6:10 a.m. I woke up. I decided to sleep in today. I’m not going to go to the Cor Unum breakfast. I get all my stuff together, say goodbye to my girl, and then I drive to work at the shelter.
7:00 a.m. I arrived at work. It’s a special day at work. It is one of my coworkers birthdays. This coworker has done a lot for the shelter, and it is a very caring and intelligent worker. There has been great improvement in the running of the shelter because of this coworker’s devotion and diplomacy.
8:15 a.m. The shelter is full of balloons and birthday decorations. My coworker arrives, enters the shelter, and is greeted with “Surprise!” by all the guests and staff. There’s cake and festivities. It’s a really good time.
10:00 a.m. My partner and I met up with an outreach worker that provides clinical addiction services in Lawrence. When I meet this addiction worker I’m really impressed with her knowledge, and her enthusiasm in helping Homeless populations that struggle with addictions. I learn a lot from her. I’m also happy to make a great connection.
12:10 p.m. I meet another outreach worker from a different agency. This individual comes to the shelter to introduce themselves and talk to me. My plan is to network and connect with every homeless and/or useful service provider in the area of Lawrence and build relationships. This is the best way to develop coordinated collaborative care. When I meet this outreach worker they are very gregarious. This individual talks a lot about themselves, but ultimately doesn’t share any useful information or resources with me. The biggest takeaway from the conversation was that this outreach worker will give me the contact information of one of their co-workers. I’m always suspicious of people that talk a lot without providing much substance.
3:00 p.m. I leave work. I say goodbye to all the people at the shelter and my coworkers. I drive out to my campsite and I use what light I have left to work on clearing the old construction road I’d uncovered right off the highway near my campsite. There’s a fallen down tree which I pull down the hill as much as possible and once it cannot be moved any further I cut the remainder of the tree that’s lying in the old road. I spent a couple hours clearing the spot for my truck, doing some scouting, and admiring the sunset.
5:30 p.m. I drove to my girlfriend’s apartment. Seven more days and she has to be out of her current apartment and moved into her new apartment. The 17th is her vacate date. She’s been packing here and there, and it’s going to be decisions on what she wants to keep and what she cannot take with her to the smaller apartment. We had a good night together and we turned in early. I have handball in the morning. With the nice weather We will be playing outside at the Lynn/Nahant rotary Court.