Getting paid

I don't make a lot of money. I think everyone knows that. But my job makes up for it elsewhere; it pays me in different ways--a lot of ways that most people don't get paid. I know some people may opt for the money and the big salary, and I may opt for that one day, but for right now that's not what I need.

Yesterday morning was cold. Very cold. It wasn't as bad as my fellow Virginians who got a foot of snow, but it was 41 degrees. And for New Orleans, that's definitely cold. My body has adjusted to the 65 degree days already, and I was shivering on my walk to work, equipped with nothing but a light sweater.

On my walk to work I walk under a bridge that is a popular place for homeless folks to reside. As I went by, people huddled in their sleeping bags or blankets, some still sleeping, some looking hopeless, and some still shivering from the cold night.

I knew the weather would warm up over the course of the day, and it did, but then last night the temperatures dropped again to 40 degrees. When the temperatures drop all I can think about are the people under the bridge--my clients.

A majority of the people under the bridge are in our registry waiting to be housed. We know their names, their disabilities, their substance abuse history, mental health issues, social security numbers, citizenship status, homeless history, housing history, medications, family, and standard demographics. We know they're there. We know they exist. But we don't have enough money to save them right now.

Although we cannot save all of them, we save the ones we presently can with the money that we have. Last month, we housed 32 people. We got 32 people off of the streets and out of the cold. 32.

Yesterday at work my supervisor and I put in 13 applications for Permanent Supportive Housing for clients. 13. The PSH applicants are the sickest of the sick-- these clients are not just suffering from one disease. They're suffering from a multitude of diseases and disabilities. Yesterday one client had HIV/AIDS, Hep C, Tuberculosis, and multiple mental health issues (not to mention common issues such as asthma, violent attacks, etc.). These are the eligible PSH applicants.

The applications are not easy. We need to make sure every disability that they have has been documented and signed by a doctor. Each mental health issue needs to be assessed and confirmed by a doctor. Homeless history needs to be documented and confirmed by each shelter the individual has stayed at--or confirmed by outreach members if they live on the streets. Each client needs an i.d., a birth certificate, and a social security card. These documents are very hard to acquire for homeless people who start off with no documents at all, not to mention that a lot of documents and information in the city was lost and destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. In addition to all of the things we need for a client's application, most importantly we need a place for them to move into. Thankfully right now UNITY has slots to fill, but that's not always the case.

13 is a lot of applications to submit in one day. A lot. My supervisor and I worked our asses off to get those applications in so that 13 clients are that much closer to receiving housing. The next step is that the government has to approve those clients. Sometimes the government is finicky, as everyone knows. They want everyone we house to be chronically homeless (has been homeless for one consecutive year or have had three episodes of homelessness in the past three years). So the people who are recently homeless don't stand as good a chance as the ones who have been there for years.And homelessness by the government's standards means someone living in a place not fit for human habitation (car, abandoned building, emergency shelter, outdoors). If you are a couch surfer, you are not homeless. If your house burned down but you have friends and family to stay with, you are not homeless. If you stay in a motel but don't have a residency of your own, you are not homeless. If you are being evicted but still have a place to sleep, you are not homeless.

Yesterday I got 13 homeless people closer to housing. I got 13 people closer to warmth, a bed, a bathroom, and appliances. That's how I get paid. I get paid in the satisfaction that as I walk past the bridge each morning, little by little, the number of residents under that bridge will decrease. Little by little those people will get off of the cement and into an apartment. And I know that there are thousands of people to house in New Orleans, but today 13 of them are closer than they were yesterday. That's how I get paid.