My Midnight Walk That's Become Something Bigger

The idea for an overnight walk came to me last year after seeing a post on Instagram. A sort of fitness/sales coach guy shared that he and his team were setting out, with no clear path, on an overnight. It grabbed me. This idea that every night of our mature adult lives we aim to go to sleep and wake up at about the same time. The concept of walking all night appealed to me as a way to mix things up. Doing it would expand my perspective. Then we had just 6 walkers, and as an afterthought, three days before walking I threw up a Facebook fundraiser page, which raised under $4,000 that we directed to the Homel;ess Shelter. This year, with unwavering support of The Midnight Mission, we turned this walk into something bigger, and with a clear focus on helping those in need.

14 of us departed from Santa Monica at 11:30pm, and walked for 7 hours with a turnaround point of Dockweiler State Beach. We covered over 17 miles on foot, and finished while the sun came up at 6:30am. We handed out hygiene kits to those we saw living outside, discussed the social issues at hand, and got to know one another as we pushed through the night. In total we raised $22,000 from an event that had zero overhead.

14 Walkers setting out just before Midnight Thursday 18th

This outcome represents our community's concern with the issue. This $22,000 came from over 100 separate donors. In sharing some personal sentiments and experiences, which I am including below, people I believe connected to the walk and why we were doing it. I am proud that my realtor community responded particularly well from the personal note I had sent out. This note I had written in the middle of the night, after waking from a sort of nightmare. But what you will recognize, is that nightmare I experienced is closely tied to the realities of America, and in particular L.A.:

Why I'm Walking All Night on Thursday -

…most days as a Realtor I am driving across the city, and as I do that I witness horrors. What I am seeing as I near a stop light, or am cruising in slower traffic, are people high--who appear to be almost crippled--and they are tweaking. They are sick, having lost control of their lives. I witness it daily. I then wonder, is this one on crack? Or has this one just shot up. Or is this how someone looks who is high on the ever-potent and lethal fentanyl--the drug that took my friends life at the onset of C-19. Or it’s the less severe sickness of the people outside and their attachment to piles of junk. These frightening scenes make me wonder how things could be so dreadful for some. How the state of my fellow human being, and as a result our city of angels, could be so far gone.

I know these people didn’t set out as a youth to become this way. But here they are, outside my windshield. Sick and screaming and sometimes undressed. Living an existence that seems on the brink of not lasting another week. Or maybe some of these peoples nights will be their last. BUT if they should arrive in downtown’s Midnight Mission, and admit themselves, they become a part of their residence sobriety program, they can beat the odds. They can climb through the 5 tier program and over a period of 12-24 months, can turn their fate around.

The Midnight Mission has been doing this for 100 years. In the depression era it wasn’t so intense. Their 12 step program was working to alleviate alcoholism. But today the battle has intensified. They still keep doing what they know works. Serve two meals every single day to anyone who will walk into our cafeteria, and if they can get them to stay, and work on this, they will nurse them out of addiction, while holding their hand on their way to rebuilding their lives. We all need a hand at times, but in the instance of homelessness, with so many suffering from addiction, they need to be carried.

By walking overnight on August 18th to raise money for the Mission, I want to carry one of my brothers over my shoulders until the sun comes up. It will be hard--long and exhausting, but if money raised from this event can turn someone's life around, I know that next night I will sleep better.

My friend Jimmy pushing through

I am happy to know more meals, counseling, and services will be provided to those in need. Although the solutions are not clear, I am pleased that this Midnight Walk got us talking about the issue. I am thankful to have learned that an idea is just that. But it’s the support of others, including those who work at the Mission, who can hoist an idea up for its true impact to take effect.

This simple idea from an Instagram post--no pun intended--now has legs. More people are telling me they want to walk with us next time. And so, I am confident it will grow. As it should. For no matter what strategy to serve those in need will be, to see a real impact, it will take time.

Molly Wootton from The Midnight Mission and I on the final stretch