After eleven years, one of my homeless patients has an apartment and is off the streets.

[Aristus]

Thank goodness.

I needed that today...

[sheshe2]

1. Good to hear.

[femmedem]

2. That's wonderful!

And wow, it's a good time to be off the streets.

[XanaDUer2]

3. Wonderful! Nt

[Scrivener7]

4. Nice!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. What great news, my dear Aristus!

But does that mean he can't be your patient any longer?

I think having a home of his own, be it apartment or whatever, outweighs getting to come to see you. But still...



I wish him joy!

[Aristus]

11. No. He is still eligible for care here.

At the old clinic, a patient was eligible for care for up to one year after getting off the streets.

Our newer clinic is open to all patients, but about 60% of my patient population is homeless.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. Oh, how good, my dear Aristus! That is good to know. n/t

[chillfactor]

7. Great news!

Bless the patient for being able to be inside in this cold weaher,

[SheltieLover]

8. Yaaaaaay!

[calimary]

9. Awwwwwwwwwww, THANKS! Such good news!

Right when we need some more!

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

10. Wonderful!

[Picaro]

12. That's incredible

“After 11 years”…

What a country we live in where those without just have to go without. It’s amazing your patient survived.

Revel in this good news.

[Mme. Defarge]

13. Best news I've gotten all day!

Are we drinking tonight? I feel the need to self-medicate with all of the awful stuff happening on so many fronts.

[LoisB]

14. That is fantastic news. That someone I don't know moved into an apartment is such great news

to me says a lot about how ready I am to move on from gloom and doom.

[JanMichael]

16. It is always nice when you can see someone have a little thrill.

It doesn't happen often, enjoy it. This can be very thankless and soul crushing work.

[cornball 24]

17. So wonderful and heartwarming in these trying times! Hope springs eternal.

[MontanaMama]

18. This is the best.

I’m happy for you both.

[Cozmo]

19. Yay!

[gademocrat7]

20. Very good news!

[niyad]

21. Thank you so much for sharing this very happy news with us.

[Groundhawg]

22. THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS!

[badhair77]

23. That's wonderful. It's great to hear good news.

I’m sure your patient is relieved and finding some good in life.

[mountain grammy]

24. That's wonderful news. Thank you 😊

[wendyb-NC]

25. That's very good news

So much in life is dependent on having a place to call home.

[PufPuf23]

26. Great dear heart

What do you think made the difference now in this case?

[Stuart G]

27. Great News, Thank You for sharing with us. K and R

[wryter2000]

28. Wow

That is truly wonderful!

[Laffy Kat]

29. How does anyone even survive eleven years on the street?

I can't even imagine. I know I take so much for granted.

[Aristus]

30. The stereotype is a person begging on the streets during the day,

and sleeping on the streets at night. Who could possibly sustain that for a period of years?

But it's not uncommon for homeless people to work during the day, and stay at a shelter or a cheap motel at night. The number of homeless people who work a regular job would astonish the blissfully ignorant 'why-don't-they-just-go-get-a-job?' types. Just having a paying job is not necessarily enough to get one off the streets. Not when you need first and last month's rent, damage deposit, credit check, criminal background check, etc.

There are homeless people who travel. For the price of a bus ticket, a homeless person can travel somewhere warmer, or with better job prospects.

There are homeless patients with some form of disability. (The number of them who are veterans suffering from physical disabilities, or mental health conditions like PTSD, would turn your hair white.) State disability benefits can usually get them regular meals and a night or two a month in a motel room. The first few days of the month are the quiet time at the homeless clinic. So many of my patients get their benefit checks and invest in a couple of nights in a motel room. I can't even begin to imagine the bliss of trading the street or a homeless shelter for a single room with heat, running water, a soft bed, and warm blankets, not to mention the security of a locked door.

This is mainly the chronically homeless; maybe 10-15% of the total homeless population. The average stay on the streets for the remaining 85% is around nine months before getting mainstreamed again.

Still, eleven years is a long goddamned time. I'm happy for my patient.

[Laffy Kat]

31. Thank you, Aristus. nt

[nolabear]

32. That is absolutely wonderful. I've worried about our homeless lately.

GOD, this weather! You and I both know one reason we have a fairly high population is it’s generally pretty temperate in the winter. I cannot imagine dealing with the snow and rain this last couple of weeks.

I’m happy for you both. Never give up.

[In_The_Wind]

33. There is hope.

[Aristus]

34. Thank goodness.

I don't think I could get through my day without it...

[DFW]

35. That is how it is done. One by one. That was my wife's job practically all her professional life

She was a social worker in northwestern Germany, and she worked with long-term, difficult cases of unemployed people. There were immigrants, drug cases, alcoholics, social misfits, you name it. If they were cases the normal channels didn't want, or couldn't handle, they landed with my wife (or other social workers who worked with similar cases). Some clearly didn't want her help ("meddling" ), and some were grateful for it. Some of the immigrants only went to her because the welfare office said they would pull all payments if they didn't show.

There was once one youngish Russian man who always "didn't understand enough German" when he was asked to do something he didn't want to do. My wife's solution to that was to call him him of a Friday evening, after she had found a possible job placement, and tell him to be in her office at 8:00 the next Monday morning. He suddenly didn't know enough German (again) to know what she wanted. She said just a moment, and handed the phone to me. I told the guy in Russian what my wife wanted, and asked if he NOW understood? There was no wiggling out it this time. He had to admit he had understood, and he was indeed in her office at 8:00 the next Monday. Surprise, surprise, he even went for the interview, found it was a job he liked, and he took it. Suddenly, he could afford his own place and other stuff.

She did this thankless job for decades. She could have been a model, and she tossed that for this job instead. No wonder she stayed with me all these years. I must have seemed like an easy (if long term) case compared to all the hard core cases she had to deal with for most of her life.

[Aristus]

36. I have admired for years the work you and your wife do.

Thank you for sharing such a great story about the Russian guy.

[DFW]

37. You have paid your dues as well

You have put in your hours as much or more so than any of us!