48 Hours at Joy Junction Homeless Shelter

48 Hours at Joy Junction Homeless Shelter
"I wanted to be able to squeeze one more person in, to see relief in a face, to make sure everyone was safe."

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ANS) -- Have you ever been curious what goes on behind the scenes in the governor's office, the mayor's conference room or at police headquarters? Well, I can't help you with that, but I can give you a look at a recent forty-eight hours (six shifts) at Joy Junction.

Our inside look started on a recent Monday afternoon. Take a read. It's perhaps a little bit "routine," but a regular schedule, regular meals and some assurance of normalcy are an essential part of recovery for many of our guests.

For the homeless, the only thing predictable in their lives before coming to Joy Junction is the unpredictability of where the next meal is coming from, and where they will sleep that night. All that uncertainty and danger of life on the streets results in a pretty predictable dose of depression. Sometimes, homeless people try dousing the horror of their circumstances with the inappropriate use of alcohol or illegal drugs.

Monday, July 22, 2013
At 2:30 PM Cheryl Dana, a resident services supervisor, was disappointed when she went to get hygiene supplies to hand out. "Out of five items we needed, we only had two: toothbrushes and tampons."

At 3:00 PM the Joy Junction van delivered a woman seeking refuge from a domestic violence situation. Cheryl si gned her in, collected all the necessary information, and asked her if she would like to meet with Adrienne Radtke, our case manager.

At 3:10 PM Cheryl began assessing available space for the evening.
At 4:00 PM the domestic violence victim met with Adrienne.

At 4:50 PM the multipurpose area was full of tired and hungry people. The children were still full of energy, and conversation filled the room.

At 6:00 PM the multipurpose area was cleared of tables and people began sweeping and mopping the floors in preparation for the portable mattresses being laid out. People kept asking Cheryl when they can get their mats. Sometimes they seemed frantic. Cheryl said the after-dinner sign in process that night went very well. "Most people were patient as we signed them in. Linen was distributed, and one by one they made their beds for the night. Some were asleep before the lights went out at 9:00 PM."

Reflecting on her shift, Cheryl said, "The most challenging part of my shift today was making sure we were able to get everyone we could in under a roof for the night, especially when we were filling up to capacity. I wanted to be able to squeeze one more person in, to see relief in a face, to make sure everyone is safe."

Monday/Tuesday Graveyard, July 22-23, 2013
At 10:00 PM resident services supervisor Sophie Portillo came on duty. As she prepared for her shift, she learned that a 911 call had been placed for an overnight guest. Sophie learned that the individual had been complaining of nausea and was having difficulty breathing. Sophie talked with her while waiting for the emergency vehicle. Everyone hoped that whatever was going on with her was not serious.

At 10:10 PM the emergency medical personnel arrived. After evaluating the woman they transported her to a hospital at 10:25 PM. While the EMTs were still on property, another female overnight guest asked for emergency services. She told Sophie she smoked a cigarette that may have been laced with a drug. In any event, she felt dru gged and sick. The EMT's evaluated the woman and took her by ambulance to the hospital as well.

At 12:30 AM a guest told Sophie there was an alarm going off in one of our buildings. Sophie walked over to the barracks and found all the residents had been awakened and were standing in the hallway. "I knocked on the door to room six, but no one answered. I went in and found no one in the room, and the alarm clock was going off."

The occupants of that room were not there, and a check revealed they weren't on property. Sophie told everyone it was okay to go back to their rooms.
At 1:30 AM the Albuquerque Police department brought in a single female needing a place to stay for the night.

At 2:00 AM the two women who had earlier gone to the hospital arrived back at Joy Junction. They didn't have any medical discharge paperwork. When asked about it, they said they hadn't been seen by a doctor. They were told it would be several hours before they could be examined, and so they left. The rest of the night passed wit h no further incidents.

Just before 6:00 AM Sophie reflected back on her shift. "There have been people of all ages here tonight. I often think that this must be the only place they can come to lay their heads. I suppose they know that we are doing our best to keep everyone of them as safe as possible. I enjoyed the time when all the residents seemed at peace as they slept. The most challenging thing on my shift was trying to resolve several issues at once, and trying to calm down the man whose wife had a medical issue and whom the EMTs transported to the hospital. I reassured him we would drive him to the hospital so he could be with his wife."

Tuesday, July 23, 2013
At 5:45 AM resident services supervisor John Weisberger arrived at Joy Junction for the 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM shift. His shift began with a full house of overnight guests.

6:00 AM is "wake up" at Joy Junction. This is a little later than some other shelters, but why not? What's the point of getting people up e arlier to make them go downtown, where nothing is open yet?

The wake up this morning got off to a slow start, but John said it's like that occasionally. "Many of the overnight residents probably wanted a bit more sleep. Some of them came to the shelter quite late last night, and they were tired from being on the streets. No wonder they had difficulty getting to sleep."

