Camilla Pietreniak
Over the past month, I have had the absolute privilege of working closely with LULA daily. If you aren’t familiar with LULA (Love You Like Always), it is a non-profit outreach group that serves our community’s MOST marginalized, overlooked, & underserved neighbors. LULA does the hard work of meeting people exactly where they are with dignity & love. I feel that LULA focuses more on presence than practice. Amidst all the hard & never ending work that I got to personally witness each day, the concept/word that keeps coming back into my head is RELATIONSHIPS.
Relationships can be tricky; however, there is something about meeting people in their most vulnerable, stripped-down-moments- when the usual social masks are gone- that creates space for REAL human connection. People experiencing homelessness, battling addiction, poor mental health, & those with criminal backgrounds are often overlooked and even feared by society due to their circumstances. I have found firsthand that when you actually engage with such people, you can find the same complexity, humor, wisdom, & longing for connection that I believe exists in everyone. Honestly, I feel this is more prevalent in this population because survival on the margins requires a kind of resilience & clarity that can be unexpectedly illuminating.
Through LULA’s work building relationships, I have been constantly reminded that everyone has a story about who they are & how they got to where they are today. This got me thinking about a lot of “what ifs,” such as… what if I wasn’t raised by 2 supportive & nurturing parents who actually wanted to have a child? What if I didn’t grow up living in a house, in the same town, for my entire childhood? What if I were constantly having to move around, which meant switching schools & ever-changing relationships & means of support? What if I never had the option or ability to consolidate large amounts of high-interest credit card debt that seems to appear out of nowhere? What if I weren’t a white cis heterosexual female? What if I were caught being young & dumb when it comes to drinking, drugs, and/or minor traffic violations? What if I watched someone close to me suffer abuse repeatedly, day after day & grew up thinking this is the norm? What if I myself was sexually abused repeatedly in a congregate living shelter, but at least I had some warmth & a roof over my head? What if I knew what it truly meant to be hungry & had nothing but peanut butter & water for the past 6 days? What if I had a chronic or congenital medical condition but had no means or knowledge to manage such conditions? What if……what if……..what if?????????
Through all the “what ifs” of my own life, I am constantly reminded that my life could easily look MUCH different. I have come to the conclusion that LULA does things differently, as its focus is on building trusting relationships. This trust doesn’t come overnight but rather is built through a consistent presence, shared dialogue, & simply showing up day after day, even if there is nothing tangible to offer. I feel that relationships are the bridge between isolation and support, which helps create consistency in a world defined by unpredictability.
The relational approach that I believe LULA excels in is what is needed now more than ever. Our city is facing a crisis that is only growing with the current camping ban in place, a severe shortage and/or lack of affordable housing, increasing incidences of fatal overdoses, & an overwhelming lack of accessibility to mental health resources.
At this time, I feel our city needs more compassion- not just in theory but in practice. Organizations like LULA are essential because LULA meets people where they are, not where policy or society says they should be. LULA recognizes that sustainable change begins with relationships, not enforcement and/or rules.
I personally feel that if anyone is truly serious about addressing homelessness, mental health, addiction, & general public safety, we MUST invest in organizations that prioritize human connection. LULA is not just here for day-to-day crises; LULA is building the foundation for long-term change- one relationship at a time.