Walking West on Jefferson in the Late Afternoon...

... sucks.

Generally, I think of all the homeless service centers as being close together. But then, I'm usually speeding in my car.

Walking is such a different matter. The homeless youth are pretty savvy about public transportation, but today is Saturday, and that means less options. The overall upshot is a lot of walking. Now, I am a healthy guy. I walk to work every day. I hike. I run from time to time. But damn. All this walking generally sucks.

But the worst of it is walking west on Jefferson in the late afternoon. A few reasons:

1.) We are walking straight into the sun.

We have been outside most of the day, and whatever minor sunburns we may have had are beginning to mature. I also feel dried out. Baked.

2.) Zero shade.

There is a tall building for half a block, but after that, the empty dirt lots and chain link fences to the left provide scant shelter from the sun. A few of us put in the effort to walk zigzag paths to get what little shade can be had from the occasional palm tree. The rest of us are too tired to chase shade.

3.) Carrying stuff.

The backpack is getting heavy by this point in the day. Gabe has discussed the danger of "having" when one is homeless. Having things means carrying, protecting, and worrying about things. At the moment, I wish I had nothing to carry, but that would also mean having nothing to sleep under.

Unfortunately, I must continues down Jefferson. There isn't a better street to walk down, and it can't be at a different time. So we walk.

Walking with Matt

Matt is our youngest retreatant. As such, his take on the difficulties of being homeless are different that others. The physical aspect isn't his chief concern. His main worry:

Boredom.

He generally finds the waiting for things to happen maddening and suggests that it is the lack of stimulation that would get to him first. He also cites unreliable access to food and uncertainty about sleeping arrangements as hard to deal with.



The lesson here? There are various types of fitness, and as such, the trials of deprivation play out differently. Matt crafts his particular story about homelessness because of his embodied immunity to particular discomforts. At his age, his body is made out of rubber bands shot full of adrenaline. The down side of his metabolic fervor is an increased need for lots of food and an impatience that makes him more susceptible to parts of the mental game.

Point is, we all wear down differently. There isn't a universal story to homelessness. There isn't a single way it sucks. Some of us are harder to wear, some are harder to tear, but it gets to everyone eventually.

Walking to Andre House

After our presentation on basic needs, some writing, and a few games, we leave for the Andre House to get dinner. Andre House is a serves food and provides other services to the community. We have lost a few people to prior engagements, and are down to six people.



Even though it isn't that hot, my skin is dry. Unfortunately, the shade is lacking on Seventh Avenue.

Teambuilding

One of the major goals of the retreat was to create Community Outreach Groups, two- or three-person teams who will brainstorm, initiate, and coordinate relationships with other organizations.

This is a hard task. Cold calling is hard. Networking is hard. Giving presentations is hard. While better organizational skills and a better understanding of homeless issues will help, I figured we needed every resource at our disposal.

Another key ingredient: trust.

Trust between people is powerful. Speaking apprehension research finds that it is rare to have a person who is always nervous about public address. Also, few people are never nervous about speaking. Rather, there are particular situations that cause anxiety. While some speaking coaches try to address the trait of speaking anxiety, another angle is to try to alter situations to control anxiety.

So, for instance, many people would be uncomfortable going out to ask for money on their own, but if you send them in a small group, things get easier. Send them out in a small group of people they deeply trust, and things get even better.

In my experience, the best way to foster trust is through activities and games. Not sure what it is, really. Maybe it's because people like to win games and creating scenarios where they have to work together to succeed invites them to take "trust risks." Maybe it is because games and activities reveal personality, and we trust more because we understand better. Or maybe it's the bodily component. Games facilitate positive physical touch, which often leads to mutual liking, increased disclosure, and more trust.

Also, games are micro-myths. Consider. You are sitting there ordinarily, when suddenly you are called into an adventure (purpose of the game). There are obstacles (created by restrictive rules), but you are also granted special powers (created by enabling rules). While using your special powers, you often fail to overcome the obstacles until you gain revelation (figure out a strategy). Through revelation, you transform into a hero (because you figured it out), save the world (win the game), and return to the ordinary world (the world before the game). It is almost as though it never happened, but you are forever transformed and continue to carry your special knowledge. (For a lot more about heroes and the structure of their adventures consider reading Campbell's Hero With a Thousand Faces: classic.)

When the narrative of the game gets enacted, it becomes a living story, a literal chronotope, an embodiment of meaning through time and space.

