Something happens when you get so many people together to help others in their time of need. Saturday was no exception. This past weekend nearly forty people came from all over the Great Lakes basin to help.
They came from Flint, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Fenton, Detroit, and Chicago to help us not only move into our new home but also to deliver services throughout this city, services that vulnerable and underserved residents might not have received otherwise.
Somehow we moved out of the basement of St. Michael's, moved into our very own suite of offices at Salem Lutheran, made water deliveries, did a RRST orientation, set up shop, became fully operational, did 20+ RRST visits, with some critical needs visits, sat down to a wonderful group dinner, and had the most amazing emotion-filled debrief for all our wonderful staff. You folks earned your name "Rapid Response" this day. RRST teamsters on high!
These are days that no matter how hard you work you leave feeling filled up and energized, even in the midst of physical and emotional exhaustion. It's just that kind of work, performed by people who perform quietly heroic acts for those in Flint whose voices have yet to be heard and whose needs have yet to be met.
We consider it an honor to do this work and to do it along side of these passionate and dedicated beings. Days like these become etched in your DNA and help innoculate and protect us from the devastating effects of what we are forced to confront and see while doing this critical work day after day.
The love these people have for the families and residents of Flint, for each other, and for this important work is like nothing we have ever been a part of and we are grateful every day for belonging to this family.