As many of you now know, in January I decided to retire so that I can pursue other things. One of the most important was to work on myself and my lifestyle. Between work related stresses and several other related factors I was gradually thinking about using drugs again. This was the major reason I decided to retire. I needed to get back involved in things that are not quite as stressful and away from some of the people who I did outreach with in the homeless community. Some other factors were that where i had been living several people who I knew to use or sell drugs had also moved into the apartment complex. Some of whom even started knocking on my door to see if I wanted anything. It was not a good situation all around.

Now with that being said, I still plan to do what I can with the homeless community and the people who I may be able to assist while at the same time going home to my safe place where I don't have the temptations around all the time. In past posts I had talked about the fine line I had been walking, while working and doing homeless outreach, between relapsing and using again or not. Luckily I have not had a relapse. I have in the last couple of months been able to talk to people I know who have been where I was. Gradually I am now becoming more relaxed and enjoying my new adventures.

Lately I've been exploring the city and discovered several enclaves of homeless people in places that I did not expect. I have so far reached out to a couple of them and have started the process of developing their trust, discussing what they may need to do or accomplish to improve their situation and who to see that can help them.

It's not just a matter of throwing a bunch of information at them. None of their problems are simple or straightforward. But once I got a fair handle on their problems I can then give them good advice or assistance. In most cases they had tried and failed to get away from their homeless situation. They kept hitting a brick wall and not having any success at all. The problem in each case was that if their problems were not dealt with in a certain order or sequence they were bound to fail.
One person who I will call Jim has some legal problems ( mostly tickets ), no identification, little money, lives in a tent and wants to work. Now we all know that trying to get a job without ID is extremely difficult and getting IDs replaced costs money. His legal problems will cost money too or so he thought. He also wants to get in touch with his family again. All the money he is able to obtain goes to pay for his food and supplies. Once all these issues were discovered  it was a simple matter of making a list with priorities and specific goals then working out exactly what he needed to do in a specific order. In this case he needed to work out the legal issues which were just some outstanding tickets. We talked about the homeless court and got him started on that path. Turns out it looks like he will do some community service and the tickets will be taken care of. Next he will need to contact one of several organizations who can assist him with getting his identification and social security cards replaced but first he had to be recognized within the homeless system and obtain a homeless ID card from the Tarrant Area Homeless Coalition. See where all this is going? He had in the past tried several of these things but if they are done out of order he will keep hitting road blocks.

Once he got it all worked out and established his priorities then things started falling into place. Today Jim has recently gotten his Id cards replaced and is going to start the process of getting his Social Security card. He now knows exactly what he needs to do, where to go and who to see. All he really needed was someone who was familiar with the process and had the information he needed to deal with the issues he was facing instead of becoming completely overwhelmed with the complexity of the tasks ahead of him.

Much of what I went through when I was homeless was similar to what Jim is going through. I too thought that my problems were insurmountable and complex. Until I broke them down into smaller problems was I able to see what I had to do. Finding out how to solve my personal issues was a matter of locating the correct people that could assist.

Who and What is a Homeless Person?

I may cause some offense among those of you who read this posting. But, if the shoe fits then wear it or change something.

When I talk about a homeless person, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Some scruffy, dirty, bearded guy who is hanging out on a street corner? Or maybe something similar to that description? What you just did when you read the word or hear the word “homeless” is that a profile immediately came to mind. We all do this and we all (or at least those who are honest with themselves) profile people, place people into a category or a box that we have been taught by our society. It’s true. I am just as guilty as anyone else except I try extremely hard to not do this.
As a homeless person myself and having seen up close and personal people who live with that label, I’ve seen that there is as much variation among the homeless community as there is amongst those who are not classed as homeless. Let’s take this one step further. What is homelessness? Really. There are all kinds of definitions so just for the sake of simplicity let’s consider a “homeless” person as someone who lives in a shelter, a camp, under a bridge or an abandoned building and may not have the means or desire to live as a “normal” person does.
When I interact with a ‘homeless” person I find that I have to vary my technique, language and style as much as I would do if I was interacting with a “normal” person. There is that much variation amongst all of us. The only real difference is our personal reactions or how we deal with our lifestyles. Yes, some of the people classed as “homeless” are that way because they want to live that way. There are others who have physical or mental problems that keep them there. Others are just simply down on their luck. The bottom line here is that the reasons they are in that position is unique to each one of us.
When dealing with a “homeless” person there is no one cookie cutter approach. Much as we would prefer it to be that way just to make things simple for us trying to help. I’ve been accused of not being as compassionate as I should be when I deal with some “homeless” people. The reason is that they are all different. Once you get that then the way you deal with anybody will get both easier and harder.
Yes, there are those who deserve gentle treatment and help with getting things done to improve their situation. There are others who can do things for themselves but would rather act otherwise to get you to do for them what they can do for themselves. Then there are those who “got game” and work the system. You know who they are too if only you or I would stop long enough to see where they fit in. What I get accused of from time to time is that I take a hard line with some people because I was once like that. I had the mindset myself that it was easier for me to let someone hand me something, whether it was money or food or something else I needed, than it was for me to get off my backside and take care of business on my own. You just have to know when to draw the line because the level of assistance needed differs as much as it does for everybody. There is no one way to help those who are in the “homeless” category.
Keeping this in mind will help you as much as them in the overall scheme of things. Today I still need help but even with that said I can a do many things for myself that I would much rather others do for me.
Just my two cents worth…