St. Paul Street Evangelization – Labor Day 2026 City of Syracuse Homeless Outreach

It was Labor Day weekend 7 September 2026 in the beautiful North Country of Upstate New York, a time of year when many people off from work would frequent places such as lakes, state parks, family gatherings, and playgrounds with their children; however, for the Syracuse St. Paul Street Evangelization team, we used this day as an opportunity to scale our newly modified mission into the city for outreach to the homeless population by backpack aid with the intent for the Salvation of Souls. Mr. Jeramyah Baxtron, OP who is a Syracuse city local and member of our evangelization team since the beginning, guided me through the city on this day in the downtown business area district (S Salina St, Washington St, Clinton Square, W Onondaga St., etc.) of Syracuse showing me good spots to spread the gospel message and share the love of Christ with those who are suffering.

The day started out with the both of us backpacking to Columbus Circle from our vehicle where we immediately came across those in need sitting on benches and the steps of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. Two men whom we provided can goods to, some alms, personal hygiene kits, and some religious material such as Holy Rosaries and instructions on how to pray them (donated for free by Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire ministry), immediately greeted us and were very friendly and grateful for us being there. One man who talked to me, was telling me about his love for football and about service to the military. He explained his struggles with crack addiction. I reminded Him that God carries us through various struggles. Another man who was speaking with Jeramyah, mentioned his involvement in esoteric occult practices. Jeramyah intently listened to what the man had to say patiently, then replied to the man gently by witnessing his own experience in the occult (and how it was wrong), before he converted to Christ Jesus and entered the Catholic Church. After some discussion before parting ways, we prayed together and asked God to provide for their needs and always draw Him close to them. We provided them with St. Paul Street Evangelization information tracts on “The Good News” and “Salvation” before we left them.
Once in the circle, we came across a man who received some food, water, and religious material reminding him of God’s love for him. We also prayed together before we headed out. From there, Jeramyah and I moved south down Montgomery St. where we encountered another unhoused individual sleeping in the corner of the Oncenter Civic Center Theater. We provided him with aid for his personal needs and information about the gospel message as well. As we proceeded walking, we walked by people on the ground smoking pipes and doing drugs on the steps of various commercial and government buildings. Part of our foot route included the central transit hub and up S Salina St. through the downtown business district. We expected more people to be gathered by the central bus transit hub only to find it practically empty. Surprised by this, we moved around the grid blocks of the area looking for opportunity (wandering) until we realized we came off path a bit to the edge of a residential neighborhood. Onondaga authorities were aware of our outreach in the downtown areas marked by white tape on our backpacks, but were not anticipating us being in these areas. Remembering this, we decided to backtrack to the downtown center area.

Along the way back into the business district, we encountered a man named John sitting on a street bench with his head down appearing very sad. He had an orange-colored crochet cross around his neck. We provided him with some food and essentials to which he was very grateful. Jeramyah led us in prayer with the man before we moved on. After praying with John, we came across a man named Eric whose shins and feet had many open wounds and sores. He allowed me to wash and clean up his feet while Jeramyah provided him with some fresh socks. I also provided Eric with some first aid material to disinfect, clean and heal the open wounds on his legs and feet after cleaning them. Eric was very grateful for this. Before we moved on with our mission, an elderly woman in a walker who was observing us began to scream and yell across the street towards us as Jeramyah began to pray with Eric. In response, we ignored her and continued with our task. While moving out, Jeramyah pointed out the fact that sometimes these things happen when we pray publicly or share the gospel message with someone who may come to conversion. I agreed.

On the way back to Columbus Circle, we came across a group of three men and a woman sitting on a street bench having a discussion. We approached them and began to provide for their needs such as food and personal hygiene products. After a short and friendly discussion about God and their situation, we prayed together and spoke about God’s love. Jeramyah happened to know one of the men named William who would show up to his Church at Transfiguration in Syracuse when Jeramyah would be mowing the grass. The man would be looking for alms while Jeramyah would provide for his needs then as well. They both remembered each other and exchanged kind words.

