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Sporadic reflections from the front lines serving single adults experiencing homelessness, thinking less and less frequently of COVID, eating dust in the Phoenix wind, disrupting systems and living up to the legacy of a champion. It's been 20 days since my last post. I can't count any more the weeks/months of loss of smell; I did smell frying turkey bacon... as a vegetarian this is not super exciting news, and I'll take it as progress.
In current news, the HSC Outreach Team identified 853 individuals unhoused and unsheltered in our neighborhood this morning. Four shelter spaces on the Campus provide 900 individuals with an indoor space nightly. We are awaiting further information on results of lawsuits involving the City of Phoenix and stand ready to partner with the City on strategies for quick implementation to bring more people indoors. A former client is decorating walls in HSC buildings with her art work. She appears with large and small pieces and hangs them on the walls, brightening up our spaces. The pieces are all available for purchase, and she donates 10% to the HSC. She is a creative force. A couple of photos are below.
As of late I have this feeling of "where were we?" I am guessing most of us have been in a conversation or situation and something happens that derails the direction of the discussion or pauses an activity. Like when a doorbell rings, and you drop what you're doing to answer the door. Then you turn around and go "Where were we?" and pick up where you left off.
For me, it's a long pause that I'm turning around from, it's the COVID pandemic pause. It's now three years since everything shifted, when the Human Services Campus went into "pandemic response mode." In March of 2020 we were planning, setting up additional shelter spaces, seeking donations of PPE. The unsheltered count in our neighborhood was less than 300. We rode the 'Rona wave.
And now it's April 2023. [Read More...]
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