Homeless Issue #138

Our mentally challenged citizens on our streets. Our loving faith communities and volunteers at our Shelter locations. What do we do?
 
The struggle is what can be done? Not what should be done as people of faith. Consider the volunteers who give of their time and energy to go to a shelter location, face some challenges and emotions as they inter-act with the shelter guests and do this every week for five months. Their safety is paramount; they should be protected from insult and abuse. Also, the volunteers are not trained psycologists, or in any way professionally trained mental health practitioners.
Now when a person enters your facility and you accept that person, you accept the responsibility of taking care of that person in all reasonable ways. If you can’t provide for their safety and the safety of those around them, you are in trouble.

What should we do with those persons who enter our shelters with disruptive problems? Disruptive to the point of possibly hurting someone, guest or volunteer.

The County does not have the facilities to take care and treat these persons. The Nomadic Shelter does not have the training, facilities, or expertise to care for a disruptive person.
The Shelter does a wonderful job of loving and supporting those who are suffering from dementia, loneliness, and the frustrations associated with homelessness. But they are not equipped to benefit the challenged person who is disruptive.
I have the job of putting beside the name on the roster of those who enter a shelter location and were very disruptive, the words “BANNED.” My Faith, my Spiritually, my Being, cries out “help this person.” Reality says, I am not equipped to care for them, and I must think of the other 50 persons who will be safely sheltered that night. Jesus could heal this person who is disruptive. Our volunteers in the shelters are not Jesus.

When you pray to your God. Pray for the volunteers who are working at the shelter locations along with the shelter guests.
……………………………………………….
 

The County comes through!!!!
Yes, the County has approved to give the Nomadic Shelter a 12-passenger van that has run its days as a County vehicle but is in good serviceable condition for the Nomadic Shelter to transport our homeless from “pick-up points to the Shelter locations. Thank You, Thank you.
 

And along that line

Supervisor John Hidahl and his wife Eileen purchased 10 new sleeping bags to be distributed to our homeless who are now sleeping outside during the winter. JSS keeps a very accurate inventory on who has been given sleeping bags and when. We expect those who receive the sleeping bags to keep track of the ones we give them. They are not disposable, and they are expensive. Thanks to the Hidahls.

Also
 
Home Base, the San Francisco organization hired by the County to solve our homeless problems, will have an open discussion in the Supervisors Chambers on February 28th at 4-6 PM, in the El Dorado County offices. The County does have an active, good service for homeless families as well as women with children and children who are homeless in our schools. But the County has nothing for the single homeless persons and the mentally challenged persons who roam our streets. No place to stay dry, no place to stay warm, no place to go to the bathroom, no place to “clean up,” no place to just say, “I’m tired and weary.”
 
Please attend this gathering and stress the importance of caring for our SINGLE HOMELESS POPULATION. The forgotten ones.