Central Outreach and Advocacy Center is a place that provides steps (services) that can lead to stability. Sometimes it seems pretty straightforward.
(Photo courtesy of Jake Hills, Unsplash)
Someone comes in for ID assistance and that’s really all they need to move a step forward. Or they simply need a homeless verification letter to receive services elsewhere.
Other times it seems that the steps are wobbly, steep or downright just too hard to maneuver. This seems the case more times than not for our guests.
(Photo courtesy of Jukan Tateisi, Unsplash)
I have heard two interesting stories in the past week that made me think about the difficulty our guests often have. Both stories stopped me in my tracks and kept edging back into my thoughts throughout the day
(Photo courtesy of Simon Hurry, Unsplash)
I was helping out with intake one morning. I was helping a guest with a Social Security card application and then sending him on to meet with our Atlanta Community Food Bank worker who would help him with food stamps and Medicaid. He volunteered this information as he sat in my office …
“I was in the foster care system until I was 17. I went to prison at 18. I was recently released and I am having a hard time getting back on my feet. I can work. I want to work. I don’t want to be in this homeless situation, but it is hard out here. I am hoping that what I am working on today will help me take a couple of steps forward.”
I told him that I hoped it would also and that we will be here if we can help him in any other way. This guest’s steps fall into that category of being wobbly, steep and just downright hard.
A little later that same morning, I happened to make eye contact with a guest sitting in our lobby. He said something to me so I went and sat down in the chair next to him.
He asked me if I enjoyed living in the neighborhood where I live. When he asked me the question, I remembered seeing the guest one day when I was out walking. I remembered him telling me that he once lived in the same neighborhood and how much it had changed.
He immediately told me that he was back to being in a homeless situation and proceeded to tell me what happened.
“I got kicked out of the place where I was living. I have seizures and had one while I was cooking. The house caught fire because of my seizure. Thankfully I made it out, but I was evicted. I went to a shelter and was assigned a top bunk. I can’t sleep on a top bunk due to my seizures and the shelter wouldn’t assign me a different bunk. I never know for sure when a seizure will hit me so it’s a hard situation to be in. I am on a new medication that I hope will be more effective and that I will be able to take some steps out of my current situation.”
This guest’s steps also fall into that same category of being wobbly, steep and just downright hard.
I am glad that I sat down in the lobby with the guest and I am honored that both guests shared their stories with me that day. I pray that we will continue to do what we can to help our guests take the steps they need to take in order to move toward stability, especially when the steps seem to be wobbly, steep and just downright hard!