Around 7:00 a.m. I woke up in the tent. I got my stuff together at 8:00 a.m. and I headed off to workI arrived at work at 8:30 a.m.
I learned that JaunCarlos was at The faith-based homeless day shelter, from a call from their recovery coach, so I went over there to coordinate care for JuanCarlos.
I was able to get JuanCarlos on the Lawrence Family Health Center’s mobile van parked outside the Day Shelter where he received care from the doctor and team and was able to secure a bed at the Lahey CCS mental health stabilization unit. I also brought Liza back to the shelter to get a bed, and Emanuel met me at the shelter to get sneakers. Charlie also came to the shelter for clothes as well. Scott, another homeless client who was in recovery called the Outreach phone and also came and was admitted to the shelter.
After JuanCarlos ate lunch at The faith-based homeless day shelter I brought him to The Harm Reduction Center down the street to meet with the Lahey CCS team. The two clinicians that walked through the door from the Lahey crisis unit at first glance looked like opposites. One was a woman who had a privileged and sheltered look to her and weighed 300 pounds about, the other was a man who is very skinny almost to an anorexic level, he seemed to be a man who lived a sheltered life. My issue with a lot of mental health workers is they have very little experience in real life scenarios. They get master’s degrees so they can assess and diagnose mental health problems, but they have no actual experience and understanding of the struggles their patients go through.
After JuanCarlos completed the intake for the CCS Crisis and stabilization unit, He was told to report to the facility the next day on Saturday. I prayed that he would be able to admit himself. It’s very common for people that struggle with various mental illnesses, especially schizophrenia, to not follow through with a plan.
While at The Harm Reduction Center Jesus, a homeless client that struggles with severe alcoholism asked to go into addiction treatment. I was able to secure a bed at a local detox for Jesus, and the Harm Reduction Center paid for his transportation. The intake process over the phone was very difficult with Jesus, because he was considerably intoxicated. Luckily the intake coordinator on the phone was very forgiving, she could not understand what he was saying, so she had me take the phone and ask Jesus the intake questions.
It was around 3:00 p.m. when all this stuff was resolved. I came back to the shelter to work on paperwork.
At around 4:20 I heard screaming from the area behind the shelter I went over there and encountered a young girl who I had seen in the streets, I could not remember her name and she was by the taxi cabs screaming erratically slamming on the taxi cabs and she was also moving erratically. I asked her if she needed medical treatment, she said no, I told her that she was presenting like she needed immediate help, and she walked away from me, I was unable to follow her because she walked down the tracks.
On a side note Karen, the social worker from the hospital called to let myself and The shelter manager know that Winston was being released from the hospital. I informed Karen that due to Winston’s severe asthma and the constant ambulances that had been coming to pick him up at the shelter, and the fact that Winston had disclosed that he had not been taking his medication, that he needs a higher level of care than the shelter can provide. Karen did not like my answer, although I explained to her in more depth that Winston’s condition is beyond the level of care the shelter can provide. Karen proceeded to make complaints to various entities, and due to that Winston was allowed to come back to the shelter.
I must have forgotten to mention in my past writings that Winston, while in the shelter, continued to have issues with his asthma, and ambulances would come pick him up regularly. This is a major concern, because the shelter workers are not trained to provide emergency care to somebody suffering from a severe asthma attack. It was about 4 or 5 days ago that he was picked up by an ambulance and admitted to the hospital for observation. My director told me that Winston needed a higher level of care, which I agreed with. Karen the social worker from the hospital is unanimously disliked because of her aggressive practices when dealing with clients and other agencies and their practices. Karen had hoped that Winston would be readmitted to the shelter, and it would no longer be her responsibility to find options for him. The fact that the director had concluded that Winston needed a higher level of care pissed Karen off. I remember Karen saying to me on the phone that Winston didn’t need a higher level of care than the shelter could provide, according to her. She complained all the way up the chain to the shelter’s funding agents, forcing the CEO to override the director’s decision and readmit Winston back to the shelter. This pissed me off, because Karen would rather get other people in trouble, than do her job and find more appropriate accommodations for Winston. This little stunt by Karen effectively put Karen on my s*** list.
I left work around 5:00 p.m. and I drove to my campsite. I called my girlfriend, and we were able to work through our differences. I hung out at my camp for a little while and then I drove to my girlfriend’s apartment. Things have gone back to normal and it was good to spend a nice night with her.