Hope for the forgotten

 

It’s almost 8 a.m. on a brisk, gray weekday morning in late fall. A steady stream of parents and children hurry across Lehigh Avenue toward Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary School. Down the street, the homeless line up at one of the local missions, waiting for breakfast. Store owners raise the graffiti-covered metal grates in front of their shops. Commuters catching the downtown train sprint past panhandlers and groups of young men loitering on the corner.