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420 Courtland St. Atlanta, GA 404-873-7650 |
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Personal The Crossroads’ partnership with Grady Hospital is unique. Unique in that the Hospital’s focus, as it should be, is on health care and our focus is on assisting people who are homeless. When a medically fragile person who is homeless is being discharged, the Crossroads’ phone will ring. The social workers at Grady will contact Emily, our Director of Disability Services, to see if we can pay special attention to a client. Of course the social workers at Grady, who are very committed, are delighted to have a partner that will continue the healing process. Emily welcomes the challenge as she is keenly aware of the shortage of services for this population. The phone rang. Stanley was being referred to CCM. Emily had trained our first peer counselor, Cleveland, to work with this particular group. He is highly committed and very compassionate. As he is recovering from his own medical issues, Cleveland was the perfect fit for the position. Stanley, before his most recent stroke landed him in Grady, was living ‘hand to mouth’. It is very difficult to survive on general assistance and food stamps. He was residing in personal care homes. Unfortunately these homes are anything but personal, seldom offering more than a roof and communal living. The latest stroke led to eviction and homelessness. The downward spiral continued for him. Cleveland began doing what Crossroads does best, i.e., building supportive relationships with people. Over time, once the ‘trust factor’ was in place, Stanley began to listen to Cleveland’s counsel. Hurdles needed to be cleared for Stanley to secure safe, affordable housing. His past included incidents that had to be dealt with. With Cleveland’s guidance, a clear plan was put in place. CCM also assisted with his social security application and, most importantly, subsequent approval for benefits. There was also a long history of poor money management. It is one thing to build a budget. It is quite another to live by that budget. Cleveland insured that both activities occurred in Stanley’s life. With a budget in hand it was time to find appropriate housing. Not only did Cleveland find that housing but he also negotiated past due monies at another property to improve Stanley’s credit. One day I asked Cleveland what Stanley’s response to all this personal attention was, “I did not know what I was going to do but thanks to God and you guys (Cleveland and Emily) at this beautiful organization, I again have hope for tomorrow.” Daily, your prayers and financial support enable healthy relationships to be built and lives to be changed, one person at a time. Sincerely, Stan Dawson P.S. Homeless Census: The homeless census for Fulton, DeKalb and the City of Atlanta was conducted earlier in the year. The numbers are remarkably close to the census numbers from 2005. During this extensive one day count some 6,800+ individuals were determined homeless (sheltered and unsheltered).
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