Douglas County October Homeless Outreach

“We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.” Anais Nin.

It's dawn on a rainy October morning. We're in the middle of a patch of woods that occupies the space of a normal city block. Hidden within is a village of tents, tarp shelters and even a tree house. Two or three shelters are clustered together, spaced from other clusters by paths winding through tall pine and hardwood saplings. In one area bells are strung across the path as an early warning system. Two other areas have dogs to give warning. Many of the people living in this area have been robbed at some time and at some location. In addition to losing what little money they had, they lost their identification, which immediately limited most of their options in finding a way to support themselves and a fit place to live.

I approach a small blue tent . There are five other people behind me. Kinte Rollins and Tony Stone are professionals from the United Way Regional Commission on Homelessness PATH team, which has been working for several years helping people found sleeping on the sidewalks in downtown Atlanta achieve self-sufficiency. Haisten Willis is a reporter from the Douglas County Sentinel. Three of us are with the Douglas County United Way Advisory Board: Barbara Sutton, Davidae Walker and myself. I say “Hello, I'm with United Way, and we'd like to help you out this morning. ” A pile of sleep coverings begins to stir and an animated middle aged face appears. He sits up, naked to the waist, but he doesn't show any alarm He says he's read in the paper that we were coming out. Angie Jeffers had also spread the word that we were going to visit.

Angie Jeffers is with Project 1, supported by The Church at Chapel Hill. She has been working with the people in this area for years, helping get them food, clothing, sleeping bags, tents, tarps and more. She even shuttles them eight or ten at a time to the laundromat. I had been given her name by Superior Court Judge Beau McClain, who heads the Faith in Action Christian charitable organization. Angie knows most of the residents well, accepts them as they are, and helps in any way she can. I discovered from our first conversations that she's very protective, as well. Others who gave me guidance were Leila Meyers with the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Daily Bread Ministry and Terri Bradley with the Douglas County Homeless Shelter.

The man in the tent has been living here for two years. He's a lively conversationalist. While he and I are talking, other members of my team are getting to know a couple in a larger tent next door. The woman immediately explains that if she had a real home it would be neater than her tent. Her partner is invisible to me in the covers beside her. They both are very sick with walking pneumonia , and he has a heart condition. They assure us that they have the needed medications. They both have been robbed of identification. They have my phone number and are considering entering our program.

The United Way Street to Home Program is a “housing first” model. We offer them a place to sleep that night. They participate in developing a plan to reach self sufficiency with the aid of case workers and non-profits that get them identification, job and income assistance, transportation, help for mental illness and substance abuse and more. This differs dramatically from other assistance that they're offered that requires a change in behavior first and then a place to sleep. Why is this important?

Several months ago I approached an elderly woman who'd just gotten up from her sidewalk bed at six in the morning. When I offered help, she was belligerent. She said she had been hassled and prodded by other people's rules all of her life, and this was the first time she was really free. I thought of Kris Kristofferson's lyric “ nothin ain't worth nothin, but it's free.” The less you have the more important the things you do have become. Freedom is something we all feel we have at birth. When freedom is all many have, many become prouder and and more protective of it. Unfortunately that may mean freedom to live a self-destructive lifestyle or stay in an abusive relationship, but that is for them to judge. There's something important about respecting that freedom, but reminding people regularly that help is available when they are ready for it. That's what we were doing that morning.

I'd like to thank Douglas County Commissioner Kelly Robinson, Frank Smith of The Pantry and Phillip Hunter, Director of Homelessness for United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta for working with me over the last few months making it possible for us to begin this process. The United Way RCOH PATH team of case workers and the PRO team of formerly homeless individuals involved with outreach provide the professionalism and expertise we need. My hope is that we can generate enough support and investment to provide a few additional beds in Douglas County for people who are ready to get out of the woods. With that, we can hopefully leverage the means to provide case workers and other support. The Street to Home Program has a 75% success rate is getting individuals who enter the program permanently off the street.

If you want to help, please comment with contact information or call United Way at 211, but most of all, support United Way. A fellow United Way Board Member expresses it best:

“United Way improves lives by mobilizing the caring power of the community to advance the common good. We focus on the building blocks of a good quality of life: education, income, health and ending homelessness. No other organization unites nonprofits, businesses, government, donors and volunteers to keep kids learning and in school, help people achieve financial stability, strengthen our health safety net, and end chronic homelessness.

“We invite you to join us. You can give, you can advocate and you can volunteer. That's what it means to LIVE UNITED.”