After this encounter, we moved up to Warren St. and E Jefferson St. by the Subway. While we were walking, we came across a man named Angel who was laying down on the ground in the Bank Alley up against the wall. We had a short discussion with the man and tended to his needs. I noticed Angel had a scabbed-up wound and swelling on his right knee to which I offered a dry ice pack. Angel accepted, but the ice pack did not want to activate its coolness. We determined to get some ice at the Subway for Angel while he waited (I grabbed cookie bags, napkins, and a cup to throw the ice in so Angel could have like a makeshift ice pack), to include an Italian Sub with some Gatorade to which Angel was excited about. After grabbing some lunch and heading back to Angel’s location, we crossed paths with a young friendly woman named Jessica who was a leg amputee in a wheelchair. She was interested as to what we were doing out here, so after explaining it to her, she asked for some food, personal hygiene items, and some socks with grateful enthusiasm. We prayed with Jessica and offered her some religious items. When Jeramyah dropped his ruck sack to pull out socks for Jessica, she made a joke that she would accept a pair of socks and use the second one as a backup. It relieved me and Jeramyah because we weren’t sure how many she needed, to which she made a joke in good spirits about. She was very kind and friendly to us, almost like a sister as she encouraged us in our mission.

Once we returned to Angel, we sat down with him on the ground in the alleyway near the street while we ate and had a discussion about his situation, things he liked to do, such as playing the violin, and some of the struggles he experienced throughout his life suffering from addiction. Angel told us that his mother abused him as a child and stole money from him that he earned in adulthood. Angel has always been very anxious and cautious about other people throughout his entire life because of the torment he endured from those who were supposed to love him. Jeramyah and I reminded Angel of God’s love for him and explained to him that although our human parents may fail, God’s love doesn’t. After our meal, we gave Angel our information. He recorded it on a tablet that he uses in public WiFi hot spots and says he wants to help us out in the future in our outreach mission to the homeless in Syracuse. We thought this would be a good idea. Angel also explained to us that he knows God loves him and is there for him in his struggles. Before we departed, I read a part of the gospel of Mark to Angel on the Beatitudes. While reading this part of the gospel, Angel seemed to take it to heart. All of us concluded with the sign of the cross after proclaiming the Word of the Lord. As we left, we assured Angel that we would see him again.

Once we returned to Columbus Circle, we realized that there was still some aid in my rucksack. Jeramyah had already completely emptied his as we were walking around the city. Luckily enough, we saw a group of people hanging out by the Catholic Charities front door waiting for them to open. Once we got over there, we unloaded the canned goods, personal items, and water we had left to include our religious items that we passed out to people sitting on the ground along the walls. We also passed out to the group the remaining alms we allotted for this mission’s outreach to which the people were very grateful for.

One man who was prior service had a metal framed military ruck sack like I did with all his personal belongings in it. After thanking him for his service, we were heading out when a well-built man with long black hair and a clean-shaven face and a large wooden cross around his neck planted on his chest greeted me and shook my hand. Paul was his name and he wanted to thank us for our outreach. When he introduced himself, he wanted to know if I remembered him. After I complemented him on his name, I replied that unfortunately, I could not recall him. In response, Paul explained to me that when we came across him last year in Syracuse for outreach, he was doing much worse on the streets and had a long beard and was very skinny (he looked completely different now). After interacting with our team, Paul said he had been doing much better. He was also working at a job for almost a year now that was supplementing his needs. Paul explained to us that he is a non-denominational Christian. I replied that the Lord meets us where we are at and that he is a child of Christ. After a short discussion, I said a prayer for Paul asking Christ to always provide for his needs and to draw Paul closer to Him always. Before we left, Jeramyah and I hugged Paul.

As we left, Jeramyah reminded me that for this population, one act of kindness from someone on the street normally stays with them in their memory forever, as people will know you, but you may not know them. Please pray for all of those we encounter on the streets of downtown Syracuse and for Christ Jesus to always protect their bodies and souls, provide for their immediate needs, to bring them to conversion of heart, and for them to always be drawn to Him in truth. Amen!