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It's SUMMER (almost)

You know, it's a big stereotype that Canada is cold all year round. However, my city has certainly lived up to that this spring. It has been so, so, so cold. Snow in May! So not fair. Anyway though, today was gorgeous. It was our church picnic and...

Published 15 Jun 2009 2:14 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: church, detox, life, me, shelter, summer, work
the night of 18 turnaways

As a write this, the Sophie cat is high on cat nip... I'm such a drug pusher, lol. It's a lot easier to laugh at her antics though, and encourage her to "use" then it is to deal with the human consequences of drug and alochol abuse and...

Published 24 Mar 2009 1:23 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: alcohol, harm reduction, homelessness, intoxication, shelter, substance use, thoughts, winter, work
Situational Ethics: A Case Study

Jared is a man whose burned a lot of bridges, and when I say a lot of bridges, I mean it. Jared is not welcome, ever, at any of the other shelters in town, and has been permanently restricted from many of the hotels, medical clinics and rooming houses...

Published 21 Feb 2009 11:51 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: attitudes, ethics, necessary evils, shelter, snow, substance use, winter, work
why they stay

I tried to blog last week about how hard it is for people to leave the shelter... it didn't come across quite the way I wanted it to though. I really shouldn't blog when I'm so tired my eyes keep closing. So, my thoughts on why people don't...

Published 4 Feb 2009 10:05 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: homelessness, mental health, shelter, substance use, thoughts, work
sick and homeless

This week seems to be healthcare week on the blog, or maybe ill health week, or something like that... The image on the left is rhinovirus, or the common cold. One of those things we all get, all hate, and most of us get over pretty quickly. I've...

Published 3 Feb 2009 7:10 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: health care, homelessness, shelter, work
Leaving the Shelter

I really want to be sarcastic about this picture. I really, really do, but I'm not going to be, because finding a picture of "empowerment" is hard. It really is. I mentioned earlier that the enforcer and I got in a fight, it was about empowerment...

Published 30 Jan 2009 8:31 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: attitudes, homelessness, mental health, shelter, substance use, the enforcer, treatment
yikes... too much.

Maybe it's stupid, but I always feel bad posting rants on my blog about how tired I am. I always vowed I'd never be on of those "emo" bloggers who just complains about how much life stucks and how the world is out to get them. Especially...

Published 28 Jan 2009 4:34 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: crying, emotions, mental health, shelter, sleep, sophie, staff relations, whining, work
and this is how

Jim is sleeping at the back of the shelter. With his head under his jacket his indistinguishable from those sleeping around him. It is only once I wake him, he's the last one up, that I realize who he is. Jim was once a very successful man. The wife...

Published 2 Jan 2009 5:41 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: alcohol, health care, homelessness, shelter, thoughts, work
it's almost over

Well, Christmas is over now, and my five in a row work week is almost over. That may sound pretty normal to most people, but because of the nature of my job, we almost never work more then four in a row. I can't remember the last time I worked a five...

Published 28 Dec 2008 2:19 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: detox, IPDA, me, shelter, sleep, work
come inside, it's cold.

It's very cold where I live. Incredible bone chilling cold. It is the kind of cold where exposed skin can freeze in minutes. I only wish I was exaggerating. And yet I know people who live outside year round. And I know people who get stuck outside...

Published 15 Dec 2008 2:59 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: homelessness, mental health, shelter, snow, thoughts, work
non sensical ramblings about homelessness (part 6)

It's interesting not being in school. I no longer am forced to really examine my thoughts, feelings and biases about things on a regular basis. In some ways that feels really nice, but in other ways I feel like I'm kind of losing out. I've...

Published 28 Nov 2008 2:16 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: attitudes, homelessness, pet peeves, policy, shelter, social work, substance use, thoughts, work
if you build it they will come

Every night we keep a record of everyone we have to turn away from the shelter. I'm a huge fan of this record, for me it serves a few purposes, but mainly, I just really appreciate the fact that the documentation records each and every person. The...

Published 26 Nov 2008 4:21 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: homelessness, nights, shelter, snow, thoughts, winter, work
false alarm

I think I've written about this before, but it happened once again. When people come into IPDA, they're supposed to be searched. This may seem rather trivial, but a bad search can lead to bad consequences, hangings, cutting, or fire. Yes, that's...

Published 26 Nov 2008 2:29 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: intoxication, IPDA, nights, shelter, whining, work
when everyone else takes a sick day

Everyone but me called in sick the other night. I got to work only to discover that none of the other scheduled staff were coming in. I was not impressed. I did however know that there was a stomach virus going around, and I was actually sort of expecting...

Published 19 Nov 2008 5:52 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: nights, shelter, sick, work
SNOW!

Well, it snowed here a while back and while most people are trying to dig themselves out, the homeless are trying to find a place to dig in for the winter. The first night was horrible, it was practically a blizzard. I had to psych myself up in the car...

Published 12 Nov 2008 6:22 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: homelessness, nights, shelter, snow, social work, thoughts, winter
the body in the shelter

At about five to six we turn on the lights and wake everyone in the shelter up. It's early, but we open again at seven after a cleaning. If people don't wake up, we have to go around and wake them up. Saturday morning, someone didn't wake...

Published 17 Oct 2008 10:26 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: death, shelter, work
Warehousing the homeless part four

Can you believe I found this photo when I googled "transitional housing"? Oh well, google image search isn't perfect! Looks more like jail to me. Or I dunno...in jail you don't have quite so many roommates! Anyway, when I was talking...

Published 8 Aug 2008 6:53 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: mr. nice guy, shelter, substance use, thoughts, work

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