I woke up in the tent around 6:00 a.m. I did some writing, and then around 7:00 a.m. I got prepared for work. I’ve been brushing my teeth more regularly. I do that by using the gallon of water that I get when I go to Market basket or Walmart. While I was backing out of my secret driveway, a phone company truck and a police detail were parked right in front of where my truck pulled out. There was enough space for me to sit and wait for a break in traffic. The officer never got out of the car to approach me. And when I could pull out onto the highway I did. I had to turn around on the highway and on my way back I waved to the workers who didn’t seem to acknowledge my greeting.
On my way to work I saw the homeless man that sits on the bench on Canal Street. I stopped and I talked with him. The man spoke very little English, so I decided to go back and get my partner Ezekiel who speaks fluent Spanish. I drove back to the shelter and Ezekiel and I drove over and had a conversation with the homeless man. We were able to do a coordinated entry for him to get him on the housing list. He would be a really good candidate for mental health services. He seems to have schizophrenia, and he carries a backpack with all kinds of trinkets dangling. He praises God throughout the day, and hears voices.
The Outreach team drove to McDonald’s where we met with a younger homeless man. We came back to the shelter and we provided this young homeless man named Manny with some sneakers, some socks, some drinks and food. I spoke with The latin-based drug treatment center since The young homeless man feels he will be ready to go into treatment within the next few days.
The Outreach team went back out into the street and we engaged with a homeless woman named Shirley next to the bus station. She reported that there’s been a man coming to the encampments and giving the girls pills. She said that when the girls pass out the man rapes them. She gave us all the information she could and we reported this to the police. We did a coordinated entry with Shirley to get her on the housing list.
At around 1:00 p.m. we drove back to the shelter and had lunch. We went and we picked up our street outreach shirts and sweatshirts along with other gear.
I went over some discrepancies in the vesta system with my manager that we will be discussing with the Vesta team next week.
The rest of the day was spent wrapping up with paperwork.
I left work around 5:30 p.m. and I went back to my camp and just settled in and relaxed for the night on my air mattress and under my blankets.
