Faces of Kensington: Carla, Theresa, Anthony, April, and Hector

A woman in the food line (I think her name was Carla) went down. I didn’t see her fall down but I knew something happened so I went over to see if I could help.

The girl was on the ground, unresponsive, and her breathing was inconsistent and ragged. She was put onto her left side. She had some sort of mucus or vomit coming out of her mouth.

The people who gathered around kept saying not to give her Narcan unless her breathing completely stopped (I was a little confused by this). An ambulance was called and it seemed to take forever for it to arrive.

A few of us stayed by her praying the whole time as we waited for the ambulance. I prayed in English, prayed in tongues, and just kept praying and praying. I really wanted the Spirit of God to cause her to come to, to sit up, to cause her be ok. I felt like if I stopped praying, she would slip away, stop breathing and possibly die right there on that sidewalk.

As I prayed, someone was apparently trying to get my attention. I heard someone tell him “she’s praying”. Someone from the group told me who it was who was trying to get my attention so I went over to him and asked if he was ok and if I could do anything for him.

He was standing in the food line at this point and he said he was going through withdraw. I asked if he wanted some cold water and he accepted but declined receiving prayer.

When we went to the streets in a group, we prayed for Theresa and Anthony. Theresa said she wanted prayer that they would both get into the same rehab. I pray that they’d both be able to get help.

I shared with Theresa my testimony of being homeless and addicted but now I’m clean and that it was God who did it. She told me she once had 13 years clean but then she lost a baby.

I told her if she got clean once, she could do it again! I told her losing her baby was not a punishment and that God loves her more than she knows. I encouraged her to never give up. My sister read scripture to them.

Another woman named April let me pray for her. She asked for prayer so that she could get up out of this place and stop doing the evil things she was doing. She said she was able to get clean from fentanyl but was struggling with cocaine.

I prayed for her and shared part of my testimony. She let me give her a big hug and I know God moved her heart. I saw tears well up in her eyes but they didn’t fall.

My sister read scripture to her and then she said she believed Jesus was a messenger, but everything is really up to God. She also said that she’d pretty much pray to anything (even a donut) if she thought it would get her out of Kensington.

The last person we prayed for was Hector.

He was leaning against a wall looking pale and sweat was dripping down his face, pouring off his nose. He was unresponsive at first. He has a hospital bracelet on and another one that said, “fall risk”. His legs were wrapped in Ace Bandages. His wallet and glasses were on the ground and I almost stepped on his glasses by accident.

I kept asking “are you ok, can you hear me, do you want some water”. He sort of came to and mumbled some Spanish. I picked up his wallet and glasses and set them on the wall near where he was standing.

I asked if he needed help but couldn’t understand his response. I felt helpless and didn’t know what to do.

He turned around to face the wall and grabbed the railing of the fence above the wall. His legs were trembling and he was holding on for dear life.

My sister stepped up and said “I’m going to pray for him”. As she did, he began to come to more!

I was trying to communicate with him as best I could with my out-of-practice Spanish. Eventually I realized he wanted to sit somewhere but, in a chair, not on the ground.

He put his glasses on and I slipped his wallet into his pocket. He grabbed his cane and I took his arm and we helped him to a nearby bench. I wanted to get him on a bench in the shade but he plopped down on the nearest one in the sun.

I prayed for him again before we had to leave. I hated leaving him on that bench!

Before we walked away, his head was already slumped down and he was passed out, high. I continue to pray for him.