“Karen” 3/22/08 – “Karen” 3/25/08
The first time I met Karen was on 3/22/08, after she came along with one of her friends, a homeless Military veteran who was staying in the same camp as her. She told me she had been taken to the hospital the night before, after their camp was attacked by a group of about six teenagers throwing bricks at them. Karen was the only one hit by a brick. You can see the wound on the side of her head. Darren her friend didn’t stay with us to talk to the Obama campaign aid, instead he took Karen back to the hospital again because she wasn’t doing well.
Three days later I again sat with Karen and chatted. She was attacked outside of an apartment building where she had been invited to stay. A man lifted her up over his head and threw her off of a porch onto the pavement where she broke her wrist and added to the damage already on her face. The street is a terrible place. It is dangerous and will catch up in some way to anybody who dares to spend time there. Karen is trying to stay clean and sober. She hasn’t been drinking in ten days now. I hope she can kick her addiction and come back to life. We talked a long time and I gave her words of encouragement. That’s all I had to give her. She has to do the rest. I’ll keep you up to date. BTW the local police made no arrests in either attack. I guess the homeless don’t count a lot when it comes to serve and protect.