Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, Jamey Mork has seen people come out of the woodwork to help. One of his favorites is a group that he believes is a family, that’s started cooking and distributing meals most nights near the Skidmore Fountain. They make chicken teriyaki, spaghetti, soups — and people gather.
“It’s like having church outside,” Jamey said.
He is grateful for the many organizations distributing food right now. The hardest thing, though, is the physical separation they have to impose to stay safe.
“It gets so boring when you have to keep 6 feet away from someone,” Jamey said. He misses closeness and hugs.
COVID-19: Absence of human touch during pandemic devastates some people, businesses
With Street Roots publishing only online during the crisis, Jamey has turned his focus toward being part of the vendor team that’s keeping the Street Roots office going.
When we spoke on the phone, he was in the basement of the office helping organize donated supplies. Other days, he circulates to camps with information and supplies that Street Roots and members of the community are helping provide as part of the Street Roots Coronavirus Action and Prevention Team.
“It helps that I’m working in the community right now,” he said. He’s making just enough to get by with the stipends Street Roots pays the action team members.
Living on the streets, he said, is like living in the wild. You’re always in survival mode, relying on your own resources. If something isn’t working, do something different. It’s how nature does it.
He believes he’s learned and adapted to his own environment.
“I used to go on tangents, about politics, about the world. Depending on the tone, people would just look away,” he said.
Today, he approaches people with something more like confidence. “I no longer look in the mirror. I just look at others, face to face.”
He’s looking forward to days when he can sell the paper on the streets again. What would he say to the customers he used to greet each day? “Be my guest, be my guest, be my guest,” he said.
Because they are guests, he said. Like guests, they’re welcome in his life.
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