create change. I'm thinking now, in Detroit, if that dismal expectation of a paltry turnout ends up coming to fruition, the theme will be "no we can't," as opposed to then-presidential candidate Barack Obama's (who was responsible for the large showing) slogan of "yes we can."

I fear that things around here are not about to get any better anytime soon.