Street's brutal realities hit home

Priest walks to keep WYD spirit alive

By RENATO GANDIA
WCR Staff Writer
Edmonton

He decided to experience life as a street person from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. Sept.27 to raise funds for Mustard Seed’s Meet the Street and as part of his personal effort to keep the spirit of World Youth Day alive.

Together with five other young adults from St. Alphonsus, St. Patrick and Santa Maria Goretti parishes, Baska raised more than $1,000 in pledges from their families and friends.

Participants of the Meet the Street venture were given individual profiles of street people in which they were encouraged to relate. Baska was a runaway person who had just turned 18, had lived on the streets for five years and had run-ins with the law.

"I have so much and so many don’t have anything." - Luciana Floreancig

They were not asked to act like the profile of the person given to them, but were invited to reflect through the eyes of that person and walk through that person’s shoes.

The “street people” were given parameters where they can go within the city and were given $3 spending money for the night. On a cold night like that, Baska found that walking around the city is one way a street person can stay warm.

When fatigue finally caught up with them, they took a nap in one of Edmonton’s parks.

The priest was humbled by the experience of knowing the condition of the street people. “I never felt really deprived that night because I know that I can go back to my rectory and be comfortable again in my own bed. So it gave me that sense of humility and thankfulness for what I have.

“It is also an eye opener for me to know the types of people who live on the street.”

One thing he learned from the program was that by understanding these conditions one can become compassionate.

“We can’t be a saviour for everyone. But it’s important to have an awareness of the plight of some people.”

As a priest, such experience encouraged him more to be “a light in the darkness.”

The biggest thing Luciana Floreancig learned was how frightening it was not to have a place to go and not to have food to eat.

“The biggest realization for me was, I have so much and so many don’t have.”

The 36-year-old woman was quite aware she was doing it only for some hours and had a place to return to.

Floreancig, a program assistant at the Glenrose Hospital, found herself wondering

“What do these people do especially when it gets cold? How do they survive especially if they don’t know there are some agencies who can help? What happens to them?”

Her main inspiration came from attending WYD and hearing Pope John Paul say they need to go out and serve in the community. So when her WYD group planned to take part in the Mustard Seed’s Meet the Street, Floreancig instantly volunteered.

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