Timothy
Gilbert carefully laid out his new blue Haggar pleated pants and
matching white Gant collar shirt.
"I've
still got to find the black shoes," he said. "I'm going
to look just right tonight. You'll see."
Gilbert,
29, was ready for a rare night on the town. He's spent most of
the last six years sleeping in homeless shelters, under bridges
or any available public space.
But
on Christmas Eve, he and 99 other Dallas homeless were treated
to a night at the Hyatt Regency Dallas, where volunteers from
nonprofit organization SoupMobile hosted the group.
David
Timothy, locally known as SoupMan, has been delivering meals to
the homeless for three years, but this year he collected $10,000
in donations for the one-night upgrade.
"We
want to shine light on this problem of homelessness and hunger
- and it's not just in Dallas," said Timothy.
Nearly
three million people in the United States were homeless in 2004,
according to the Washington D.C.-based organization National Law
Center on Homelessness & Poverty.
Gilbert
was among them, bouncing from one shelter to another as he fought
a drug addiction he just can't seem to shake.
"I
hate it," he said, toting all his possessions - including
a tattered green blanket and clothes stuffed in a small duffel
- into the hotel room.
The
first thing Gilbert did after walking into the room with two full
size beds and a view of Dallas west side was turn on the Dallas
Cowboys-Carolina Panthers game and brew some coffee.
Soon
he was crooning in a hot shower, getting ready for a mid-afternoon
reception and dinner at a local restaurant.
Roommate
John Paul had also enjoyed his shower, which beat the "little
bird baths here and there" he's accustomed to having.
Paul,
also battling a drug habit, said he won't work until he can control
the urges to purchase crack.
"I
know what I'll do with the money," said Paul, who wishes
he could be with his 11-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter.
The
two men were among the first to get off chartered buses that brought
guests to the Hyatt.
They
carried everything they owned in plastic grocery and garbage bags.
What they didn't carry, they wore, even if it meant wearing one
pair of pants over another.
A
team of 75 volunteers greeted guests and escorted them to their
rooms after providing a backpack, toiletries and new clothing.
But
the homeless guests also understood that, within 24 hours, they
would be back on the streets looking for more help.
And
that reality prompts some to wonder how much the SoupMobile-funded
night of luxury really helps the homeless, said Los Angeles psychologist
Robert Butterworth, who spent three nights living as a homeless
man.
"Why
not take that money and give them some kind of skills?" Butterworth
said. "It's like a day in Disneyland, in a sense."
But
Butterworth said his short time on the streets did give him a
sense of why the homeless might enjoy a one-night stay.
"What
you are doing is putting them in this hotel and looking at them
as people," he said. "When you're out there, you're
not looked upon as a person. People just walk by you."
Timothy,
the self-proclaimed SoupMan, said he understood the criticism.
"It
is a valid point, but this is a long-term project," he said.
"We want people to become more involved and see how they
can help."
Timothy
said most donations came from people in North Texas, but he still
received help from donors in Michigan, Oregon, Georgia and Florida.
One
of those out-of-state donors was Linda Wagner, a regular donor
from Onaway, Mich. Wagner said she donated about $300 to SoupMobile
this year.
"At
first I thought money could go to much better use, because this
is something that should be done year-round," she said.
"The
more I thought about it, I realized this is something that will
bring the attention to these people, and not just in Dallas, because
it is the holidays."
Even
Paul, now homeless for three years, said he questioned the rationale
of enjoying a day of luxury knowing it would be followed by a
return to the streets.
But
his respect and appreciation for the SoupMan's work, plus the
prospect of a firm mattress, prompted him to accept the Christmas
Eve offer.
"I
guess I got tired of sleeping on mats or being cold," he
said. "I think I made the right choice."
"I
appreciate what he's doing for us. He goes where most people wouldn't
ever go - just to feed people."
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