I woke up in the tent around 7:00 a.m. I got ready for work and I left around 8:00 a.m.
I arrived at work at 8:30 a.m. The young shelter worker, who’s the CEO’s son and I took a ride to the parking garage next to the bus station where we looked for Louisa. She was not there. We came back to the shelter, and I had to tell the two detoxes I coordinated with the day before to provide her a bed, that I wasn’t able to find Louisa for her intake into detox.
At 11:30 a.m. I went to the faith-based homeless day shelter. I did three coordinated entries with Geo, Felicia, and Linda. I also spoke with The recovery coach at House of Mercy about the client named Juancarlos I’d met at TMF last night, who has been seeking service from The faith-based homeless day shelter and myself, who suffers with severe schizophrenia. The plan is I come by The faith-based homeless day shelter and we try to coordinate care for JuanCarlos tomorrow.
I left The faith-based homeless day shelter around 1:30 p.m. and then I stopped by McDonald’s and gave the people there some drinks. I came across an elderly man named George. He said that he had lost his room at a rooming house a couple weeks ago and was now homeless. George stated that he did not use any drugs or alcohol. I tried to do a housing intake with him, but Vesta would not work. I offered George the extent of service that we can provide such as shelter, or helping him find another supportive environment, but George said he would rather stay in the streets and complained incessantly about all kinds of things that had happened to him working with other social service providers and law enforcement in his life. I gave George a resource list and my card and I explained to him that if at any time it got tough out in the streets or if he needed help to reach out.
George was very difficult to talk to, he complained about things that happened years before. Every time I tried to redirect him towards finding solutions for his current situation, George would begin to complain about some other circumstances in his life that had nothing to do with what my capabilities were. Eventually I told George that I had to go. Something for us all to keep in mind is that complaining does no good. Addressing a problem, and working to find solutions seems to be the best approach in my opinion. I understand that some people want to be heard and validated. I find it particularly difficult when somebody outlines their unhappiness and multiple complaints about their condition, and when I acknowledge their struggle and offer solutions they become resistant and continue to complain. All this does is feed the negativity brewing in one’s mind. It doesn’t change the circumstances, it only makes them worse.
A little after 2:30 p.m. I came back to the shelter and I finished up with paperwork and updating the Vesta system. I left work around 4:30 p.m.
My girlfriend’s been difficult and I’ve been avoiding her. She sends messages all day.
I drove back to my campsite and I settled in for the night.