Defining Success

“I just need to get back to roofing. I just got laid off from the job I came down here for, making $17/hr., after working the job for 10 months. I got an interview in Ringgold, but I can’t get there.” (Person currently currently surviving on the street corners)

“I got evicted about a month ago, and I applied for Section 8 as soon as I found out I was going to be evicted, but I can’t get anyone to give me any answers on what to do next.” (Person currently surviving in a tent in the woods with their two small dogs, and cat)

“I need help getting my disability restarted. I got locked up for a while for not doing right, and I am trying to do the right things, but it’s hard when you’re out here like this.” (Person currently surviving in a shed)

“Ugh gahh, this cup of coffee is saving my life right now.” (Person currently surviving in a tent in the woods)

“Thank y’all for coming by. “Y’all’s visits really motivate me to keep going and do what I need to be doing.” (Person currently surviving under an overpass)

“Things are going better for us compared to the last time we spoke. I’m working now, and I have applied for an apartment close to where I am working. And my son is about to start working soon.” (A mother and adult son currently surviving under a bridge)

“Yeah, we will take some Narcan (opioid overdose reversal drug) if you have it. I wished I had some a few months ago for my friend who overdosed. If I did, he might still be here today.” (Person currently surviving in the woods along some railroad tracks)

“I’m waiting on the other person who stays in the camp with me to get back so I can take them and show them where the Chatt Foundation and Homeless Healthcare are. This is all new to them. They have only been out here for two weeks.” (Person currently surviving under an overpass)

“Yeah, we will take some Narcan; my husband actually died from an overdose two months ago. He was only 38.” (Person currently surviving in the woods in a tent)

“Looks like the person that you gave us the clothes for got their tent ripped down. We couldn’t find them.” (Text from R.O.C. member trying locate someone encountered the previous week to give them new clothes)

“If they kick me out of here, I literally have nowhere else to go. I have been told to move so many times over the last year.” (Person currently surviving in the woods in a tent)

“You really have a tent for me? (starts to cry) I could just hug you all right now! (Person currently surviving in the woods under a self-made cardboard structure)

“We were told that all we needed to do was sign some more paperwork, and then we would be covered for another year. But the person never showed back up with the paperwork and stopped answering our calls. So now we have been evicted, and we lost everything. We are back out here after being housed for a year and have nothing. They gave us 30 minutes to get what we could. (Couple currently surviving in a borrowed tent on the side of the road)

This week one of our R.O.C. members got the opportunity to speak with someone who is currently studying to get their social work degree. At one point in the conversation the student asked the R.O.C. member:

“What is the most rewarding part of doing the work that you do?”

The answer to this question has two parts. The first being that when doing homeless outreach, you must define and recognize what success is. If the definition of success is exclusive to only the success of housing those experiencing homelessness, then most every day doing homeless outreach is going to seem like a failure. Housing is a process that doesn’t happen instantaneously. So in order to continue in the work of doing homeless outreach long-term, a broader definition of success is required.

Pictured below is a stretch of railroad tracks that we walk to access some of our local encampments. These railroad tracks were not constructed in a day, and the definition of success for those constructing them wasn’t constrained to those parameters. Instead, their definition of success had to have contained the understanding that success is gradual; it builds and adds onto itself over time. The same understanding applies to our definition of success in homeless outreach.

Success can be being trusted enough to be told someone’s actual name instead of their “street” name.

Success can be someone getting their ID, birth certificate, social security, or food stamps started, or all of the above.

Success can be hearing someone whisper to another campmate, “Hey, don’t worry, they are cool; these are good people, they are here to help, and you can tell them what’s really going on.”

Success can be someone saying yes, I will take some Narcan after they have already lost friends and family members to overdoses. They are now equipping themselves to do what they can to prevent that from happening to anyone else around them.

Success can be mustering up the strength to apply for that next job after the last one let you go.

Success can be a person resisting the temptation and choosing not to break the law in a way that could make their current situation more comfortable in the short term.

Success can be showing up at the right time with the resource that is needed in that moment. A cup of hot coffee, a tent, a bag of food, a bus pass, and your undivided attention.

Success can be being known as a reputable agency in the homeless community as a place to bring those that are newly experiencing homelessness for the first time.

Success can be someone saying that they are using lower amounts of drugs. Or that they are interested now in looking at what their options are for substance abuse treatment.

Success can be someone’s ability to smile, be welcoming, or crack a joke after experiencing severe trauma, abuse, and loss in their lives.

The second part to answering the question, after identifying, recognizing, and defining success, is then being able to tell people experiencing homelessness that you know they are and can be successful because you have seen them be successful in these other ways. This is the reward of an outreach worker. To empower people by telling/reminding people who they are, rather than telling them what they should do.

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