Comfort for the Unsheltered

I met D as he was pushing this cart of furniture down the street. He found them at the DMV. “They were just left there,” he said. D was in transit to his tent in Mosswood park, a large homeless encampment just two blocks away. An abandoned stroller by the car wash caused him to stop. The cart wasn’t working well.

We spoke as we unloaded and reloaded the entertainment center and chair from the cart to the stroller.

D told me that he’s lost 5 tents to rats at Mosswood park. It’s inundated with rats, he said.

Oakland’s unsheltered population recently earned national attention by @nytimes in a powerful photo essay that called Oakland’s camps “among the world’s most dire places.”

We talk about the furniture. In a soft, low voice he says, “They will provide me some comfort. It’s something. Makes me feel a little normal.” He notes he can put things on the shelves, which will fit in his 7 man tent, a place he shared with others.

He moved deftly, lifting, turning, and placing the big awkward pieces just so, as he transferred them from one cart-like object to the next. He wore a black beanie, high tops, and a blue, white and black striped zip-up jacket.

As he was readying to go I asked if I could take his picture, but he declined. Looking down he said, “This isn’t how I used to be.”

He tells me to say hi if I’m ever around, and starts to push his rescued, secondhand, pre-loved treasures down the street.