At7:00 AM it was time for breakfast. John said, "It can seem chaotic getting everyone up, getting the mats put away, and serving breakfast. However, the overnight guests certainly appreciated the breakfast, which this morning was fried eggs and sausage. The coffee gave everybody a jump-start to their day, but the challenge continued because once breakfast was over we had to quickly get things cleaned up and ready for the Life Recovery Class."

At 8:30 AM the organization Health Care for the Homeless came on the Joy Junction property for their regular visit.

At 9:00 AM it was time for our regular Christ in Power Life Recovery Program (CIPP) cla ss. Once the class started, John had a few minutes to catch his breath. Joy Junction resident services manager Joel Steen was the class teacher, and his topic today was overcoming denial.

During the CIPP class, John distributed weekly supplies to the dorms and barracks, while the maintenance crew continued working on painting the back hall and the women's restroom in the multipurpose building.

At 11:00 AM the CIPP class ended. Shortly thereafter, Joel met with CIPP volunteers to discuss any issues they may be experiencing. At the same time, a large volunteer group from Sandia Valley Church of the Nazarene came in for a tour and to help serve lunch.

Meanwhile, in another part of our multipurpose building, veteran minister and Joy Junction Chaplain Gene Shiplet was sharing God's love with our guests in his own unique way. His morning hours were spent answering residents' various personal questions, and taking a hospital case worker's call regarding our facility and how we might be able to help her client.

At 2:20 PM Gene met with a guest and explained to him that he needed to stay focused on his program and not to let any of the single women pull him off course.

At 2:30 PM there was frustration for Gene as a couple failed to meet with him as they had planned. "They are having marital issues, and I felt that couples counseling was in order for them."

At 3:00 PM Chaplain Gene chatted with Cheryl Dana for a few minutes just to see how she was doing.

At 3:20 PM Gene's manager came to him with a sensitive situation for which he asked his counsel. They discussed the situation and came to an agreed-upon conclusion.

At 1:45 PM Cheryl Dana had come on duty and it was time for John Weisberger to turn the reins back over to her. Cheryl found she would be flying solo on the shift, as her co-worker had called in sick. She told herself, "You can do this alone, Cheryl. You have done it many times before."

At 2:15 PM, after bringing herself up to speed on what was going on at JJ, Cheryl went to the supply area to get per sonal hygiene items for distribution to guests. "Today my trip was better than yesterday in terms of having more of the items needed. I never like to come back empty-handed."

At 2:40 PM Cheryl arranged for someone to cover for a few minutes for the program volunteer who was manning the guard shack.

At 3:00 PM Joy Junction Chaplain Gene invited Cheryl into his office for a few minutes. He wanted to know how things were going. Cheryl said, "Gene is a blessing to everyone at Joy Junction. He spends personal time with each of the supervisors once a week. He is a great spiritual counselor and a wonderful person."

At 4:00 PM Cheryl did some computer updates on available space. Having an accurate idea of accessible occupancy is an important component of the resident supervisor job.

While she was on duty, Cheryl was constantly answering never-ending questions from our guests. People were looking for socks, personal hygiene items, asking about the van runs, asking for food, asking for prayer. Children were asking f or footballs and basketballs and other things. You name it, they were asking.

At 4:45 PM the first van rolled in with a full load of hungry people. Today it was uncomfortably hot, and the people looked beat. Even so, Cheryl said the kids had seemingly never-ending energy.

At 5:00 PM it was time for dinner. A call was made for servers to help with dinner, and we were blessed with volunteers who worked before they themselves were served. Very few complained about the meal that was prepared, and the kitchen staff did a wonderful job of keeping everyone fed.

The multi transformed into a dinner hall, and after dinner, it become (as on every other day) a huge bedroom. This took about an hour. While the multi was being cleaned, people gathered outside and converse, mostly talking about their day. Everything went well tonight.

At 7:30 PM it was time for overnight sign ins. The process went smoothly, with quick distribution of mats and linens.
The 9:00 PM lights out was 9.30 PM tonight. No specific reason. Just a busy evening.
At 9:45 PM another day was almost done as Cheryl's replacement came on site. Cheryl was very tired and ready to go home.

Reflecting on her shift, she had this to say: "The best and most challenging part of my shift today, like yesterday, was making sure we were able to provide room for everyone who needed a roof over their heads. This is not always easy in these trying times, and it is not always even possible."

Joy Junction Chaplain Gene Shiplet's high point of Tuesday, July 23, 2013, was at 1:00 PM, when "I united two JJ residents in marriage. They had completed six weeks of pre-marital counseling with me as their chaplain. We now rejoice with both of them as they move forward with their new married life in Christ."

Tuesday/Wednesday Graveyard, July 23-24, 2013
It was now time for Sophie Portillo to relieve Cheryl and begin her overnight shift.
At 12:30 AM the same alarm that had gone off the night before went off again! The couple occupyin g the room had still not yet returned. This time, Sophie disconnected the alarm from the electrical outlet.

