Tag Archives: stories

Posted
February 12, 2008
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Are programs for youth the answer?

Young people fighting in school, dropping out of school or joining gangs and committing crimes are a frequent topic of discussion in local media and public forums. There’s a lot of talk about increasing programs for youth, like parks and rec, and getting the “faith community” involved. While I agree that it’s a great idea to increase positive, productive activities for young people, I don’t agree that it’s the answer, because it’s addressing the symptoms, not the roots of the problem.

Doing street outreach, I meet homeless youth and young adults, and I hear their stories. These are young people who were fighting in school a few years ago, who dropped out, and some of them have been in gangs. They’re the kind of kids you read about in newspaper stories — a few years down the road, on the street, in and out of jail. Some come from families where they endured abuse — physical, emotional, sexual. Some come from families with mental illness or addiction, or both. Some are mentally ill or addicted themselves, or both. Some young men were kicked out by mommas who got a new boyfriend who saw them as competition. Angry young men and women. Wounded young men and women. I’ve yet to meet one who said, “If I just had a program…” But almost all of them have said, “I just wanted a family…” (They still do.)

Don’t get me wrong. After-school programs, tutoring programs, sports programs, church programs — all are vitally important to help at-risk youth. Those programs can provide a safety net, a safe haven. We absolutely need them. But what we really need is strong and healthy families for all children — and young adults, and old adults, too. What we really need to is to be willing to love our neighbors (and everybody is our neighbor) enough to get in their business and find out why Johnny is fighting at school and why Mary is dropping out and why Lucy is coming to school hungry and why Darius is falling asleep in class every day. And then, find out what we can do to help their family. And if and when families are unable to care for their own children, we need to be willing to step up and say, “We will be your family.” And then do it. Programs are great. But we need families.

Don’t know where to start? This is one place, of many. Contact me.

Posted
February 7, 2008
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Estevez takes homeless issues “Public” in new film about library

Emilio Estevez is making a film, “The Public,” highlighting the issue of public libraries being used as de facto day shelters for the the homeless:

“The story takes place during the two coldest days of the year in Los Angeles, when the library is overwhelmed by people seeking shelter. After the library administration rebuffs one librarian’s attempts to keep the doors open, he stages an act of civil disobedience. He ends up dealing with the library’s new inhabitants, many of them mentally ill.”

Posted
February 6, 2008
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After 15 years of homelessness, a house key for Vincent

Jordan writes about Vincent getting an apartment of his own after 15 years on the street, with the the help of Mitch and the housing support team:

Carrying a large plastic Macy’s bag packed with a new fleece blanket, a comforter and the kind of Indian shawl available at interstate travel centers, Vincent Sims gingerly picked his way up a handful of steps and let himself into the apartment, a two-room unit in a squat brick building about two blocks from Greensboro’s NewBridge Bank Park.

“I can open that door with a key,” Vincent Sims said after settling into a chair and lighting up a Newport. “When I was living in the streets, I would go into any building, and I could be arrested for breaking and entering. Everywhere I would lay my head would be illegal.”

» Keep reading “Some Guilford chronic homeless get their own keys” at YesWeekly.com.

Jordan: Thank you for sharing Vincent’s story and spreading the word about the housing support program.
Mitch: Thank you for all you’re doing for our friends! You’re an angel! (You, too, Buffy!)
Vincent: Yay! We love you and we’re celebrating with you! God is good, all the time!

Posted
February 1, 2008
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MRSA and homeless people

I recently found out that two of my homeless friends have MRSA. Locally, the news media reports on high schools with reported cases of MRSA, but so far, I don’t think I’ve seen a story about MRSA and homeless people — not in Greensboro, anyway. But the risk of MRSA among the homeless is well-documented.

From a report by the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, HCH Clinicians’ Network:

“…CA-MRSA [community-associated Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ] …prevalence is higher among individuals who are members of racial/ethnic minorities and those with low socioeconomic status …higher risk for individuals with histories of homelessness, incarceration, frequent emergency department visits, and injection drug use…

HCH providers confirm an apparent increase in MRSA over the past few years in homeless clinics and shelters. Higher rates of hospitalization, HIV infection, and injection drug use, as well as
crowded living conditions and/or poor hygiene place homeless people at higher risk for acquisition and transmission of CA-MRSA.”

Here’s what the CDC says about preventing staph infections:

  • Keep your hands clean by washing well with soap and water or using an alcohol hand gel.
  • Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with a bandage until healed.
  • Avoid contact with other people’s wounds or bandages.
  • Avoid sharing personal items such as towels or razors.

Homeless people often lack access to facilities to wash their hands or take baths, and they may not have soap or sanitizing hand gel available. It can be difficult for a homeless person to keep cuts and scrapes clean, covered and bandaged — particularly if they live outside. And sometimes homeless people share personal items out of necessity.

The CDC recommends that a person infected with staph keep their wounds covered, wash their hands often, and wash and dry their soiled clothing and bedding. For homeless people living outside, without access to bathrooms or laundry facilities, these can be impossible instructions to follow.

If Greensboro had a day center, with bathrooms and laundry facilities, unsheltered homeless people could bathe regularly and wash their clothes. Perhaps that might lower the risk of CA-MRSA among our homeless friends. And help build a healthier community for all of us.

Posted
January 26, 2008
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Homeless kids ask for blankets, not toys

For the past couple of weeks, the NightWatch team has been making a stop in the parking lot of a local hotel that is “home” for many folks who might otherwise be on the street. And a lot of them are back outside when their money — or someone else’s generosity — runs out. This week, the team saw a lot of kids at the hotel. We keep some toys on the truck to give to children, but last night, the kids didn’t ask for toys. Each of them had the same request:

“Can I have a blanket?”

I spoke to one of the team leaders today, and he was really touched by those kids. “We had toys, but they didn’t ask for toys, they didn’t ask for PlayStations. They just wanted a blanket,” he said. They got blankets. And toys. And the hearts of the team members, too.

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