6:00 a.m. I got off of work, get all my stuff ready. It’s about a 25-minute drive and I’m in the office for 7:00 a.m. The snowstorm that they talked about on the news never came to fruition. After putting that much effort into setting up an A-frame for my tent I was both dejected and elated that no snow came. I’d rather do the work for nothing and be prepared, then do no work and have tragedy strike.
9:00 a.m. My outreach partner and I drive out into the city. We connect with various people that are homeless. Some people live in tents, some people just set up sleeping bags and blankets in various places and sleep. The city definitely needs more shelter space.
3:00 p.m. After working on building out the homeless outreach program, and doing outreach during the day I left work and went to my girlfriend’s apartment. My homeless friend Nick from Salem has been texting me. I explained to him the importance of networking while we were spending time together in Salem and he was able to put up a GoFundMe and raise enough money to buy a car for himself and his dog Riggy. He only needed a little bit more money to register it. I sent him $81 that was in one of my venmo accounts, which was enough for him to go to the registry and get the registration and plates.
As I was driving to my girlfriend’s house I can feel the brakes on my truck are almost completely shot out. This is a big problem. I plan on using my truck to help my girlfriend move along with a moving truck. Because of the bad breaks on my truck we might only have the moving truck on the day my girlfriend moves. There’s no way I want to continue driving my truck. I will have to drive it back to Danvers and swop the truck for the little car tomorrow.
5:30 p.m. My girlfriend had packed some more bags and a few boxes. I loaded up her Honda Pilot and I drove over to her new apartment in Lowell. Coincidentally, her apartment is right across from a hotspot outdoor drug use and homelessness. It’s frightening every time I pull up to deliver her stuff, to see all the people across the street walking around intoxicated on fentanyl and other dangerous street drugs.
7:00 p.m. I drove back to my girlfriend’s house. Moving day will be Friday. It’s coming soon. I’ve been asking her to throw things out and downsize, which has not happened. I am very concerned about what the move will look like. It’s going to be pandemonium if I have to move all her stuff from this big apartment into this tiny little apartment. We’re talking a difference of about 960 ft² to 360 ft². I’ve been asking her but not bothering her too much. My girlfriend and I settle in for the night and go to bed around 9:00 p.m.
HINDSIGHT: 11/16/2025
This was a very stressful time for me. Besides getting the new job, relocating my camp, and helping my girlfriend move it was dead of winter. The silver lining was seeing Nick get a car. I had helped him with boots and a little money here and there, but going into Facebook and asking for help and setting up a gofundme for a car were things he did, although I had suggested it. I was happy to see nick accomplish his goal.