Community of Winslow, not quite ready for a change of heart

Since I moved here four years ago, I have heard a lot of talk about the street people and how the want to rid them from the streets of Winslow.

I have been attending the Intoxicated Street People Task Force meetings since December, reporting on possible solutions that the task force has come up with to deal with the problem of the street people.

One would think a town with so many opinions, suggestions and ideas would have some type of solution available in their back pockets. But change is hard for Winslow and as I clearly see that nobody has a plan.

Again change is something Winslow doesnÕt take well. I hear people complain all the time hear in town when something changes, whether it be for the good or the bad for the community. Maybe change is the reason Winslow still has so many street people drinking and living on the streets. My personal opinion is that the community of Winslow isnÕt ready for the street people to disappear off of the streets.

My opinion is based upon a situation I encountered last week when a street person came to me at work and asked for help. We will refer to my friend as George to protect his identify.

George is a middle-aged, Native American who has chosen to live on the streets of Winslow up until the last month when he decided to quit drinking and to try to find a job. Having been sober a month, George decided he wanted to find a job and get off the streets of Winslow. He groomed himself and got a new pair of clothes and headed off to a job service where he applied for several jobs in the last month. ItÕs funny thing though, no one wanted to hire him because he didnÕt have an address.

George has not always been a street person, in fact he used to have a home, a cool car and a great job with APS until an unfortunate situation happened to George leaving him with no hope in his life.

Also in the last month, George attended counseling and made appointments for further counseling. But even after not having a drink, cleaning up his appearance and attending counseling, no one wanted to help him.

Feeling depressed, George came and asked me to try and help him find a job so that he could get off the streets and find a house to rent. He said he thought I could help him get in touch with someone on the task force or an agency here in town that could help him.

Just for the record, George never asked me for money or food. He only asked for assistance in finding a job. I agreed to help him and immediately started making phone calls to different agencies here in Winslow. I called five different places that are supposedly operating just to help those here in Winslow with financial need. Every person and agency I talked to could not or, most likely, did not want to help George. So like many citizens, I went looking for a service out of town. I called The Bread of Life Mission in Holbrook and told him GeorgeÕs situation and they welcomed him with open arms, which is something Winslow did not do.

George has been in Winslow for the last week and is doing great and soon hopes to have a job. He called me last Friday and said he wanted to thank me for showing him a little compassion. I thanked him for offering me the opportunity to try to help him and wished him luck.

Again, I hear and see many wanting to rid the street of street people in Winslow. I hope the next time someone thinks about getting rid of these people, they look at the whole picture and see that these individuals maintain a successful life with a job and a home, and not just picturing them on some other townÕs streets!

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