I woke up at my girlfriend’s apartment around 7:00 a.m. I got dressed, collected my backpack and headed to work around 8:15 a.m.
I arrived at work at 8:45 p.m. I went to check the hospital for Winston, and he was not there. I called and left a message to discuss housing options.
From the hospital I drove to pick up the recovery coach from the harm reduction Center to check on Dina and Henry who are living at the park near the Catholic school. We found them with blankets draped over the jungle gym at the park. There had been issues with them staying there. Dina and Henry were happy to see us, I gave them some sodas, and we had a talk about public health. I explained to them that living in a jungle gym in a park where kids play might be perceived as disruptive to the social fabric. They agreed with me and we had a discussion about them hopefully finding a spot that is a little bit more hidden where they can set up a tent and live peaceably. Henry and Dina had stopped using fentanyl and now they just drink alcohol and smoke crack. I’ve been trying to convince them to get drug treatment and hopefully find a pathway to better living. The fact that they had stopped using Fentanyl was a win in itself.
At 11am The recovery coach for the harm reduction Center and I stopped by the shelter to pick up my boss and we went to the Sweep and Treat pre-meeting spearheaded by the Lawrence police. We learned that the police planned on rounding up all the homeless people, and bringing them to a parking lot where different addiction treatment providers and social service providers would help connect them to resources. They also planned on giving any homeless people with warrants an ultimatum, either seek treatment or get booked.
I spent the rest of the afternoon going through My housing referrals in the homeless database, and fixing a recurring mistake I had made in my intakes where I didn’t check off the severity levels of clients’ disabilities. Each client that needed an adjustment to their disability severity level was emailed over to the Northshore housing navigator that I work with from another agency.
After work I went to the library for a little while and then I hung out there. I spoke with a librarian about possibly doing a speaking event where I come in and I talk to the public about homelessness and addiction. The librarian thought this was a good idea. When I left the library I drove to pick up my girlfriend in Lowell, and she and I went to the TMF dinner. We had a good dinner and a good time. I met a man who seemed to be very unhealthy. He was overweight, and he seemed to struggle with some form of mental illness. He told me that he’s either at the bus station or the emergency room so I told him that I would meet up with him tomorrow and talk about possible services that I can help with.
At around 10:30 p.m. my girlfriend and I left the TMF dinner. I gave my friend Benicio a ride home. Benicio has multiple sclerosis, and we helped him with his wheelchair, by putting it in the back of my truck, he can get himself into the truck on his own. When we got to Benicio’s house I pushed him in his wheelchair to the front door and I helped him get in his house.
After dropping off Benicio my girlfriend and I drove back to her apartment and settled in for the night.