FAST Tries To Touch Lives of Square's Homeless

On a Friday afternoon, as harsh winds swirl through the Square, three men and one woman sit close together in the shadow of Store 24, talking with Sandy Chang '01, a volunteer for the student group Faith and Service Together (FAST). The three are simply chatting and trying to stay warm.

"I'm tired of people kicking me out of their roofs," says one man. "I gotta live out on the sidewalks now. That ain't right."

Listening intently to the man's words, Chang offers him a sandwich, and he digs into it eagerly.

Another of the men pulls out two sandwiches he had hidden inside his clothing.

Chang's four companions eye the meal with anticipation. Despite the sunny day, they know winter is not over yet.

"I've been out here too long," says one.

Life on the streets, especially during New England's winter, is a constant battle for survival.

But Chang and her FAST companions try to make life a little easier for the homeless of Harvard Square through food and company. Every Friday afternoon, as many as 10 FAST members venture into the Square, giving the homeless lunch and talking with them about their lives.

"The thing we try to emphasize is building relationships based on trust and loyalty," says Daniel R. Bryan '02, who leads FAST this year along with Chang and Julie L. Rattey '02.

One such relationship Bryan has developed is with a man whom he went to visit in jail in February of last year.

"It was truly an amazing experience for me," Bryan says. "Now [he] and I have some kind of bond."

When Bryan saw the man again after his release from jail in December, the man was very excited.

"[Those] Christian boys came to visit me in jail. They were the only ones who visited me," the man said.

FAST is fundamentally a Christian program, though its members may not mention religion in every encounter with the homeless.

The program is run through Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Christian Fellowship (AACF), though many of its members are not part of AACF.

Before they go out into the community on Friday afternoons, FAST members gather in a Loker Commons classroom for discussion and prayer.

Bryan says the group's experiences give FAST members the opportunity to speak with homeless people about God.

"It's from that kind of basis that we can think about sharing the Gospel," he says.

In addition to the Friday afternoon sojourns, FAST also organized an outreach event where they gave away hot cocoa, pastries and warm winter clothing just before Christmas.

FAST members say the connections they make with the homeless are invaluable.

One man, who has arthritis, dreams of going to California, getting his GED and becoming a small motor repairer.

"He gets so enthusiastic when you talk to him," Rattey says.

One Friday, another man presented a few FAST members with a cake.

"I have something for you," he said, pulling out a fancy chocolate cake.

"It was so sweet," one FAST member says.

But the difficulties of the lives of the people FAST members talk with are always present.

Drinking and smoking are common among the people FAST members see regularly, and sometimes individuals disappear for weeks and months at a time.

Surprisingly, on this sunny day most of the FAST's regulars are nowhere to be found.

"I guess she's not here," Chang says of a woman she is looking for. "I hope she's okay."

After circling through the Square, Chang returns to the original group in front of Store 24. Bryan is already there, and promises to bring the group blankets later in the evening.

The woman in the group says more blankets would be helpful, but she is going to survive regardless.

"We've been in worse weather," she says. "We're hanging on."