5:30 a.m. I woke up at my girl’s apartment. I get my stuff ready and head out to work. I also take a trash bag full of extra weights my girlfriend doesn’t need. The bag is heavy, and instead of carrying it all the way to her dumpster, I throw the bag in the back of my truck, so I can throw it away in the dumpster at my work. The city she lives in is right next to the city I work in. I follow a route right along the river to get to my work. It takes me about 20 minutes. My campsite is also about 20 minutes from my work.
7:00 a.m. I dump the weights, and I go into the shelter to start my day. I’m always really happy to see everybody in the morning. I love working with people. I love to see people working on their lives and having the support that they need to develop, or at most sustain a lifestyle we’re they have the support they need to develop if they so choose. This is the feeling I get at my place of work.
Throughout the day my Outreach partner and I visit those living in the street, as well as other providers to see if we can work together to provide service to those we outreach. We have lunch with a group of fellow outreach workers in service providers in the city so that we can figure out ways to assist each other. Terms that you might hear me use, especially more so when I write the book are: collaborative care and continuum of care. All this really means is providers working together so that clients have uninterrupted informed care overtime, that allows them to grow and develop at their own pace. One of the problems with our social service systems now, is people receive treatment for various issues, and get kicked around from one provider to the next with little communication or collaboration. Oftentimes they are unable to overcome their problems and will cycle back to the original state of illness or poverty that they started at before receiving services. In the case of homelessness people access services like shelter, housing, drug treatment, or other services. But due to a lack of consistency they end up homeless and addicted right where they started once again. It takes a village, and lots of support to help people move beyond homelessness and the causes thereof.
3:00 p.m. I leave work. I got frustrated over some stuff at work, but it is mostly just petty stuff. Unavoidable issues that arise from working with people. Yet at the same time I do want to be clear about what is acceptable and not acceptable as far as my boundaries.
I drove to my campsite. I set up in my tent and I got comfortable for the night. I spend the rest of the evening writing blogs. There’s a lot of work to be done and I feel like I’m ready to catch up and get back on track with things.