A Count

“The people that are the worst to us out here most of the time are the people who are church people. But that’s alright; they will have to answer for their actions one day.” (This was right after someone from the church whose parking we were standing in engaging with this client aggressively approached us, asking what we thought we were doing there and saying that they really didn’t like people parking in their parking lot. They then went into the church and proceeded to watch us through the door as we stood in the parking lot giving this individual experiencing homelessness food, socks, hand warmers, blankets, hot coffee, a ride over to their camp that they will have to relocate in 24 hrs., love, grace, and patience, all while in the rain.

Hospital Social Worker: “You must be the only person that this lady trusts in the whole world, because they wouldn’t name or have anything good to say about anyone else in their life. And they wanted me to call you to let you know where she is.”

“When my parents got divorced, my dad disappeared. I went with my mom, but she couldn’t afford to keep the house on her own, so she lost it, and I have been out here ever since.”

“I hate the rain.”

“Oh wow, we were just talking about how we were going to go about getting something to eat today, and then you all showed up.”

“I have been clean over six months now, and my partner is getting close to one month themselves. We are both working and starting to get enough saved up that we are looking at some efficiency apartments, hopefully!”

Client: “When do they do haircuts down at The Chatt Foundation?”

ROC Member: “This morning. But they are probably done for the day until next week.”

Client: *Starts To Tear Up* “Oh man! I need a haircut so bad because I have this big patch of hair that has gotten so tangled and matted, and I can’t brush it out! I’m tired of being made fun of about it!”

“Yeah, I do meth. I do it mostly as a means of an escape mentally from all this pain and the memories of the terrible things I have been through.”

“I have a meeting with the doctors at the hospital in a couple days, and then after that Homeless Healthcare should be paying the fee needed to get my hernia surgery scheduled. I have been trying to get this done for years. I’m so excited to finally get healthy enough again to get back to work.”

Neighborhood Association Member: “What you’re doing isn’t helping. If you want to really help your community, you should get everyone else who does work like you and all come out and clean up all this trash left by these homeless people. You can’t help them now. It’s too late to help them. You should have been there for them when they were kids and still with their families.”

ROC Member:“Well, it looks like we are on two completely opposite ends of the spectrum on this topic. What is your name, by the way?”

Neighborhood Association Member: “Tom. And yours?”

ROC Member: “Joe. And of course your name is Tom. Short for Thomas, I assume. You of little faith, Thomas. You don’t believe because you haven’t seen. I have, so I am going to go keep doing me, and you keep doing you and doubting.”

ROC Member 1: “How come you always get confronted by these a**h****? Let me at them!!!”

ROC Member 2: “I just attract all the smoke! Smoke follows beauty!”

This past week has had a theme of a count, accounts, and accountability.

Each year towards the end of January there is a count. This count is called a Point-in-Time Count. As stated in one of our recent posts, a PIT Count is an annual census conducted every January in an attempt to get an accurate picture as to how many people are currently experiencing homelessness in our area. The census is conducted each year through the completion of a survey with each individual who is currently experiencing homelessness. The information collected is then compiled into a report by the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition and sent to the federal office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the hopes of being granted more funding for life-saving resources in our area. For the past week, R.O.C. members have dedicated every day, all day, to canvassing as much of Hamilton County as time would allow, doing these PIT surveys with everyone to make sure people are accounted for.

In other local Chattanooga counting news, there is much discussion about a new baseball stadium. And who will be accountable, and from what accounts will the construction of this new stadium be paid for? In most recent accounts the price tag now sits around $120 million. That is a difference of $80 million in costs from what was reported about the stadium construction in the summer of 2022. There is much debate about how this stadium is worth this hefty investment because we have to account for the wonderful benefits a new minor league baseball stadium will do for our local economy.

Meanwhile, those of us in homeless services think thoughts of, “If only there were a $120 million investment in the betterment of the lives of those currently experiencing homelessness in Chattanooga to assist them in building stable lives. You wouldn’t be able to count the wonderful benefits those new stable lives would contribute to our local economy.”

We try to operate at ROC in reality as much as possible. We know this year’s PIT Count didn’t capture everyone who is currently homeless, even though our best efforts were put forward. We know there isn’t going to be a $120 million investment in the lives of those experiencing homelessness here. So the questions we are left with trying to answer are

What truly counts? What are the things we can do that will make the difference? What leads to change?

Strong, consistent, loving, compassionate, and trusting personal relationships! Giving the extra effort! Taking the extra steps! Showing up again, and again, and again, and again, and again! Take the call again from the same client who has called you 5 times already today! When the client begins to mistrust you and believe you are conspiring with police, you go and get them and bring them a bike when they have had no success getting one elsewhere! When another client seems to be convinced you are a cop, you buy them the special type of contact lenses they told you they needed and bring them to them on the day you are planning to transport them and their wife to go see the doctor! You offer the client walking in the freezing rain a ride to their camp! You listen to the person who is mentally ill on the street corner explain how they don’t have a name because they don’t believe in names! You walk 35.5 miles in one week to get to everyone you can think of who is living outside. You tell the person you haven’t seen in 7 1/2 months that you have been worried about them and that you are so glad they are alive and to see them again! When one option for a client to get into a supportive housing program doesn’t work, you don’t resort to only complaining and giving up. You instead weigh what the other options are, and where there looks to not be any other options, you advocate, negotiate, plead, and push for other options to be created. You reach out to the former coworker you haven’t talked to in almost 6 years and ask them for a favor, and that leads to another possible option for your client to get into another housing program! You make several phone calls to arrange transportation for someone to go back to the hospital for a bad infection in their leg even though they were just in the hospital two days ago. When you are about to call it quits for outreach for the day, you turn up two more streets, you work at it for two more hours, and you keep doing PIT surveys for two extra days. And that leads to finding new camps, new and familiar people, and ways of being further trusted, and someone that can be counted on to hold themselves accountable to their job!

It isn’t the quick or easy; it is the unexpected and worthwhile that accounts for the difference.

#ROCAndRoll

#ROCRetrospective

#ACount