I woke up in the tent around 7:30 a.m. I laid around for a while. Then around 8:00 a.m. I got everything ready for work. I was still super tired and jet lagged from a long flight.
The Outreach team arrived at the shelter at 9:00 a.m. it is our office day. The outreach team made paper files for new clients to go into the filing cabinet. Giselda and Tito came by the shelter inquiring about shelter space. We were unable due to unavailability to provide them with beds. We did provide them with some clothing, socks, and warm weather gear.
The Outreach team drove Giselda and Tito to the faith-based homeless day shelter. They plan on taking a train to Boston and hopefully find a shelter there where there is plenty of shelter space and services to accommodate their needs.
Ezekiel went and picked up a friend who wanted a job at the shelter. I attended the interview with the new candidate and our Boss, the director of the Shelter. The applicant got the job!
I spent some time organizing our paperwork, and going through Vesta looking at data points and figuring out ways that we can improve the quality of our vesta files and personal records.
At 2:30 we gave Anne, a resident at the shelter, a ride to the DTA building where she was going to get a new food stamp card. She was there for approximately an hour. And is an individual that I’ve engaged with in the streets. She has severe mental health issues, Commingling and exacerbated by substance abuse issues. Sometimes you can kind of pinpoint what the mental illness is. It might be bipolar, schizophrenia, personality disorders, trauma and some of the behavioral issues that come from that. Anne’s issues present as delusional, on a schizophrenic level, mixed with paranoia. Anne refuses to take accountability for any of the circumstances of her life. But tells fantastic stories about how others have conspired to abuse and attack her in various ways. It’s a hurdle in her life that will continue to inhibit her ability to live peacefully amongst society.
When I arrived back at the shelter I finished up my logs and this comprised the day.
A little after 5:00 p.m. I left work and I spent the night at my friend’s house in Danvers. It’s been a full week that I’ve slept outside and I haven’t showered.