Future Camp Site
Thursday my last day in Framingham. Until I return. I really enjoyed Framingham. There’s a few resources but they provide everything that people need. There is a homeless population, it seems that the major issue is addiction. From what I’ve seen, from the street level it’s not overwhelming, like on methadone mile in Boston.
7:00 a.m. it’s getting light and I break down camp as usual. I start my day out by going to the gym planet fitness. I hang around wait till the army and Navy store opens up so I can get Vicky some pepper spray. The store opens at 10:00 a.m. I look at my phone to get the directions and then I realize that what I was looking at wasn’t a store it was an army base. I check out Walmart if they have pepper spray and they don’t. I check out Target, and I end up downloading the app. Then I think about Dick’s sporting goods, there’s one in Natick. I go on the website and find out that the local store does have pepper spray. I take a ride over to Dick’s, it’s a 15 minute bike ride. There’s also an LA fitness right next door I want to see. I can go there with my active and fit membership.
9:45 a.m. I bike over and check out the LA fitness, they have huge lockers! Then I bike next door to Dick’s and I get Vicky a nice pink pepper spray canister.
10:15 a.m. From Dick’s I rode to the homeless day center at 75 Hollis Street in Framingham. On the way I stop at N+1 Cycles bike shop and did a video interview with Cisco the Creator and manager of the cool bike museum.
11:00 a.m. I arrive at the day shelter on Hollis Street. They have the news on and there’s a man who’s x military and has gone into a bowling alley and shot 22 people and killed 18 of the people. This is sad and it seems that the man who did this was ex-military and struggled with mental health issues. https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/28/us/maine-shootings-suspect-dead-saturday/index.html
11:50 a.m. I bike over to have lunch at Pearl Street. Jay is at Pearl Street, so I asked him if he still wants to do an interview and a song for me, he says he does. There’s another guy hanging out with us and I’m ashamed to say I forgot his name. He said he was interested in doing an interview as well. We eat our bag lunches and we leave Pearl Street Cafe to head over to Anchored in Recovery recovery Center to use the music room so Jay can play a song. As we’re walking we pass some guys sitting on the stairs and the new guy I just met ends up staying with these guys. The new guy says he’ll be at the Pearl Street dinner and we can do an interview then.
12:30 p.m. Jay and I head over to the recovery center. We end up talking to the women that are working at the center and they allow us to use the music room. Jay does a rendition of his song about his mother called High. I also get an interview with Jay but he asked me not to post it. He wants to see it first.
2:00 p.m. I have to jump on a virtual call with an organization called Hope for Humanity, a 170 c2 non-profit supporting agent. I’ve never even heard of such an org before, I found them on Facebook. The founder is named Cassidy and she plans on helping us with donations. Cassidy, Lori-ann my director of donations for Tiffany’s recovery Incorporated, and myself are on the call.
2:45 p.m. After I sit with Jay for the interview and the song, and finish the virtual call, I head back over to Pearl Street to interview Patty from the 211 hotline. I’m fascinated by this resource because it helps people find things they need in a given area, like food shelter, and other social services. All people have to do is call 211.
3:45 p.m. After I interview Patty I have a little bit of time so I head over to the library for a little bit to charge my phones. The tiredness starts to creep up in the mid-afternoon, for some reason over time sleeping outside causes sleep deprivation for me.
Guy I met at the Library
5:00 p.m. From the library I head over to Pearl Street for dinner. It’s the last dinner I’ll be having at Pearl Street for a little while. It’s good to spend time and have some laughs with the folks at Pearl Street and spend time with Vicky. I leave the dinner around 7:00p.m. and I head to planet fitness to get my bag. And then from there I go to my campsite behind the graveyard. I move quickly to set everything up I’m super tired. I crawl into my tent and I go to sleep right around 9:00 p.m.