I woke up around 7:00 a.m. in the tent. I laid around for a while, and around 8:00 a.m. I got ready to go to work.
I arrived at work around 9:00 a.m. and met up with my partner Ezekiel. First Ezekiel and I drove out to the intersection at route 114 and 495 and met Cherry who lives in a tent right off one of the off ramps. We gave her some socks but she did not want anything else. My plan was to take Ezekiel around for the day and show him where a lot of encampments were in the city. Cherry was a good stop, because she is on the outskirts of the city, and she is a person who is chronically homeless due to mental illness. She’s a very nice lady who camps right near an off ramp where people can see her bring her supplies. My end goal for her would be housing. That’s something we’re going to have to figure out.
After we left Cherry we headed back towards the encampment by the bridge where Jennifer and Pedro live.
The Outreach team spoke with Pedro and Jennifer, Pedro’s mother just died and they were preparing for her service. We provided them with socks, gloves, hats, drinks, and food. Suddenly I received a phone call from one of the detox outreach workers I’ve been on the phone with the day before about the man in the wheelchair Thomas, telling us that they wanted to talk with Thomas to finish his intake into the detox. I’d remember Thomas had told me he would be at Walgreens. The Outreach team drove to Walgreens and we saw Thomas slumped over in his wheelchair at the front of the store. We called the detox and proceeded to do the intake which took about a half an hour. Thomas was in very bad shape. He was struggling to answer questions, and his responses were almost unintelligible. When the intake was finished, Ezekiel pushed Thomas’s wheelchair all the way back to the shelter and I drove the truck back. At around
At 2:30 p.m. transportation from the detox came and picked up Thomas. I had to wrap him up in a bear hug and put him in the vehicle.
The Outreach team spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning out the truck. I trained Ezekiel on Vesta, the homeless database, and some of the different processes involved in the outreach work and data collection.
The Outreach team finished at work around 5:00 p.m.
While I was driving to my secret driveway where my camp is located I noticed across the street there was an unmarked police vehicle. I’d actually turn my blinker on for a moment, but then I shut the blinker off and I kept going straight. I didn’t think the cop was waiting for me. I hung out in the parking lot of a pizza joint for about an hour and then I drove back to my campsite. The unmarked cruiser was gone. I drove up my secret driveway parked my truck and then I went in my tent. The first thing I noticed was that the zippers on my tent were not tightly pressed together. I always zip the tent up really well so bugs don’t get in there. I chalked that up to my own negligence. As soon as I got inside my tent and zipped the door up I heard, “hello police!” Coming from outside. I opened the tent door and I saw a young, button down, police officer with a nice crew cut standing a little ways away near my truck. I asked him if I could video tape him with my phone and he agreed. I did not video the transaction, since he was really polite. The Police officer told me he’s got better things to do than bother a guy who’s neatly camping and not bothering anybody. I told the guy what I was doing and he seemed fine with it. He shook my hand and he went on his way. While he was walking away. He turned around and said the only thing I would have to worry about is the town coming through and giving me a hard time. I told him that if that happens I’d have them give me an order and then I would leave in due time. He said okay and he went on his way. God I love America.