21st century nomads

The following is an email i sent to a colleague regarding homeless hiv persons that i have come into contact with this month. the content is fairly typical with regard to numbers i see in a week or two at my job. the situations are always somewhat bizarre. i don't have the power to change these men's lives. i do have the chance to help them get to services though. and i feel blessed to be in a position to be of assistance.

Bob-

There are gay homeless men in Denver and there are hiv plus homeless folks here too. we cross paths on many occasions during my work week.

The ASO program does give them a place to wash their clothes, gives them an angel heart meal, a place to store their meds safely, and a cot to nap on for an hour or two.

today, i am working with 56 yr old native american male who is living under a viaduct at vasquez and colorado. his ssdi would only cover 2 wks at the western motor inn. he needs surgery on his feet desperately, but his medicare is still registered in nebraska, so we are going to ssi in the morning to get that changed. i then will take him to the ASO to see if we can get him on a housing list of some sort.

he is staying with his boyfriend and is struggling with leaving him to seek shelter. he states that his boyfriend drinks more than he does and probably can't stay sober for very long. he cried when he told me there were about 5 things wrong with him. he cannot get his check here until he finds a payee. otherwise all his $$ will go to booze.

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2 wks ago, i worked with a poz guy who is 55 or 60, and a convicted child molester. it is very difficult to get someone with that history housing. i spent two weeks driving him around to get all the necessary documentation for his ssi and ssdi to be reinstated after his release from prison. he is cognitively impaired and didn't seem quite capable enough to get all the things done in a timely fashion. to top it off, he had gotten an intestinal parasite that was infecting his stomach. his stomach had puffed out like a watermelon and he was incontinent for a week and a half. he finally was admitted into seton house, in spite of the fact that they have no tv.

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i was approached by a 40 something gay man at a drop in program, claiming that he was unable to access a housing program thru a local ASO. after a bit of discussion, it became clear that he was intentionally removed from a list. when pressed he admitted that he indeed had had problems with drugs and the law at his previous living space. i offered to intervene for him, but it may require treatment of some sort. i have not heard back from him.