Second homeless shift

So, last night I had my second shift at the homeless shelter. It was great to just feel a little more confident, knowing the kind of things I’d be doing.

When I arrived, I saw the guy I’d been chatting with last time, who had been promised a hostel for 3 months but it had fallen through. He talked to me all about gangs in his neighbourhood, and was showing me YouTube videos of all the different rapping gangs and the people he knew. It was quite interesting understanding all about his neighbourhood and the rivalries. Music is obviously a really big form of expression and he ended up playing me a pretty sad Plan B song, with many lyrics around death and telling me it’s how he’s felt every day since he was 13. It was a pretty emotional experience and also made me reflect on my role within that situation – I saw it as there to be a good listener mainly, I’m not really there to offer therapy and advice but hopefully just to make him heard and if possible, offer the odd word of encouragement – reinforcing some of his positive traits.

A few other interesting experiences or thoughts – one was around the community within the shelter. Most of these people had only spent a day or two with each other, before they get assessed and moved on but there is a huge amount of compassion. Last night one of the guys there had clear mental health needs, he was talking to himself loudly, particularly when he was trying to sleep. Although for some there was frustration, there was also just an amazing amount of care – one of the guys stood over him, offering him tea, coffee, a cigarette, checking he was ok, helping to make up a bed for him out of soft chairs so he didn’t end up on the floor. I found it a really humbling experience.

Another thing was about power – it really came to me quite how little power the guests had in this situation. The guy I was speaking to at the start didn’t want to be moved to a B&B just for one night but he was told he had no choice as there wasn’t enough room here. When you get to this situation, it seems a lot is out of your control and it must be incredibly difficult, no to mention unstable, just going along with what you’re told, not knowing what will happen from one day to the next – forming relationships with people who you may not see again after the next two days, constantly on the move. I’d struggle hugely with that – and it reminds me of similar situations of children being moved around foster homes so regularly.

I think those were the main thoughts from last night – as well as just the general friendly atmosphere within the place. I really enjoyed my shift again.

I ended the evening trying to persuade my mum to foster and deciding I want to adopt siblings.

All in an evening’s work!