I woke up in the tent around 6:00 a.m. I hung around in the tent, scrolling around on social media. At around 8:00 a.m. I got ready for work. Once again while backing out of my secret driveway, The phone company truck came rolling up and parked in front of me. There was a break in cars coming down the highway, so I just drove around the phone truck again. Going forward in the future I will leave before 8:00 a.m.
I arrived at the shelter at 9:00 a.m. Fridays are my office days. I went through the numbers in the outreach phone and texted clients to let them know that we’re here if they want to come through for supplies.
Two homeless men stopped by the shelter for socks, underwear, and some clothes. I spoke with One of the men who is newly homeless, and seems to have some family issues as well as employment issues. We did not have a bed to offer him so I directed him to other shelters as well as other resources. This man was gay, and he seemed to have been discriminated against by his family members. The other homeless man spends time in Lawrence and Lowell and stays at the Lowell shelter occasionally. He has been communicating with me about services for a little over a month. Whenever I don’t have the power to help someone at the moment I direct them to other services, and give them a resource guide outlining all the resources in Lawrence. I always sit with people and ask questions about their situation: where are you from? What happened? How did you get here? How long have you been homeless? What other services have you accessed? Do you drink or use drugs? Do you have a family? Where are you sleeping now? Do you have any mental health diagnosis? What’s your plan? How can I help you best? Are you running from anyone or are you afraid of people in the street?….. Often times people will open up right away and tell me everything, sometimes it takes some prodding.
At 10:30 my manager and I had an introduction with the director of community development for the city of Lawrence. We discussed future cooperation, and city grant funding we qualify for.
After lunch I organized the trailer and I wrapped up with paperwork.
I drove to Danvers after work. I stopped at my friend’s house and I took a shower and washed my clothes. Since my girlfriend and I are broken up again, I met with a woman who I had met through the Karen Read movement. We hung out in Salem for a while. We went to the willows. I showed her winter island. We ate in downtown Salem at the tavern near the Witch city mall. We went to the beach in Gloucester. We had a nice time. I ended up spending the night at her house. She’s a really great person but I realized there was not strong chemistry between us. I was not interested in anything physical. But instead just enjoyed her company.
I learned from this rendezvou that I have to be particular about the mates I choose. Just because I am lonely and a woman aggressively pursues me, is not a reason to acquiesce.