The evening continued without incident until a woman with a history of mental issues came to the office upset that someone off property had broken into her car. She said that the previous owner still had a set of keys to her vehicle, and she suspected he might be the culprit. Sophie said the highlight of her evening "was being able to calm and reassure the woman who was obviously upset that someone had broken into her car."

At 6:00 AM, it was time for Sophie to get some well earned rest and for John to come back on duty.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013
John oversaw another wake up at Joy Junction with the lights on at 6:00 AM, followed by the rush to put the mats away and set up the tables for breakfast.

At 7:00 AM there was a breakfast of sausage and pancakes.

At 8:00 AM John administered a urinalysis (UA) drug test to some guests. He said, "This is not alway s an easy thing to do, but it is necessary to ensure the safety and security of the residents a Joy Junction. Many of the residents here are fighting addictions to drugs or alcohol, so it's important to try keeping the environment drug free. The first couple I had to UA was not particularly happy about being asked to cooperate with the test--and for good reason! They tested positive for THC (marijuana). Because they were new and had used drugs prior to getting here, we gave them a chance to get clean. They were retested in a few weeks. We can only hope our residents take advantage of the chances they are given."

It was now time for John and the CIPP program participants to get the multipurpose building cleaned up and the tables rearranged for the Life Recovery Class. They made sure the trash was taken out and the other numerous daily chores completed. Also on the agenda was collecting the intake paperwork from the new guests who came in last night to the front office for filing.

"During this time I was also approving a number of clothing vouchers to our thrift store down the block," added John. "Some of the overnight guests had nothing but the clothes they were wearing."

John also fielded a multitude of questions from overnight guests, some of whom were staying at Joy Junction for the first time. Questions like, "When is the next van going downtown?" and "When is the case manager in?" John let guests know that the chaplain is on hand and available to counsel with them.

He said, "Gene is great because he is a good listener, and can spend some valuable individual time with the guests."

At 8:45 AM there was good news from the UA drug test results. John said, "A couple I had to test came up clean, which is always good to see. A small victory for that couple this morning."

At 8:55 AM, the Life Recovery class meets in five minutes. "It was a few minutes until class, and I was calling for program participants to get signed in," John explained. He made sure stragglers finished up their cigarettes and got inside. Today's topic wa s "God's unconditional love."

At 10:15 AM John inventoried items in overnight storage and sent to them to the resident services manager. Between then and lunch, he cleaned out lockers and tended to routine guest needs.
At 12:00 midday. Lunch. Guests came on the JJ property for lunch and picked up a couple of John's ditty bags from long term storage.
At 12:30 PM there was more mopping and sweeping."After lunch I helped a former program participant get his belongings from our storage by the laundry," John reported. I also cleared out some lockers. Storage and lockers are very limited, so it's an ongoing battle to clear out abandoned lockers and remove abandoned bags to make room for current residents."
Once that was completed, John worked on his shift report to pass on the significant events or shift information to his co-workers.
At 2:00 PM it was time for John to finish his shift and hand the baton on to the next supervisors, Marlinda Valdez and Lisa Woodward.
P. S.
The Friday just before this forty-eight hour period, our case manager Adrienne Radtke was asked to work with a seventy-eight year old man who needed help.
She said, "I panicked! The shelter has seen many of Albuquerque's senior citizens come and go. When I encounter this population, I am immediately anxious, because, in all honesty, there is nowhere for them to go. Usually, Adult Protective Services (APS) can do very little to help them if there is no abuse or neglect, or if they are not being taken advantage of."

Adrienne discovered the man already had a caseworker with APS, so she contacted the caseworker, who assured her that our mutual client "was of sound mind and body."

Adrienne lamented, "If only this had been a factual statement. The gentleman appeared to have a lot of memory problems. I spent the entire weekend trying to keep him safe and from leaving the property. I was exhausted by Monday."

When she came to work Monday, Adrienne discovered the man left Joy Junction just before she arrived. "I was struck with a horrible realization that I was somehow going to be held responsible if something bad happened to him." And really, fear is the one emotion that keeps me on my toes! Adrienne said she called APS to let them know what had happened and was told, "Don't worry. He does that all the time."

"At first, I was bit angry at the ease at which she spoke those words. How could I not worry? How could they not worry? She just asked that I call if he returned to the property. I received a call on Monday from the emergency room Presbyterian Hospital stating they had my resident and that he was fine. Relief and a sense of pure joy flowed through me. The gentleman was returned to Joy Junction on Monday morning in good health and good spirits."

Adrienne was elated when she learned the man had an exit plan in place and would soon be receiving permanent housing. "This is huge because a lot of our residents never get to this point. I feel truly blessed knowing this man will be okay!"

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