What would you do?

I’ve had a lot of questions in life. One of the most troublesome was when I became homeless. I had no idea what to expect or what to do. In time, I learned more and found help, again and again. Of course, learning is never ending. Though I am homeless no more, I am still learning about homelessness. I see people on the street, I may talk to, and may offer to try and help them how I can. What if one of the homeless people I met was you?

On April 7, 2011, I was that homeless person. I interviewed with a case manager with Deborah’s Place and was accepted in to their permanant housing program.

Here I receive support services with my housing, and with no time limits. Permanent housing is just that–I can stay forever or for as long as I like.

For my birthday on December 18th, I’m asking my friends and family for a special gift: help me raise $250 for Deborah’s Place–but in under one day that goal was met! I have faith that we can raise more yet! It is still one week to my birthday. Due to reaching my initial goal so quickly, I believe the challenge should raised. Let’s make the NEW GOAL $500.00!

Without this Deborah’s Place, I would be homeless and living on the streets. They help myself and others giving us housing and free services while we work to acheive self-sufficiency. With no income, my rent is free. We residents at Deborah’s Place love it here. We know the reality: if not for this awesome organization, we would be homeless living on the streets again.

Please consider giving to my Birthday Wish, and together we can help end homelessness. If you can’t give now, I’d really appreciate if you’d share this link http://wishes.causes.com/wishes/494455 with your friends, family, and co-workers.

Thanks so much,

AnnMarie Walsh, @padschicago

Home Sweet Home

I am formerly homeless for almost 3 days now. I moved in to supportive permanent housing at Deborah’s Place / Marah’s Thursday afternoon. I absolutely *LOVE* it here! I have never found such impressive, intensive case management practice anywhere, nor such love and welcoming! It’s unbelievable! Housing here is for women only. Male/female guests may be entertained on first floor and outside. Hot meals are served, laundry is free, there are a few pieces of workout equipment, a large library with computers, activities, a beautiful yard with gazebo and a great grill are all included with housing at no extra charges. Rent is free without income, or 30% of income. This is permanent housing so I can stay here forever or long as I want with all these extra benefits. It makes sense. Life is never ending goals and accomplishments, short and long term. This is like any other housing complex, but the management style is more personal and friendly. I like it. They accept donations so if you would like to help the 30 women who benefit from living here, please contact Deborah’s Place at Marah’s today! **Please check back soon–I will post photos and video soon!**

Crazed!

My mind is crazed. I can’t think. I went to the shelter office to turn in a copy of my TB test, and the case”worker” decided he needed to sit down and talk to me about an email and what happened between him, the director, and me a short while back. To remind you in short, it caused me a bad PTSD freakout due to malicious behavior on the director’s part! Since that place now is an emotional trigger for me, I didn’t react nicely to talking to him about it! Then he took his loooooong time to make the copy of my TB test–stopping to talk to other staff about me first before doing it and returning the original to me. (Did ya have to stop at Kinko’s for the copy too?!?!) It took forever! Meanwhile I was getting even more pissed off and agitated! I took some Propranolol to relax some and it has helped but my mind is still fried. I am relaxed enough to not be screaming and B* too many swear words writing this. I got out to the main room there today and when someone mentioned him to me I referred to the case”worker” as an @*****. One of the people he needed to talk to about me (prior to giving me back my original TB test result?!) was evidently the person in charge of the place–”about a ‘related’ issue”. Wow! I feel honored! The executive director had interest in talking to him about me! I almost have to think or wonder, have ya guys got it who I am behind all this web stuff?! Of course with my name and face posted online now, the evidence is there. And I don’t care. I have a voice–I have a right–to post my opinions and experiences. I have thus far respected them and not given them bad publicity by mentioning the name of the actual shelter/homeless services program that I am registered with. I am getting closer to doing it though as more happens. Part of me is almost dying to get the word out what this place is really like! I started this blog wanting to keep open and not bad mouth any particular agency. I thought that I could still write about events and still make readers aware. It just doesn’t feel right to me to single any one out with negative publicity. But I am wondering if maybe I should?

The bad and the good

Sometimes its not easy to be homeless.  Like when it rains at night and I need to find a dry place to hopefully get some sleep. But there are other times as well.  Like today.  All day because of health issues that the rheumatologist hasn’t diagnosed yet, my kidneys didn’t produce much of anything despite that I was drinking plenty.  Well now they have kicked in!  Just in time for the night, when I hope to sleep.  But NO–I will likely be awakened a few times at least.  There are bushes nearby that I can use–but who wants to use bushes for a toilet?!  Maybe some of this swelling will start to go away after this.  I am still having pains from the swelling occurring.

