Last Thursday, 11/17/11, I attended the 21st annual Covenant House candlelight vigil in Times Square for Homeless Youth. What a humbling experience. I stood in the middle of time square, surrounded by hundreds of people, corporate CEOs standing shoulder to shoulder with homeless teenagers, all holding candles and standing in solidarity together. Kevin Ryan, director of Covenant House welcomed a very special speaker - a resident of Covenant House New York. We stood transfixed, forgetting the cold as Diana bravely stood in the middle of Times Square and told her story to thousands . A year ago she was homeless on the cold streets of New York, a city new to her. She now works two jobs and is going to college to be an accountant. When my dad retires, I plan to ask this woman to take over doing my taxes.
Ricky Gervais is right. New York is the greatest city in the world. Like all cities, it has its share of hungry bellies, scarfless necks and dark alleys. But it also has love and hope and people who care enough to reach out to others who are just looking for a chance. Kids like Diana aren't looking for a handout, but for a path to self sufficiency, for an opportunity to gain the skills they need to survive, to heal and eventually, to help another. Being a victim is a horrifying, sometimes unavoidable state to be in, but it never has to be a permanent one.
I love New York, and the people who live in its buildings and on its streets. The vigil was a beautiful start to an amazing transformation, whose completion requires you. Romain Rolland said that a hero is someone who does what he can. Diana is a hero because she is doing what she can. If you do what you can, you can be a hero too. Help me fill the bellies, help me make a scarf, help me light the alley.
