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| Photo by Jerry Wolford |
Never
had I ever ridden in a police car (thankfully) before today when I had the
privilege to participate in the Partners Ending Homelessness (PEH)
Point-in-Time Count. The Point-in-Time Count is a 24 hour count of the
homeless, and at risk of becoming homeless, population in Guilford County.
Despite the snow, volunteers from different organizations around the county
participated in making sure as many homeless people were counted for as
possible. The count goes over night into the shelters to account for those
people as well. The count is held every year in Guilford County
(bi-yearly in other states) and uses a survey to get demographics, a small
amount of history about the person, the reason they became homeless, what
resources they use and/or need around our community and if they don’t access
shelter, why not?
At 10:00am volunteers, PEH employees, and community resource policemen and women met at the United Way on Yanceyville Street. We were paired off and sent to our district to search for any and everyone we can find on the streets panhandling. This was my, and my officer’s, first time participating in the event so we talked about that majority of the time on our search (in between me trying to convince him to pull somebody over, or take me to the scene of a crime). We were assigned to “district two,” the Randleman Road area- there we were driving slowly by bridges, making u-turns to do double takes, and going around the back of buildings to find ANYBODY known to the area panhandling. Unfortunately for me, majority of the regulars were inside somewhere keeping warm in the winter weather and not on their corner or parking lot trying to make money. On our entire journey, we found one well-known panhandling citizen, Mr. W. Being my first and only experience thus far the officer got out of the vehicle and asked if he wouldn’t mind answering a few questions from me, he agreed.
While talking to Mr. W I learned that he hasn’t been stably housed since 1995 when he was living in Virginia and married to his ex-wife. He joked that it was a “good-call on her part because she probably would have been sitting with him on that curb if she hadn’t left him.” Despite Mr. W’s situation he was nothing but positive, he smiled the entire time we talked, he said God gives him everything he could ever pray for and pointed to the snow making a comment of how beautiful it was. This Vietnam veteran does frequently rent a room from a nearby hotel in order to stay warm and made clear that that is where his money goes, not to drugs or alcohol like some of the other panhandlers he knows. He also said “panhandling isn’t about the money” for him- if he wanted to make money, he’d move from his spot that he is at every day to the intersection or the by-pass because that’s where the moneys at! He enjoys his spot and likes to meet the people that are kind enough to share what they have with him. He says “if people see I’m not here, they worry.” I was happily invited back anytime and told “things aren’t that bad if you really think about them.” All that has happened in Mr. W’s life has made him who he is today, a positive, friendly man just living day-by-day making as many friends as he can.
One of the main goals with the Point-in-Time count was to help those who are “chronically homeless,” by their definition is anyone who has been homeless for a year/has experienced homelessness 4 times in the past 3 years and has a disease or disorder. Although Mr. W may fall into that category, I would be interested in seeing when/if PEH contacts him how he will react. If doors are opened for a person, could trust issues get in the way of them helping themselves? The next time I run into Mr. W I plan on stopping to chat and see if anyone from Partners Ending Homelessness has contacted him and if his already high spirit has gotten any higher. Being part of this count is bigger than me, Americorps, Guilford county, and North Carolina... It is nation-wide. It is hard to wrap your head around something so large and even though someone cant help everyone, everyone can help someone. Putting an end to homelessness is the ultimate goal, that isn’t going to happen within 24 hours but every effort counts and does not go unnoticed by the community.
-Amber
