Before leaving town for the week I stopped by SafeHouse - I know I'm always here, but it's not just my favorite place to volunteer, it's also my favorite place to just hang out and for a couple of hours leave behind some of the not so fun parts of life.
I had a lot of different conversations today. It started off with ways to get rid of a cough/cold - mine has decided to get worse and people were sharing ways that I can start to feel better - the two most popular remedies: theraflu and green tea.
I spoke to someone newish today - we've met before but had yet to have a conversation. He shared how he came to Atlanta and how he ended up on the streets, he talked about being burned out with school and work. In another conversation, education was the topic - specifically grad school and the number of years people spend in school. One lady who was off the streets for a couple of months is now back on the streets and we talked about different housing options. I haven't had a chance to ask her what happened with her previous living arrangements, maybe she'll share that next time we have a conversation alone.
I had a couple of quick conversations to check in with some people, hopefully I'll get to talk to them longer next time!
Be back in a few days :)
Is there any common pattern with people you talk to as to why they end up back on the streets?
ReplyDeleteUsually a combination of things: too much structure imposed by the place they are living in; not being able to follow a program; criminal records and the impact of that on finding a job; drugs - these put together really makes some people want to stay on the streets
ReplyDeleteThanks chandni. These are difficult challenges people face.
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