Once More into the Breach with Mark (Part 2)

Naturally the new program involved a website and filling out a form online and then waiting for something to happen.

For those interested in what the form looks like, go to:

https://www.portland.gov/sscc/homelessoutreach

I had read the form before meeting Mark and planned on filling out it with him. Right on camera.

After a rowdy conversation and answering questions from the filmmaker, I briefed Mark on the program and asked if he wanted me to refer him. He said “Yes” and thus we began another attempt to get him housed.

I began filling out the form on my phone and had almost completed it, but couldn't pin Mark's location on the map because my fingers couldn't do it on a small screen. If his location wasn't exactly pinned, the form could not be submitted.

My frustration mounted. I cursed and eventually gave up. I told Mark I would complete the form at home on my computer and would pin his location in front of the grocery store where he was practically every afternoon selling the weekly newspaper advocating for the homeless. He had to be there for this to work. He understood.

The very odd aspect to the program states that the person making the referral, in this case me, would not be informed if Mark was contacted. That made no sense at all. Shouldn't I know if outreach was attempted? Successful? A failure? And if Mark wasn't contacted, should I keep filling out the form and pinning his location at the grocery store? Should I fill out the form every day for the rest of the year until Mark qualified for housing? How about signing up 50 people to fill out the form on behalf of Mark every day until something happens? That might move City Hall.

The program prioritizes certain people for outreach/housing, although it doesn't say actual willingness to go into housing is part of the criterion. Mark is ready, willing and able. He's not out of his mind on fentanyl or impossible to locate or communicate with. He's not so physically incapacitated that he can't take care of himself, like many homeless people are.

As I submitted the form, I wondered if it would make a damn's bit of difference.

Four days later I stood on my back deck talking to an outreach worker responding to the form. I was utterly shocked to have received such a call from a real person whose job entailed going out into the field, meeting homeless people, establishing rapport, and trying to secure them housing.

At long last!

The staffer was new; the program was new. His team had trained for two months and now they had the green light to take action. It felt like Mark was going to be his first attempt.

He had called me because I had listed my number for Mark, who had no phone. Otherwise, I would have never known of any attempt at contact. I briefed the staffer on Mark's location, back story and his desire to reside in a nearby Safe Rest Village that was close to the neighborhood. Unfortunately, the staffer informed me that he had no way of knowing of availability at that particular site, which made no sense to me, but I let it go, as I did other serious gaps in his knowledge about the system. Stay positive! No time for cynicism!

As we conversed I felt myself having high hopes for Mark and this staffer. We hadn't quit. We were nearing the goal line and I wanted paydirt (football metaphor) for my friend.

I asked the staffer why I couldn't just schedule an appointment for Mark and made sure he showed up at the grocery store. Apparently, and inexplicably, that's not the way it worked. I told the staffer I would drive Mark to where the staffer was! No, it didn't work that way, either.

So, I didn't push it.

The staffer said he would try to make contact with Mark at the grocery store during the window of time Mark was normally stationed outside the grocery store, selling papers. The staffer said he would attempt to contact Mark three or four times and then, “I have to move on.”

I said I understood his position but if this initial series of outreach attempts failed I was referring him again, again and again. He didn't respond to that. I thanked him for his efforts.

He said he was speaking from a nearby Safe Rest Village and was about ready to head out and search for Mark. Today!

We ended the conversation. I felt fantastically giddy. I roughhoused with Elmer the maniacal husky. We then went out for our fourth walk of the day and I thought about how all of us would celebrate if Mark got housed.

Then it would be on to help other members of the club and continue to build an effective relationship with this one particular staffer.

The next afternoon I would search for Mark and see what had transpired. If nothing had happened, I would fire him up with profane football coaching cliches from my youth and make sure he was stationed in front of the grocery store for the next three days—weather be damned—and he better lay off the sauce!