10/24/23 Day 24, Wednesday, Framingham, Vicky’s Kitchen

Just the feel from Boston to Framingham is different. Boston moves fast you always got to go to a different place for food or resources. Framingham is simple, calm, it’s slow, it’s relaxing.

6:30 a.m. I wake up after having a full and good night’s rest. I pack up all my stuff and I head over to planet fitness. I spend most of my morning just working on uploading videos and working on the blog.

11:30 a.m. I eat at Pearl Street Cafe for lunch and say hi to Vicky. After lunch I go back to the Anchored in Recovery recovery center to see if they’re open. Once again the recovery center is closed. I look on their Facebook page, and it says that everybody’s out at a big event for BSAS, the big addiction funding agency for Massachusetts. I will check back again tomorrow morning. While I’m sitting there a man comes to see if the recovery center is open. I told him it’s closed, and I asked him if he’s homeless. He says he’s not and that he has a place to stay now, but he says he was homeless for 6 years in Framingham. I asked if he wanted to do an interview and he declined. He said maybe later.

12:00 p.m. I head over to a homeless day shelter on 75 Holly Street in Framingham, that is run by the organization called Smoc. It’s only about a 2 minute ride from the recovery center. When I walk in I’m greeted by really friendly people. I love this place right away. They have pastries and coffee, they have showers, a washing machine, and they have comfortable lounge areas. The staff and the people at this day shelter are really friendly and helpful. This is an amazing resource. I believe the case manager said they are open Tuesdays and Thursdays during the week. I have some coffee and some pastries. I hang out at the day shelter for about an hour and charge my phones. There’s a couple sitting at a table across from me. The woman is doing the man’s hair, there’s somebody sleeping on the couch, one of the case managers is hanging out, and then there’s another fellow seated on a couch watching TV.

1:00 p.m. I head over to the Framingham library to hang out and work on various things. I end up reaching out to an organization out of Connecticut that helps nonprofits bring in donations. I talked to the founder, and we discussed possibly working together to bring in more donations and services for homeless people. I made a call to my director of donations for Tiffany’s Recovery Inc., Loriann, and we discussed the possibilities for future donation drives and assistance for the homeless. This time at the library is really a time for me to think and work on developing the two companies; Identify LLC and Tiffany’s recovery Inc. non-profit.

3:30 p.m. I texted my friend Ben at the radio station WMEX. He’s been saying it would be cool if I called in and talked on the radio. Ben texted me back and said he’s going to call in 10 minutes. Ben called me and I did an 11 minute question and answer on the radio with Ben about Homeless 366. I love WMEX, and the owner of the station, Tony, does an amazing show about addiction and recovery called Courage to Hope. I suggest checking them out. https://wmexboston.com/

4:10 p.m. I’m sitting outside the library smoking a cigarette, and decide to shoot Vicky a text to see what’s going on, Vicky texts me back saying she’s working at the Pearl Street Cafe soup kitchen. Vicky tells me to come on by. It’s only a 3 minute ride. Vicky has dinner just about ready and she and I sit down and discuss different topics around kindness, homelessness, and good things to do to help. I discuss an idea that was given to me by my friend Cara from EveryDay Boston Nonprofit https://www.everydayboston.org/, about having a program where homeless people could visit elderly people that are lonely. There would have to be some type of process for this obviously, but we both agree it’s a good idea.

Picture on Vicky’s Fridge

5:00 p.m. Dinner is served at Pearl Street. One of the volunteers brings me a meal right away. It’s cheddar bratwurst, with mac and cheese, and vegetable rice. The dinner is delicious as always. Then there’s ice cream with baked apples for dessert. I really love being homeless in Framingham. The resources are close together and centralized, there’s always food, the people are great, and there’s plenty of places outside to sleep.

5:50 p.m. People come and go from the Pearl Street dinner. As always there’s conversation, and some laughs. Some people sit and eat and some people just take meals to go. A man walks through the door and asks if he could eat. Vicky says yeah sit down, a volunteer brings him a meal, this man says his name is Jay. He drums up a conversation with another man at the dinner. Vicky looks at me and says this is the guy I mentioned to you that has been coming around and hasn’t said anything. As the meal dies down I approach Jay and tell him I’m also homeless, and would possibly be able to help him with some resources. Jay and I end up having a conversation outside and we plan to meet each other at 9:00 a.m. at Pearl Street for breakfast tomorrow. Jay tells me about his experiences and he has many interesting stories. I hope to get an interview with him tomorrow. I leave Pearl Street Cafe. On my way out Vicky lets me take a box of croissants that are almost outdated to give to the beavers.

7:00 p.m. I ride my bike to planet fitness where the bulk of my gear is stored in a locker. I don’t even lock up my bike when I arrive, I go to the locker room attached to the small bag to the larger hiking pack, and then I head out to my camping site. It’s always a little creepy riding my bike through the graveyard to get to my location. When I arrive I’m greeted again by the beavers plopping in the water and swimming in the darkness. They come closer to the shore to look at me this time. Like usual I set my camp up. I throw the croissants in the water to the beavers. I try to take pictures of the beavers, but it’s too dark. I mess around on Facebook and other social media for a little while and at 9:00 p.m. I go to sleep.