MPD Quarterly-April Issue

Monday morning 9am. The day at St. Stephen's Street Outreach starts like 2 Mondays previous. A man walks into the office and wants to kill himself. Forget the emails and meetings and reports that are due. Kevin was awakened by the garbage truck collecting the contents of the cardboard recycling bin off Nicollet Mall in which he'd spent the night. He popped out to the shock of the garbage man before he made the news. He didn't make the news a few days earlier either when he tried to kill himself by lying down in Holidazzle traffic. Officers from MPD's 1st Precinct brought him to HCMC but he returned to homelessness the next day and fighting raccoons in the woods from his belongings the next night. He knows he can't be groggy and defend himself, so he won't take the medicine for his mental health.

4 hours later, Kevin is picked up to be put in a crisis home for a few days to prevent him from dying. The cost of his care will equal 6 months rent in a studio apartment. When his life fit in with us, he was a Carthartt wearing construction worker who didn't believe strong men can have mental illness.
About 2 years ago, with support from Mayor Rybak, the Mpls City Council and the State Dept of Public Safety, St. Stephen's created a team of Street Outreach Workers experienced in ending people's homelessness. The charge of the team of 5 is two-fold: provide a response to public issues of homelessness, panhandlers, people who are altered mentally or chemically or people who commit livability crimes downtown. Second, our team works with individuals who are without shelter. St. Stephen's conducts a count quarterly of those who are unsheltered. The last count, conducted Jan 28, 2010 (temp -1) by nearly 100 organizations including law enforcement, hospitals, churches and soup kitchens, found over 340 people had been without shelter the night before, in January, in Minnesota.

If you've ever known a skilled carpenter, you know they don't sell their tools. Robert sold his when he lost his housing even though he hopes to return to work. The luxury home developer who brought him into the office hopes to have him back. But Robert's untreated psychosis has brought him to sleeping around the lakes. He agreed to care and within 3 days, I had an appt with a physician, he had health insurance with General Assistance Medical Care and is now receiving mental health care.
Jim called to ask, "My blood pressure is 230/180, is that bad?" A client of Minnesota Care, Jim had not paid his premium of $45 last month. He had had some work in the past year but is now receiving General Assistance cash of $203 a month. With a premium over 20% of his income, more urgent needs took precedent. So now, the next month, he has no insurance. He asked if I could buy his two Blood pressure meds for $95. My answer? No. He returned to the garage in which he sleeps.
While I discourage those who are supporting panhandlers, in Mary's case, she really is signing in part for her co-pays; after she lost her job, she started donating plasma but after her 280th visit they said her blood levels were too unstable so she started panhandling off 94.

Monday through Friday, St. Stephen's Street Outreach workers are part of the Radiolink, responding to calls from downtown security, police or citizens on our phone line. A team of workers is on the street being proactive in making contact with people who are living in public. Our goal is not to pass out a pair of socks and be on our way. Our goal is to assist people in finding affordable housing. In fact, an increasing part of our work, as identified by Heading Home Hennepin, is to organize a coordinated outreach system in the city. Regularly, our team finds individuals, churches and suburbanites who decide to become street outreach workers and come to the city to pass out socks. Our work is as much about educating the public on how to end people's homelessness as it is helping Jim find money for his blood pressure medicine.
I won't talk much about what the stress of this work does to direct service homeless advocates, like police officers or health care providers; our trauma is usually only secondary. I will say that I am incredulous that we now live in a community where St Stephens Street Outreach was negotiating with the Chinese this winter for the best price on sleeping bags and tents as an alternative to emergency housing.

St. Stephen's Street Outreach has moved over 140 people out of homelessness since our inception. Did you notice? No-because as long as someone is holding a piece of cardboard, there's a problem. But we have the solutions and people are starting to listen. They are learning that alternately tonight, one of those I work with on may take a poor man's vacation and get drunk. We will house him for $192 for one night at detox. Another will steal some food: a booking and night in jail? $363. One is most likely in the Emergency Dept at HCMC right now complaining of terrible back pain or truthfully stating that she wants to die. That 6 months of rent will be spent by the weekend to the tune of $2800 for one episode at the hospital. A month in shelter? $900. An hour with a pair of beat cops to pick you out of traffic? Priceless. I promise you on everything that is valuable to me that if we provide affordable housing for people; they will be healthier and cheaper.
It's easy to say I'll never smoke crack but none of us can say I'll never have a mental health concern or crisis won't strike me. If we all threw our problems in a pile and looked at everyone else's; we'd grab ours back in a minute. Many Minnesotans make sure they're only exposed to suffering when it fits their schedule-perhaps that's one reason people are bothered by the guy flying the cardboard sign; we hadn't planned on being interrupted by sickness or poverty today. So, my hope is that once Minnesotans know the plight of those who have so little and may lose the little they've got, they can't ignore it.

We now have 700 people in 2 shelters downtown, Salvation Army and Catholic Charities that are intended to hold 400 people. I want to tell you a secret: we are not sheltering mentally ill people, we are creating them. Now that you know this, you become part of the solution.

I don't believe it's that Minnesotans want people to suffer; I believe it's that they don't know how bad they are suffering-or they think it's the homeless person's fault, or that she chooses to sleep outside. Then, they are not part of the solution. I will tell you that in 15 years, I have never met someone that chooses outside over an apartment. Some choose outside over an overcrowded shelter they are afraid of and for some, the best decision they can make for their sobriety or mental health is to stay away from the shelter. For others, it exacerbates their isolation and they become more expensive.
Leviticus states you don't put a stumbling block in front of the blind or insult the deaf. I'd like to add a third. You don't ask a suffering homeless man to fight off raccoons and manage his housing, job search and health care from a Chinese sleeping bag alone in the woods.

If you see a homeless person that needs attention, call 612.879.7624. If we are with another person, leave a description (i.e. tent across the road from Guthrie in woods or man in powder blue coat sleeping behind building every day or woman panhandling on corner) and we most likely will be able to find them there a short time later.
Thanks,

Monica Nilsson
Director of Street Outreach
St. Stephens Human Services
1350 Nicollet Ave. Suite 104
Mpls, MN 55403
office: 612.879.7624
cell: 612.481.9501
mnilsson@ststephensmpls.org
www.ststephensmpls.org