As we move, we entangle the tale in sinew, draw it out of its diembodied rules, and craft it into the present.

Whatever the reason, it works. Get a group together, play some games, do a few activities, and after a day and a half, they start trusting each other. It isn't a given, as participants set on not getting along won't. I've seen leaders mess it up, too. But generally, it works.

If you are looking for games, here's a solid resource. I cut my teeth running Snowball retreats back in high school. My "go to" activities/games include: the Human Knot, Elbow Tag, and the Slap Game.

Meeting Basic Needs

Between the two of them, Sam and Gabe have been homeless for more than a decade. As such, they have a lot of experience trying to meet their basic needs.

A few tips if you find yourself homeless:
1.) Always bring water - two bottle minimum.
2.) Ask people who walk by about places to eat. Eventually someone will know.
3.) You can usually find clothing and hygiene in the same place. Don't stock up too much. Focus on season appropriate pants/shorts. Two to three extra shirts is nice, but extra socks and underwear are key.



Getting money is hard. Service organizations give out many resources, but sometimes you just need cash. There are very few ways to make money without breaking the law if you don't have a job. Donating plasma is a solid option. Some people also sell hand-rolled cigarettes, two for 25 cents, 10 for $1.00.

Past that, we get into grayer areas. There is day labor, such as sign spinning. Usually $50 for 10 hours under the table. One can also sell foodstamps. $200 worth of food stamps can get $100 in cash. One might get a better rate making deals in the grocery store. But this is often awkward, and you can get caught. Selling foodstamps is against the law.

The youth differentiate between begging, panhandling, and "spanging." Begging involves pleading for money. Panhandling involves some kind of deception or con (like having a story about needing to go someplace and collecting money for a bus ticket). Finally, spanging is asking for spare change (hence the name SPare chANGE).

Finally, one can acquire money through stealing and selling what was stolen to a fence, selling drugs, or selling one's body. These activities are highly illegal.

Hearing these stories being told illuminates the cultural aspect of homeless life. The youth usually agree on things like the cost of cigarettes, have similar accounts of prostitution, and have specialized vocabulary. Perhaps it is a point for Ernest Bormann and his idea of converging themes. According to Bormann, there are many ways of understanding the world, and those understandings that resonate with people the best have a way of spreading throughout a community. As I sit and listen to the accounts of struggles and successes, I hear common sense making laced throughout.

It is, of course, possible that it isn't the stories that move but the storytellers. Maybe Sam and Gabe are drawn together by their common stories, and other youth with other stories have clustered elsewhere.

Whatever the reason, the effect is somewhat surreal. Listening to them nonchalantly, objectively discussing the realities of street life is disorienting. They have localized knowledge, and traffic with ease in a common set of tales, symbols, and analogies with which I have little or no familiarity.

Before you scoff because someone doesn't know the basics about something, consider the fact that they may have mastery of a domain you don't even know exists.

Final Interview: Melissa

Melissa must return home, but I manage to catch her for an interview before she leaves. As our resident ethnographer, she has generated 50 pages of fieldnotes in 24 hours. She reflects on what it is like to be ignored and what it is like to have the elements wearing away at her calm.

Visiting the Youth House

Stand Up For Kids Phoenix has two houses we use as drop in centers. They are open on weekends, and they provide a place for youth to shower, wash their clothing, watch a movie, eat a hot meal, check their email, search for jobs, get food and clothing to take, and socialize in a non-institutional setting.

Saturday is our big day. We train volunteers, have meetings, discuss house matters, and are open from breakfast to dinner. Today is no different. We are a little thin staffed since some of our mainstays are on the retreat, but we have it covered.

The youth and volunteers call it Our House, so named to represent its inclusiveness. We try to include the youth in the major decisions, the creation of rules, and day-to-day operations. Today the youth have cooked for us.



Things are status quo at the youth house. Someone is rooting around in the clothing room. An intense game of Uno is underway. A few people are discussing which movie to watch. But for us, Our House has never been like this. Previous to this Saturday, the youth house was always a setting in a narrative of charity; it was a place we went to help others.

But today, the house is part of a different narrative. It is a sanctuary. Today we have been wandering in the desert, and Our House is a promise of peace. Will we always think of it differently? That remains to be seen. But today, our embodied story more closely matches the youth, and we understand and appreciate the role it plays far more than ever before.