Virtual skills bank among the homeless at night shelter
By Shirley Thomas
SOCIAL workers at the East La Penitence Shelter for the Homeless have, within the first three weeks of the opening of the facility, come up with a virtual `skills bank' compiled from data on homeless persons seeking refuge there. And incredibly, the skills and qualifications of many of the more than 100 persons - the majority of them male - range from experienced tradesmen with no formal education, to a young man with 11 Subjects at the CXC level, to a University of the West Indies (UWI) -trained Accountant with a Master's Degree.
Other skills uncovered among those on register, many of whom have already begun to adjust and adapt new and socially acceptable behaviours include: Teachers, nurses and midwives, tailors, ex-military servicemen, vocalists, potential boxers, haberdashers, masons, carpenters, electricians and gardeners and other categories of labourers.
The discovery has raised hopes among Social Workers there that success is imminent for the programme upon which they have embarked. The $15M 150-bed facility Shelter aback of the East La Penitence Police Station was declared open on December 29 last year.
There are young able-bodied men who would like to become involved in sports as a socially acceptable means of finding outlet for their energies, while engaging in a good form of relaxation.
A list was drawn up, and Mr. Malcolm Fredericks, a Volunteer Social Worker visited the Institution on Wednesday, and will be helping them work towards this goal.
Already, there's a good rapport among Social Workers and the indigent persons who utilise the services there.
At the Shelter, they are being shown love and acceptance, and because they are able to trust the professional staff there, it is evident that they are now experiencing a sense of `belonging'.
They are reported to be coping well, and many persons possessing skills are now showing an eagerness to revert to leading normal lives and find employment.
Fate deals unkind blow A 48-year-old man at the Shelter tells of having acquired a Master's Degree at the University of the West Indies in 1983. He became a Christian at age 21, had a stable marriage, until the early 1980s when, on his return from University, fate dealt him an unkind blow.
He encountered serious domestic problems, had a broken marriage, turned to alcohol and eventually suffered a nervous breakdown. He ended up on the streets. He is currently on medication, but feels that what would really help, is if he is re-inducted into society and allowed to work again. The slim-built, bespectacled man appears to be quite sane and speaks sensibly. He recalls he turned to alcohol on September 23, 1986.
For him, life on the streets has been rather traumatic. While out there, several of his spectacles were stolen. He claims he is now wearing his 28th pair.
Fate has also been unkind to a soldier of more than nine years. He was reportedly injured while on the job at Tacama. He suffered spinal injuries and could no longer serve.
Following his illness, his family life disintegrated. Three children of school age are now out of school because their basic needs in life can no longer be adequately met. He ended up on the streets and was loaned a wheel chair by a kind person.
Since being at the Shelter, the Guyana Veterans Foundation heard of his predicament and are moving to ensure he is accommodated at a Home in the city and not sent to the Palms Institution. Mr. Fredericks also visited him earlier this week.
For many - particularly boys - `homelessness' was the factor which gave rise to the string of misfortunes they faced in life. Recounting his misfortunes, one young man who has been living on the streets for years said: "Once you're out there, you have to prepare yourself to become tough."
He said he was a Christian in his parents home, "but out deh, you can't be no soft boy, or you get knead like dough."
They told of having to develop behaviour patterns to satisfy certain survival needs.
And unless one could fight to defend one's self, one was doomed.
He, however, said that he is grateful to his parents for teaching him Christianity, for now that he is in a new environment, he knows that it will serve him to good stead.
And now he could vividly recall his mother's counsel while insisting that they did the right thing: "Train a child up in the right ways and he will not depart from it."
A 13-year-old related to the Chronicle that he was on the streets for more than three years, after running away from home.
His was an attempt to escape from physical violence inflicted on him by his mother who is a single-parent with several children, and no steady job.
"It hard out in de streets, Miss ... Out deh, a lot of bad things can happen to you," he said.
He said his younger brother, who is still enduring the agony of being beaten with "wood with spikes", is contemplating running away also.
"But I tell he don't run away, because living out in the streets is not a good life," he said dolefully.
And so, like these two brothers, many suffering and helpless children are longing for somewhere they can be given love and care, and really call `home'.
With the opening up of the full-time `Children's Home' by the Ministry of Human Services by mid-March, such needs would be met, and the children would be able to continue their schooling.
That building is to be located in the compound of the Palms Institution in Brickdam.
For many others, their initial problem was one of unemployment. Without a job, they could earn no money to satisfy some of the basic needs in life such as food, shelter and clothing.
Some youths interviewed, told of having their minds set on particular jobs for which they had qualified themselves, but each time they applied, they were told that they `did not have the experience'.
"But how could we get experience if we are never placed on the jobs?" some asked.
Because of these unsatisfied needs and unmet goals, they invariably developed a feeling of bitterness, and hopelessness, rendering it easy for them to hit out at just about anything, or anyone against whom they had a grudge.
Many eventually became hooked on drugs, and once they turned to a life of living out in the streets, it appeared that there was no hope for them.
The Social Workers and Counsellors are at this time going through a screening process, and have advised some on how to go about getting Police Clearance as a first step towards becoming employed.
With the establishment of the Shelter, many now have a sense of identity and purpose, and have been able to re-discover the hidden talents they possess. The Social Workers have reported a positive response in terms of getting narcotic users rehabilitated as well.
Many persons at the Shelter have begun to adapt to their new environment and have begun to learn new and socially acceptable behaviors. But even more importantly, there is an atmosphere of peace and unity there, and persons of various ethnic backgrounds have learnt how to co-exist without prejudice.
There are codes of ethics, and guidelines to which they must conform, and they are reportedly following them well. Even those who, at first found it difficult to understand why it was taboo to take alcohol onto the premises, have now begun to appreciate the reasons.
Meanwhile, some school drop-outs are asking the Shelter's administration to provide books and Bibles which they can read before going to bed at nights and before leaving the Shelter in the mornings.
Social Worker, Ms Dawne Hyles, is optimistic that good will come out of the programme. She is premising her contention on the (C.H. Cooley) Theory that: Man becomes as he behaves, and he behaves as his social environment conditions him. She also believes in the powerful motivating factor that given an organisational setting, persons will behave in a certain way.
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