5:30 a.m. I woke up. I got my stuff ready, and then I headed out to work for 7:00 a.m.
We have a company meeting today, it’s breakfast. My fellow staff members and myself hang out at the shelter, and then head out to the breakfast place at 9:00 a.m.
After a great staff meeting at 11am the Homeless Outreach team drove to a local city Park that is riddled with trash. There are abandoned railroad lines behind the park where some people camp out. We first engaged with a young woman named Ariel who was sitting on the wall at the park. We gave her socks, some food, and asked her if she was interested in drug treatment or gaining access to other social services. she declined. Ariel presents as delusional and has refused services in the past. It has been stated by other homeless people that she suffers from schizophrenia.
The Outreach team then walked to the large encampment behind the fence next to the train tracks at the Park. There we met a young man of Latin descent named Jose, he said he wanted to go to treatment and also wanted a Shelter Bed. He stated that he does not use fentanyl and does not need a detox. He asked to stay at the shelter and work on his recovery in the community at the local recovery center. The outreach team offered to bring the young man to the shelter at that moment, but he refused and said he would come to the shelter in a couple hours. The Outreach team provided him with food and a brisk iced tea.
The Outreach team then drove to the shopping plaza that has a Little Caesars in it. There we met with Anna, a homeless woman who bounces around from couch to couch, and sometimes stays in the street. Anna struggles with mental illness and substance use disorder. The Outreach team provided Anna with food, socks, cosmetics. Anna did not express interest in staying at the Shelter due to past issues while staying there. Anna did not want any help with services at the moment and presented as paranoid and delusional. Hearing voices and being followed by people for reasons she does not understand.
The Outreach team, then engaged with a group of five people on the side of the shopping plaza on the sidewalk. Willy, Ashley, Andrea, Tiffany, and Ben. Every member of this group was intoxicated. They were smoking crack, and seemed to be on other substances. Tiffany refused to give me her last name, but did give me her phone number. We gave everyone in the group food. We also gave out some socks, hygiene products, and a few clothing items. Andrea appeared to be between 4-6 months pregnant. This was very sad to see. Some of the other homeless people there reported to my co-worker in Spanish that Andrea was raped and that’s how she became pregnant. She was high on fentanyl and smoking crack. Andrea went to get up to leave with the group, she spilled the crack out of the pipe and onto the ground. The Outreach team will have to think of a plan to possibly get her The help and services needed to protect the unborn child.
After the Outreach team met with these people in the street. We drove back to the Shelter Where we uploaded information into the homeless database, as well as working on filling out other paperwork. I left work around
3:00 p.m. I left work and headed towards My girlfriend’s place. It was going to be a while before she returned from work, so I decided to buy a Guinness. I do not drink alcohol, I have not drank alcohol in many years. But recently I have tested my relationship with alcohol. I had a Sam Adams with dinner one night. I was surprised to see how much the alcohol from one beer affected me. I wanted a Guinness for a long time, so I stopped at a liquor store and bought 20 oz bottle of Guinness. I was in Lowell, and I was looking for a place to drink my Guinness. There was a graveyard close by. I remembered that Jack kerouac’s grave is in Lowell. It just happened to be in the graveyard close to me. I stopped by Jack Kerouac’s grave and drink 2/3 of that Guinness, and left the remainder on his gravestone. I caught a buzz and I hung out for a while because I didn’t want to drive. I realized how poisonous alcohol really is. I do not plan on drinking in the future.
My girlfriend called me while I was waiting to pass the alcohol through my system. I was not too intoxicated to drive, so I drove her apartment. It was good to see her and we had a good night together.