6:00 a.m. I woke up in the tent. The weather is starting to break. It’s getting warmer and I’m happy about this. I collected my stuff and headed off to work.
7:00 a.m. The Outreach team arrives at the Daybreak shelter. I get caught up on paperwork, and inform Michael, the man I met the day before, that we are willing to help him pay off his dues for his license. I also connected Michael to a social service provider in Lowell where he stays sometimes to help him with other services.
At 9:00 am the Outreach team and Mitchell The treatment outreach worker stopped by to check on Jess and Pedro. They said that they have not been going to the clinic for their methadone. Jess and Pedro took Backpacks, cosmetics, socks, drinks, food, and some clothes from us.
9:30 am we stopped to check on Euriel, he did not respond so we drove back to the shelter to pick up Alaina, a mental health clinician that works for the detox that Mitchell works for. We proceeded to drive around, and we saw Lewis walking. We asked him if he wanted drug treatment, at first he was resistant and did not want to wait to go to treatment. Then he agreed to come with us and go to treatment since I told him we would drive him there. Michael called AdCare Detox and they didn’t have a bed. They did an intake in case one became available. I called Jason at a detox in Worcester who secured a bed for me immediately. My Outreach partner and I then drove Lewis to the detox in Worcester which was an hour drive. I also did Lewis’s file in the homeless database and did the rapid rehousing referral for him.
When the outreach team arrived back at the shelter our day was done it was 3:00 p.m.
It was a bit of a sad day, because this will be the last time that I do outreach with my current outreach partner. He will be moving on to a job working with children. He was a doctor in the Dominican Republic. Although he is highly educated, his English still needs a lot of work, but he will be well suited to teach Spanish Speaking children biology. Especially since the majority of children in the town I work speak Spanish and are bilingual.
I drove to my girlfriend’s apartment, and we spent the night together.
HINDSIGHT: 12/26/2025
So I didn’t say this in the writing of this blog. But my outreach partner quit because he was uncomfortable with me. When I was brought onto this job, it was because I had a lot of experience and knowledge around the systems and social services for addiction and mental illness. My outreach partner struggled to speak English, and was unfit for the job. My outreach partner was a smart and respectful man. For him the outreach job was just an easy way to make money, he was incapable of learning the complex skills needed to coordinate care for the most volatile and vulnerable population in our streets. I had also heard rumors that my outreach partner was having sexual relations with the CEO of the company. I do believe this to be true, considering CEO of the company was known for promiscuity. There had also been rumors that my outreach partner would take sexual favors from some of the women living in the street. I can’t verify this but he was very touchy-feely.
When I started doing this project of homelessness some people mentioned that I was going to fuck homeless women. I was disgusted by this. Although I do understand that human beings are infatuated with romance and sex and don’t hold it against them thinking this way. There’s a lot of creeps out there. I would like to make it clear to all those reading, that I do not prey on the vulnerable or the weak. I was raised by women, who taught me to treat women with kindness and compassion. To show them the respect and dignity that all mothers and daughters deserve. I will say that when it comes to other males, if I feel I’m in threat of bodily injury by a male there’s a chance that I will resort to violence. I have good control over my emotions and if I resort to violence most likely it will be out of self-defense. I’m not the one to throw the first punch. Once a fight is initiated I’m in it to win it.
It’s strange that at the point in time of this blog I was working a job helping the homeless while living homeless. It was just how things developed. I’ve never felt threatened by those I serve as a social service agent. I avoid any conflict or confrontation in my work. It doesn’t take away from me being a man. I’m not here to judge others for doing things that I view as inappropriate, but as a professional and as a man I hold myself to a high standard in my professional work and in my personal life.