Another Working Girl Story

Fran receives a mysterious phone call about a clinic wanting to do a health check-up on all the prostitutes in Harrisburg. She calls me and asks what television channel is sponsoring this. I make several phones calls to the local affiliate stations. I discover that the local network CBS station had an agreement with Christ Community Clinic. They wanted to do a health check of our “working girls.”

So when the time came for the clinic-it was too late-Fran told all our working girls it was a hoax and they left the Mercy Ministries Fenwick Street Center before the clinic started.  That was a good thing because about four to five Richmond County police cruisers showed up outside Mercy Ministries. A really mean officer was carding the women walking through our door. It turns out the television news reporter asked the police there to-get this-help her identify the PROSTITUTES for her story!

I swear-you do NOT need any brain cells to work for TV. How many interviews will you get from a WORKING GIRL with police presence a shoulder’s length away….Hmmmmm.

We felt bad because the clinic personnel had no women-so we pulled FORMER working girls from Mercy Manor and had a local pseudo women’s shelter bring their gals out.

I decided (privately to myself) that this event should be called the HOE-DOWN. Unfortunately I voiced that thought aloud to Fran.

To my horror Fran told our pastor what I wanted to call it. We at least all had a good laugh over it-including our pastor.

No offense to the working girls. We know they are trying to survive on the streets and we gladly feed and clothe them. If they want to get out of that life we would not hesitate to assist them.