These last three weeks I have been back out on the streets helping on outreach and getting back into the swing of things. I hadn't done outreach for so long due to working shift work and my fibromyalgia. I'm a lot healthier and stronger now and have a lot more time to give.
Its been great being back out on the streets getting to know everyone again, but of course, it brings many mixed feelings as always. A lot of the people I knew before have either moved on to other towns, moved into houses, got clean or sadly passed away. A few I knew from before have gotten clean then slipped through the net and fallen back into the evil circle of heroin, crack and begging again.
One lovely man who I have known 18 months now is back on the streets. Six months ago he was completely clean. He was healthy, living in a dry house and was working towards seeing his family again. He was doing so well and I was so happy to see him do so well. Then a few months ago after a trip to London, I was walking through the coach station and saw him. He was under the influence and told me he was back on the gear. He said he had been taken off some medication he had been on since he was 19, hes now in his 40's, and couldn't cope, mentally. So went back to using.
I sat with him on Saturday night ( last night ) for a good 45 minutes chatting. I gave him a hot chili and helped him open the pot and hold the pot so he could eat without dropping it. He went on to say to me that we weren't that different, we were the same inside, and at the end of the day, we all go the same way when we die. He said I should take a photo of his hands. My hands looked so perfect, so clean, and so pretty. His hands, in his own words, were battered. He wanted us to take photos of my hands and his hands, my hands reaching out to his hands and helping him.
He went on to say he hoped the photos would portray the truth about what we do. You can see the difference between our hands. His hands are rife with infection due to living on the streets and not having access to be keeping clean, hes at risk of loosing his fingers or his hands. Heroin and crack have ruined his life. He wishes he could get help, get clean , AND have support once being clean rather than authorities saying ' alright mate your clean, off you pop'
We carried on chatting and he went on to tell me how he has gotten clean various times. He started using heroin at a very young age, 12. In his early 20's he was clean again and set up a professional window cleaning business. He specialized in tall buildings and has cleaned windows on the tallest building in London. Not the shard, this is years ago were talking !
After coming off his opiate based medication recently, because he missed one day, he went back to heroin after being clean for months. His heart stopped beating in a local super market car park and he died. He was resuscitated and taken to hospital where he rested for a few days then returned to the streets.
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The last few weeks on outreach have been the usual. Were seeing around 25 people at the moment. Not all of them are homeless, some are in wet houses. Some are genuinely street homeless. Were only seeing one dog at the moment but always take dog food along. Kaylee has been telling all the homeless about me, why I set it up, and why I'm not running it. Its great they all still know me. There's plenty of new faces about for us all to get to know, feed and help. There's a few young ones on the streets, around the age of 18. I always ask the young ones how old the are because if they are under the age of 18 there's emergency help available for them. We handed out shoes to a young lad who didn't have any shoes last week, we gave out warm fleeces to everyone who still needed an extra layer at night and gave away endless pairs of socks.
We saw this lovely dog last week. ( This photo was last year !) Hes doing well, hes healthy and stronger and seems pretty happy. His owners were also doing well.
One lovely couple who we have known over a year now have needed our help recently. One of them has been in hospital for the last month, leaving one on the streets, sometimes staying on a family members sofa. An infection has spread in the spine, at one point there was a high possibility they would never walk again, but I'm happy to report they are walking and are slowly getting better, they are on strong anti biotics, taking baby steps and getting there. With one left on the streets, and one in hospital, it was hard, it was very long walks to the hospital to visit. We started buying them weekly bus tickets so they could travel unlimited across Bournemouth and Poole for a week at a time. Each time the bus ticket runs out, one of us goes down to Bournemouth and buys a new ticket. So that's one thing we have been doing recently.
We helped another person get a cheap, basic phone. They sold the big issue to get half the phone price then we went to the shop and paid the other half. £12 and put some credit on. This person needed a phone to be able to contact us easily as they help us on outreach. They are now ex homeless, clean and giving back to the homeless community. Since us helping them to get a phone they have managed to get enrolled on a journalist course and are taking steps towards their future, so the phone has been a big help !
Last night we saw a regular. They were very happy and in good spirits, their granddaughter was due any day soon and they had been promised a visit.
We are still walking the streets every weekend, feeding as many homeless as we see and giving them clothes, toiletries, chatting and offering them any help they need and pointing them in the right direction of support they can get !
Big thanks to all the recent volunteers and everyone who still donates and supports us,
Anastasia, X X X
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