Something good did happen this morning.  I saw my case worker and we are still working on the connections for mental health stuff.  I signed a release so should could talk to someone.  I told her about me going to a fundraiser for a homeless services place and she was impressed!  She seemed very excited and said that she could set it up so I could get my hair all done up, cut and complete style and everything for it!  That is so awesome!  It has been a whole year since I got a haircut–no frills, just a normal cut, at a homeless shelter.  The cut this time that my case worker would set me up with would be done by students, but just because of how long it has been since I have had a haircut I am still really excited about it!  I asked her about a computer and webcam and there are no webcams there, but I told her about Mark Horvath of Invisible People doing the video interview of me and she thought it was great and she’d look and check in about finding access to one.

Helping you help people like me

People frequently ask me how they can help the homeless.  There are millions of ways to help!  Here are just a few…

• Post in your church bulletin, on community bulletin boards, on Craigslist, etc, asking for room and board of a homeless person, house or other work in exchange for rent until the person has income.
• Offer resume help.  Look it over and give suggestions or help design a new one. Everyone is qualified to do this–it could be your own resume next.
• If you are spiritual, offer to say prayer.  Saying prayer on the spot can even do wonders for a person’s attitude!
• Give clothing, shoes, and accessories needed for job interviews.
• Buy the person a phone card to put minutes on their cell phone, if they have one.  Offer your own cell phone to make a phone call.  Tell the person about GOOG-411–a free phone directory service by Google, by simply calling 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411).
• Help the person set up a free email account online and teach how to use it.
• Help the person sign up and use job sites such as Hot Jobs.
• Assure the person is warm/cool enough during the day and at night according to climate.  Long underwear is always a hit in winter months in colder climates!!!  Check for a hat, scarf, and gloves.  Also wool and warm socks!  Hand warmer packets are good, but remind people that they can burn (especially people who have nerve damage).  Ask if they have a warm enough sleeping bag and blankets.  In warmer months, ask if they would like shorts, or for women perhaps skirts and casual dresses.
• Give camping essentials like a tarp to put on the ground to protect from dirt and moisture; a flashlight; batteries; eating utensil; 1-man tents or a large tarp with pegs to hold in the ground; a mini kerosene cooking stove (there are some that are single-use).
• Give transit tickets for getting to appointments, social services, or soup kitchens.
• Offer help getting laundry done.  Give them supplies. Some laundromats offer their own debit card that the machines use instead of coins.
• Offer non-perishable food like peanut butter (tip: Goober’s brand is peanut butter and jelly and needs no refrigeration), granola and cereal bars, canned goods, potato chips and “shoestrings”, juice and milk boxes or small bottles, water bottles,  powdered drink mixes, fruit rolls, foil-packaged meat and other food products, kipper snacks, beef jerky.  Ask if there is access to a microwave so you may buy microwave-ready foods, including everybody’s favorite, popcorn.  Ask about food allergies or dietary restrictions before you buy!
• Ask about health needs. For medication assistance, refer to programs for help and info like PatientAssistance.com, Partnership for Prescription Assistance, Rx Assist, Medicare Pharmaceutical Assistance Program, Rx Hope, National Conference of State Legislatures State Pharmaceutical Assistance Programs.  Ask if the person has blood pressure and heart problems if they could use an automatic blood pressure monitor, diabetes supplies, or other health needs. Also think to ask if the person has a special diet or nutrition needs, including vitamins.
• Give store gift cards and certificates. Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens, and other retail–even mall type stores like Kohls or Penneys would make a nice treat. Grocery, restaurant and coffee shop gift cards are also very good. If the person has a car, or gets rides from someone with a car, offer a gas card.

I hope these suggestions help.  I will try to add more from time to time and add these to my site.  I will also try to make list of pharmaceutical companies who have prescription assistance programs, as I am also in that need right now!  Please feel free to comment to this post, email me, or send me a tweet on Twitter if you have any other suggestions, questions or comments.

Thinking time

The shelter sites will close before long.  Then what will I do?  Where will I go?  I am still trying to figure it out.  I am a little scared.  I’ve had problems in the past with other homeless people following me and watching me in the night.  I got paranoid last summer because of it and over-stressed.  To learn that an alcoholic homeless guy followed me “home” to my outdoor sleeping place for the purpose of watching me sleep because he liked me!  I can’t live like that again being scared that someone is watching and following me!  Plus my physical health issues aren’t helped by sleeping outside.  Why can’t I find a job as a house-sitter or live-in something?  I am not mentally prepared to be able to live outside again.  Yet any housing program I try, they don’t like my psych history and that I ‘m not on meds and refuse to accept me.  Though if they did accept me, I would be able to see a psychiatrist who they refer to and be able to start meds right away.  All these places want me already on psych drugs.  How do I get the psych drugs when I can’t get any psychiatrist willing to see me because I have no money, and no organization will accept me as a patient because I don’t have a “residence”?!  What the heck am I supposed to do?!  Keep looking.  Its about all I can do.  Its depressing.  Reject after reject.  I want a place to live, I want psych care, I want my physical health issues taken care of, I want to go to school and have a job.  I want to have a life.