Day 3

Hello everyone.  My name is Michelle, and I am blogging on Jeff's behalf.  By now you've heard the story of his homelessness experience, so I'll spare you the details.    I just spoke with Jeff about 20 minutes ago and he's not doing very well today.  He had a lot of problems last night (and today) and the weather is turning extremely nasty as we speak.  It's already snowing hard, the wind is bad and it'll dip below 20 degrees tonight.    Jeff has asked me to relay his experiences over the past 24 hours to you, so that's what this diary will be about.    From the way Jeff described the last 24 hours, I do not know how anybody survives being homeless.  I'm actually VERY concerned for his safety tonight and have urged him to call me collect if he needs ANY help.

Yesterday, Jeff was referred to a church where he could sleep from 10pm-6am.  He went to the public library for a short period of time before he was to report to the church, but they closed at 9pm, so he had an hour to walk between the two places.     He was to arrive at the church between 930-10pm, but it was locked and all the lights were out.  Nobody showed up to let him in for the cot that he was referred to.  He used the last change he had (from a dollar he was given earlier in the day) to call the homeless hotline. They apologized for his problem and referred him to another church, just down the street.    Unfortunately, that church was nearly at capacity (small basement) and Jeff would not take one of the last cots.  He was told that people filter in up until 11pm, and there was a chance he'd be taking it from another person who truly needed it, so he left.    He did not tell me where he eventually slept.    Today, he went to a free meal at another local church, but in order to eat you had to attend a prayer service.  Jeff. in an attempt to test the system, told them he was Buddhist (he isn't) and asked if he could eat anyway despite not sharing the same faith.  At first he was told "no, you need to hear the word of God before you can eat", but another woman quickly intervened.  She asked Jeff about Buddhism and Jeff explained what he knew to this woman.  They had a 10-minute conversation about it, and afterwards the woman asked Jeff if he would listen to her talk about Jesus for the same period of time.  That was fair, Jeff thought, and they discussed Christ for 10 minutes, then ate together.    In order to test the system further and see if there is anything in place to help END homelessness rather than just provide help in survival, Jeff went to an employment source.  He explained that he was recently homeless and lost everything.  No ID, no resume, no residence, but can they help him find work so he can get out of trouble.  The answer was simple.....no.  He needs an ID and proof of residence.  He tried to reason with them, but they explained that they couldn't "sell" Jeff to any potential employers without the aforementioned documents. They gave him the number to the homeless hotline and said they would help.  Homeless hotline cannot help in any way like that.  Their purpose is to provide one night of shelter at a time, never anything permanent, and never any money to get anything back on track for your life.    Tomorrow morning, Jeff is supposed to be at Job and Family Services to try and get assistance.  Maybe emergency cash or food stamps to try and start anew, but it's doubtful.  By the way, Jeff will NOT accept any assistance, he simple is trying to find the ways to get the help so he can create a better plan to end homelessness in Stark County.    When I last spoke with Jeff, the wind was whipping around hard.  It was snowing sideways, and he doesn't yet have a place to sleep tonight. He sounded very weak and very tired.  There won't be any food for him until tomorrow, when a meal can be obtained at the Salvation Army.    I urged him to come home.  I tried to convince him to go to his friend's house nearby, or to go to January's house in North Canton.  He seemed determined to make it through the 100 hours, but I'm extremely concerned for his safety tonight.  I doubt it if I'll be able to sleep in my warm bed tonight, and I wouldn't be surprised if I found myself looking for him later on.  I know where he might go for warmth, and I might try those places.    He has asked me not to ask for any contributions with tonight's message.  He said it "just didn't seem all that important", and he wants everyone to instead focus on what they can do to help people who are in the same predicament as the people he is meeting this week.    Frankly, I can see his point.  However, I'll put it out there, and let you decide if you want to donate a few dollars his way.  10% of all contributions will get returned to this community to help alleviate homelessness and end it as soon as possible.  Go to his blog or to his ActBlue page and decide for yourself.    I'll be around to answer any questions.     Stay warm tonight everyone, and say a prayer to give thanks for what you have in your own lives. -Michelle

Comments

[Rob Beckett]

Good luck, Jeff.

[Andrew]

Man, driving home on 77 was bad enough. I can barely imagine sleeping in this.

(And to think, this is still relatively warm given Ohio's winters)

[Timothy]

Ive been homeless for months at a time.

Some advice:

Stay hydrated, even in cold weather, find an old plastic bottle, wash it out and carry it with you and top it off every chance you get.

With the first $ you can get, go to Dollar General type store, for $2-3 you can get a months supply of multi-vitamins. This is essential to stay healthy when you have an erratic diet like one does on the streets.

Collect every piece of clothing or old rag you come across to stay warm. Stuff newspapers under your jacket for extra insulation. Get a hat asap, 50% of a persons body heat is lost thru the top of their heads.

Dont be afraid to dumpster dive. I use to find good food in a supermarket dumpster. Every night at 9pm they closed their bakery and threw away everything that was old. At 9:15 I was getting for free something that I would have had to pay for at 9:00.

Libraries are a God Send, clean, warm, and quiet. I became an expert at taking a 5 minute sponge bath in an empty bathroom first thing in the AM. Also free internet access, you can get a free email account from Yahoo, and research social services without having to make phone calls or walk all over town. And of course you can sit and read undisturbed. When I was homeless and on the road Libraries became my refuge and Librarians were angels.

Once when I was homeless in Berkley, I used Mapquest to find out how to get to a free meal place.

Be resourcefull, collect everything of value that you find.
I dont smoke but a half of a pack of cigaretes I once found on the sidewalk I traded for a couple of candy bars.

Stay healthy, look for the small blessings in life, avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs. (I would take a hit of a joint if it came my way but never carried any).

I NEVER PANHANDLED but would accept gifts if offered to me.
Try to get odd jobs, find a trucker unloading a truck, or go into a Walgreens and tell the manager you will pick up all the trash in the parking lot for $10.

When you are living on the steet $10-20 can go along way. You can buy a sleeping bag at Goodwill for $10.

I lived for months with a backpack, a canteen, a few extra clothes, and a sleeping bag.

Most Americans have no idea that a person really doesnt need that much to survive. Air, H20, Vitamins, some warm clothes and a sleeping bag with a plastic tarp.

The hardest thing is to find a place to crash. I did some hitchiking in the 60s and things were a lot easier then, everything wasnt so fenced, regulated and controlled. Many times I could just crash in a city park or an empty lot. Now days the parks are all patrolled and curfews enforced, lots are fenced off, etc. Its hard to find those "fringe" areas where hobos and vagabonds used to camp.

[deanfan84]

You're so full of shit, Jeff. I'm going to dig up every piece of dirt I can find on you and make sure you drop out of the race.

Your candidacy is a joke and nobody respects you. Every Ohio Democrat wishes you'd go away, it's a fact. I'll only be happy when you're actually homeless and it's not some stupid stunt.

[Island Dave]

Not sure which 'Dean' deanfan04 is a fan of, but I'm pretty sure Howard Dean disagrees strongly with that comment. Darn trolls, never learn to stay under bridges...

Thanks for the real reporting that is coming out of this Jeff. We all hear the 'stories' of what homelessness means to those who live it, but to have it thrown in your face this way...wow, there's nothing like real experience. Thank you for sharing your ordeal, and please never forget to do everything you can to help those who don't have a 100 hour limit find a more comfortable and reasonable living situation. Cheers.

[Rachael]

jeff, not every ohio democrat wishes you would go away! i for one wish mean spirited people whith no sense would go away(deanfan84). good luck to you jeff, stay safe. we are praying for you.