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Last Wednesday night, my friend Deb and I went to the ER at Wesley Long with a Community Dinner guest. He was having DTs really bad and he wanted help. He told us that he wouldn’t make it through another winter on the street. We hoped to get him into a detox and then into a residential rehab. He was ready and willing. But he kept telling us that it wouldn’t work — that every time he’d tried to get sober, they’d detox him for a couple of days and then put him back out on the street without sending him to a rehab program. He said, “To them, I’m just a poor, homeless drunk.” We assured him that wouldn’t happen this time. (But apparently, we were wrong.)

Read more on Discharged: No Help For Homeless Alcoholic…

>> The Applicability of Housing First Models to Homeless Persons with Serious Mental Illness (PDF, 209 pages); U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Policy Development and Research, July 2007

Read more on HUD Report: Housing First For The Homeless Mentally Ill…

From Dayna, at Into The Hood:

“I recently met a new student at UNCG and was excited to hear that she had hooked up with a church in Glenwood that was starting a youth choir that would be open to neighborhood kids. Shortly after our initial discussion, she recruited volunteers to hand out flyers at InterVarsity. After IV, she asked me if I thought it was safe to go door to door. I assured her that it would be fine, and gave her a few pointers (i.e. avoid stray dogs, etc.). I asked her if they would provide transportation, as many of the parents either don’t have cars or work various shifts, so might not always be able to drop off/pick up their kids.

Read more on A Church For Kids In “Nicer-Looking” Houses…

News Release from Mental Health Association in North Carolina:

U.S. Senate Passes Mental Health Parity

September 20, 2007 (Raleigh, NC) – Two days ago on September 18, the U.S. Senate made history by passing the Mental Health Parity Act (S. 558) by unanimous consent – an incredible victory for mental health! The bill provides full parity for mental illness and substance abuse. The House must still pass the bill before it goes to the President for signing.

Read more on Mental Health Parity Passes Senate…

Yesterday was the annual Healthy Homes Bus Tour. We heard a lot about lead poisoning. And I’ve been reading more on the web this morning. The relationship between lead poisoning and crime is disturbing.

Read more on Lead, Crime & The Poor…

“I went out to dinner with my friend Elizabeth the other night and found myself sitting next to one of her graduate student assistants. We introduced ourselves and he said ‘Aren’t you Elizabeth’s friend that runs that house with all the artists and activists?’” — Liz Seymour

Read more on Guess Who’s Blogging!?!?…

It’s that time of year again. My youngest is selling Attractions books to raise money for his school. Pages #2 and #3 here list the places and the amounts of the deals offered. (Lots of good stuff.) Twenty-five bucks each.

Read more on Shameless Sales Pitch…

NPR’s Housing First: A Special Report is “a yearlong special reporting project by a team of NPR News radio and Web journalists… explor[ing] why it’s so difficult for Americans with special needs to find good housing — and how the lack of housing often stymies their efforts to join, and flourish in, the mainstream of society.”

Read more on NPR: Housing First: A Special Report…

Homeless Veterans
STAND DOWN 2007

N.C. National Guard Armory
110 Franklin Boulevard
Greensboro, NC 27401
September 21, 2007
0800 – 1500

Services For Veterans Will Include:

• Medical Screenings
• Blood-borne pathogen screenings

Read more on Stand Down For Homeless Vets…

Joe Guarino said something in a recent post that got me thinking about a friend I saw this week on NightWatch:

Joe: “It is a well-established fact that the people most likely to commit crimes in the future are those who have already done so in the past.”

Read more on Re-Offending…