Working the Burbs Brings Some Strange Circumstances

I've been spending considerable time outside of the downtown area lately, and outreach in the burbs is waaaayyy different than it is in the city center. 

For one thing, it's much much harder to locate folks out here unless you're actively engaging with them on a regular basis.  This itself is tough because if you can't find them to begin with, it's pretty hard to engage them.

One has to know where to look, true, but one must also have a bit of luck, know which places offer small amounts of assistance to people experiencing homelessness, and one must also be extremely tight-lipped about where people are staying, since these spots are fiercely prized and extremely well hidden.  

I've foound that most of the peeps out on the edges of town have already done the inner-city shuffle and they've had more of that hassle than they care to take any longer.  They've moved further out because, although the walks are longer to things they need and use on a daily and weekly basis, the rewards - less hassle from police, better treatment from businesses and people in general, and less fear of predation by those who target the homeless - are well worth the extra efforts.

So I apologize for being sparse with the posts here lately, but I'm working on relationships in areas that demand a lot of my time. 

It's paying off, by the way.  I've got a gentleman who's been living in an abandoned house for years set up with a meeting with an individual tomorrow that may culminate in finally getting this poor man untangled from the bureaucratic conundrum he's currently mired in.  I'm also working with a wonderful woman who is very ill and will need some help soon, but doesn't trust anyone she doesn't know, so we're getting her familiar with folks now.

Finally, some changes are in the wind as I write and while I'm currently not at liberty to talk about them, I mentiioned in a post several months ago that they have the potential to change the face of outreach as we know it here in the Nashville area.  A big chunk of that effort fell into place on Friday, and things are slowly beginning to roll in the right direction.

I do  believe some good news is coming for people on the street, and it is way past time for them to get some, no doubt about it.....