Homeless in Greensboro: State of the street, 11/21/11

Doing street outreach the past couple of weeks at homeless camps in Greensboro (and at a tent city with multiple homeless camps), I’ve seen long-familiar faces and lots of new faces. I’ve seen homeless camps spring back up in places that had emptied out for a while. I’ve seen homeless seniors and homeless teens. Homeless men and homeless women. Multiple races and ethnicities. On everyone’s wish list: jobs and housing.

But there’s the unspoken: mental illness, alcoholism, addiction, trauma, family dysfunction. Obtaining or maintaining a job or housing is difficult (and out of reach for some). A number of folks I’ve seen just this week are newly released from jail or prison. Their chances for jobs and housing seem to rise and fall with the economy.

I think of the words a homeless friend once said to me, “If we could get a job, we’d have one.” And another, referencing Greensboro’s wealth of free meal sites and dearth of affordable housing, “We appreciate the food. But you can’t cover up with a chicken wing.” True word.

>> Related post: “Urgent needs for our ministry to unsheltered homeless people: Please help!”

photo by CMF for StreetWatch

“For the love of God people, stop giving money to drunken panhandlers.”

Kevin Barbieux caused a commotion when he posted this on Facebook:

“For the love of God people, stop giving money to drunken panhandlers. These panhandlers are alcoholics and drug addicts. The money you give them will only go towards more alcohol and drugs, enabling their disease. With your money, these panhandlers will spend the rest of the day drunk, harassing other people, and interfering with other homeless people who are actually making attempts to get off streets.”

Some of Kevin’s FB friends were offended by his perspective and commented to tell him so. But Kevin told them that he knows what he’s talking about:

“Both of my grandfathers were alcoholics, I became homeless the first time at the age of 21, and have been in and out of homelessness the past 29 years. I have known more drunks and addicts than you’d ever imagine. I’ve witnessed people die from their addictions…”

And he speaks truth:

“There is sympathy for people hurting and struggling. But in your sympathy for them you have to maintain your objectivity. If someone was displaying suicidal tendencies and then they asked to borrow your gun, you wouldn’t really let them have it would you? Caring for, caring about others is more than just giving in to their wants and desires. Alcohol is slowly but surely killing these panhandling drunks, and as much as it alleviates their immediate pain and desires, giving them access to more drink is not doing them any favors.”

I talked to a crack addict the other day who hasn’t let the 100°F heat discourage him from flying a sign. It makes me frustrated. And sad. I love the addicts and alcoholics in my life, but I hate addiction. Everyone has their own path to recovery and I pray for them to find it. But I will not fund addiction. As Kevin says, it’s like handing a loaded gun to someone who’s trying to commit suicide.

Drug court: Budget cuts will cost taxpayers more $$

“A new study says that drug treatment courts, which state legislators cut funding for in the recent budget, are effective at reducing crime and drug use.

Drug courts also saved an average of nearly $5,700 per participant, resulting in a net benefit of $2 for every $1 spent, according to the study released Tuesday by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington, D.C. The Center for Court Innovation in New York and RTI International in the Research Triangle Park assisted with the study.

This year, North Carolina legislators cut $2 million in funding for drug treatment courts across the state…”

>> Continue reading “Study: Drug courts effective in reducing” at News-Record.com.

I’ve seen first-hand the effectiveness of Guilford County’s drug court. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to cut programs that save taxpayer dollars and change lives.

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Can crack cocaine come through breast milk?

Image adapted from Sean Dreilinger’s original

A frequently asked question from visitors to this site:

Can crack cocaine come through breast milk?

And the answer? YES.

When a breast-feeding mom uses crack cocaine, she may pass the drug on to her baby through her breast milk, with serious effects:

“Convulsions have been seen both in infants of breast-feeding mothers using cocaine and in infants exposed to passive crack smoke inhalation. Because cocaine and its metabolites can be found in breast milk for up to 60 hours after use, breast-feeding is not recommended.”

~ p. 225, “Drug abuse and withdrawal”, S Schechner, Manual of Neonatal Care, Philadelphia, 2004

Drinking crack-cocaine-tainted breast milk can severely damage a baby, and in some cases, may lead to death. (More here.)

Addicted moms? Get help: Find a treatment program or find an NA meeting.

“He relapsed and it killed him. He was my best friend.”

image source: DEA

“…He had a massive heart attack from the first time he relapsed. He had been clean for so long he couldn’t get enough when he relapsed and it killed him. He was my best friend. I loved him so much…”

This is the nightmare you most fear when you love an addict. It became real for Vickie, who lost her boyfriend Richard on September 20, 2010 to crack cocaine addiction. Vickie calls crack “the devil.” I do, too.

Vickie writes about her boyfriend Richard’s death in a comment on the post, The 7 Stages of Crack Cocaine Use“. Her comment is heartbreaking to read, but I admire her courage in sharing her experience, and I believe that her words may help others. They’ve definitely had an impact on me.

» Read Vickie’s comment here
» Read “The 7 Stages of Crack Cocaine Use”
» Related: “What You Need To Hear About Crack Cocaine”