On the Front Lines of Homelessness and Mental Health

Officers Armond and Dodson, whose personal histories uniquely qualify them for this outreach effort, have personally gotten 49 people off the streets and into drug and alcohol treatment. As someone with an extensive rap sheet, it was strange for me to be voluntarily climbing in the back seat of a police vehicle with two officers sitting up front. Twenty-five years sober, and I still don’t recognize my own life at times. For example, I work for my son’s non-profit, an organization that gives out quality tennis shoes to those in need. Who would have ever thought that this could be me? Certainly not me The seed for Hav A Sole was planted in the early nineties when I was getting sober. Rikki and I were living in a women and children’s shelter as I was on welfare and could barely make ends meet. Becky, a former shelter resident, offered to buy Rikki new shoes because his had huge holes in the soles. I was not someone who accepted handouts but, leveled by circumstances and my son’s needs, I relinquished my pride and said “Yes!” Becky bought Rikki two pairs of shoes that very same day. I never forgot her kindness, and neither would my son, though it would take another 30 years for that one act of kindness to inspire Hav A Sole, an organization that has given out more than 13,000 pairs of shoes to those in need. On this particular day as I sit in the police car, Rikki and I have joined forces with the Quality of Life Division of Long Beach Police Department, and the offic...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Mental Health and Wellness Publishers The Fix Alcohol Drugs Homeless police sober Treatment Source Type: blogs