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Two weeks ago I met an unhoused woman named Joan in my neighborhood. I talked to her a bit and she was very nice. She was alone and moved around my area. Three days ago she started sleeping right outside my building. Here's a story about how NIMBYs completely destroyed her life.
Having her right by me was good because I was able to check on her and bring her supplies. In the course of talking to her I realized that she had a bit of dementia and was suffering from a potentially broken ankle. When I asked if she needed help finding shelter she said no.
She seemed very distrusting of the city. That's fine, many people are for good reasons. A congregate shelter is not a good idea anyway -- she is fairly elderly and the COVID risk is high and beds are packed full.
I reached out to people I knew who who worked for services providers to see if there was a way to get her into Project RoomKey, as I live next to a PRK site. There actually was a pathway because of her specific circumstances.
We also found out she had had a case worker before who quit, leaving her without one. No one noticed. As someone who may have dementia and has no phone, this would make it very hard for her to actually talk to a social worker!
In the mean time, I was able to find a street medic who could take a look at her ankle and a few friends who were willing to help get her to a doctor if it was broken. While that was going on, within 10 hours of her setting up by my building, my neighbors started making threats.
Threatening to call the cops, plotting to call 9-1-1 and claim she needs to be taken away in an ambulance, making stuff up. I pushed back and explained all of the reasons why we need to be respectful of what she actually wants. I read some of the most vile emails I've ever seen.
Last night after work I was going to go talk to Joan and tell her about the potential PRK room lead, and potentially put her up in the hotel site with my own money, and figure out a time to have someone look at her ankle. She was gone. Her stuff was in disarray, strewn about.
I tried to look for her and found out an ambulance had come last night and taken her away. Today, my neighbors called the city and asked them to come pick up her stuff as it was "trash." I can't figure out where she was taken, or how to get her belongings back to her.
There's a notebook she uses to draw stuff. Stuffed animals. Bedding. Clothes. My neighbors said this was all garbage. Maybe she has ID and documents here. Maybe she has jewelry or other sentimental valuables.
This woman probably woke up in a hospital today, far away from where she was living, and will be sent off into the world sooner or later without any of her belongings and without any access to services. Because my neighbors said in an email her presence is "bad for business."
The final note I received, when telling them about why this ruined my effort to try to help her: "That pile of garbage is a nuisance. I hope if the ambulance took her away, she won't find her way back here."
