Downtown San Jose

I just got back from downtown San Jose. I have been going down there on Friday nights with another group to give out coffee and cookies to the kids that live on the streets and the prostitutes. We met a young woman tonight that seemed a little out of place. At first glance you could see that there was still a brightness in her eyes. After a while of working on the streets you lose that light. She has only been out working for about 2 months. She is 23 years old and has 3 children. We also met a group of boys. I think one was probably living on the street and the others were just downtown for the evening. The neighborhood that they live in is a much more dangerous place to be on a Friday night. I also almost got a dog while I was downtown. If we had a yard at this new place it would have been coming home with me. I gave it a cookie and it gently took it from me and then lay down beside me to eat it. It put the cookies between it's paws and ate it very slowly. He followed us around the rest of the night. It broke my heart to leave him there on the street. It breaks my heart to leave the kids and the women we meet out on the street too. I guess I need to open a shelter for people and animals.