Shelter Stories

Last week I had to kick a guy out of the computer room because he came in to play games on the computer (Freecell - one of my favorites). The pcs are reserved for job & house hunting, emails, stuff like that. He wasn't happy about that at all but yesterday he again appeared. His first comment was "So, I can't play games?" I assured him that was the case but that I'd be happy to help him with his resume or email. He decided he'd check his email. But first, he had to find his email address. His jacket had lots of pockets and he emptied all of them trying to find it but had no luck. So, we set up a new email address for him and I wrote it down for him on a piece of paper. As he left, he said "I'll put this in my wallet in my locker so I'll have it for next time. Oh - that's probably where my other email address is!"

He was a bit unusual but as we worked on the computer, I learned much of his story and found that he had a brain tumor (untreatable at this stage) - and had been kicked out of his house by the woman he lived with.

I have run into quite a number of folks who are in the shelter because they had health issues and no way to handle the financial aspect. So even if they have gotten through the health problem and are now working or looking for work, they are homeless.

Some of the guys are so overwhelmed with life and their problems that they show no appreciation for the shelter or anyone who tries to help them. But there are others, who are quite appreciative and will say to me "Thanks for coming in today!" - sometimes even if they won't be using the computers that day.

Being the controlling fixer that I am, I wish I could fix their lives. But at least they got some time on the computers and some homemade Christmas cookies...that won't change their lives but maybe it'll help a little.