Todd

Todd was standing outside the clinic door when I came back from lunch one Tuesday. The clinic door opens at 5 p.m., but most Tuesdays there is a line by 3 or 4 p.m. But, it was only 2 p.m. when I returned that day. It was a nice day, but I still stopped to ask why he was there that early. He told me he was homeless, and really didn’t have any place else to be.

I asked him point blank – why are you homeless? This is his story, and I know that there are at least two sides to every story – and often more than that. But, this is his story and the only one I know. He and his wife were having issues. He went to the bedroom to be alone and she came in and poured coffee on his laptop computer. He called the police, but she said she was frightened, so he was arrested. He spent a night in jail and was taken from there to the ER because he had pneumonia. He had spent the last two nights sleeping in the smoking hut in the hospital parking lot. He had the clothes on his back, and nothing else.

I told him to come see me when he came in the clinic. I found a blanket, a sweatshirt, some pants and a little food to give him. And I learned a huge lesson. When someone is homeless, possessions are a burden. A blanket was appreciated because of the cool night air, but what was he to do with it during the day, when he was trying to get food or contact friends?

Fortunately for Todd, one of the volunteers here at the clinic works for DHS – Department of Human Services – and she knew of a shelter in a community about 30 miles from here. She gave him her number, and said to call the next day. They were able to get him to the shelter the next day.

I don’t know where he is now. We will probably never see him again. He said he had a friend with a job in a community about an hour from here. Hopefully, that came through for him.

We were able to give him the antibiotics and the inhaler he needed. Maybe we were able to give him hope. Maybe.