Meet Ruben;
tall, wearing jeans and an old army jacket, longish messy brown hair in which
he sometimes wears a kerchief tied like a headband. Ruben is a nice looking
young man when he actually looks straight at you—his eyes are a startling
bright blue-green, and you only notice the tattoos above his eyebrows when he
lifts his hair with his hands. He has a beard and mustache and he moves a LOT;
restlessly touching and counting things, moving away from people…Ruben has some
mental health issues, among them OCD and anxiety. But when he smiles, it lights
up the room and he has been known to play the guitar for all of us at Hope
House. As he backs into the intake room, I know some of the staff are watching
him cautiously.
Ruben is one
of many clients we have with mental health issues, and in the last few weeks,
we have had some problems with some of them escalating and getting loud and
disruptive in Hope House. This issue has been weighing on me, and I have spent
much time in prayer about it. It is such a fine line to walk; to reach out and
help those in need, while still keeping everyone safe and comfortable. After all,
Jesus hung out with the mentally ill and homeless all the time (more on that
later in this blog). So my new idea is to treat these clients as “normal”
(whatever that is) and give them clear expectations of behavior while in Hope
House. Thursday was my first chance to try this, which worked out perfectly
since I was doing intake. Here’s how it went;
· Vicky, an extremely disruptive client
who is schizophrenic, came in for assistance. I greeted her warmly, told her
she looked good and asked how we could help her today. When she requested
housing help (something we don’t do), I was afraid she would be upset at not
getting it, but to my surprise, she was fine with a referral and some warm
clothing.
· D.T., a very large homeless man with
anger issues, came in wrapped in a blanket looking for clothing and food. We spent
a few minutes talking about his late girlfriend, who passed away last year. After
shedding a few tears, he went and shopped and left with no trouble.
· Ann, a single mom with depression and
anxiety, came in and sat with me for about 15 minutes, chatting about her life
and her boys. She thanked me for taking time to just listen.
So by
keeping my mood positive and firm, I was able to help these clients have pleasant
shopping experiences. How I see my clients is as part of the Body of Christ,
and if I always remember that, we will get along much better. I know we are all
part of Christ, but I’m pretty sure that Jesus visited us at Hope House today—actually
visited, not just as one of His people, but here in disguise as one of His
people.
So back to
Ruben: here is how his shopping went. When he was ready to get hygiene, there
were too many people in that area for him. I found him in a corner of the
waiting room and asked him if he was alright. He replied “yes, I’m fine, but
there are too many people over there, so I’ll wait here.” A very smart coping skill, if you ask me. Later, he
seemed rooted to the waiting room (where he was rearranging and counting our
chairs) and unable to continue shopping, so I stood by the kitchen door and
called out his choices to him while he picked what he needed—all while moving
chairs around. We packed his choices up for him and he proceeded to fidget
around in the waiting room until almost time to close, at which point I warned
him we would close in 10 minutes. As the last client went out the door, I said “ok,
Ruben time to go”. He was actually sitting quietly reading a book at this point
and he stood up and handed it to me and shouldered his bag. I told him he could
take the book if he wanted. He looked straight in my eyes, gave me a small
smile and said “thanks, but I’ve already read it”. As he went out the door, I looked
down at the book in my hands—it was the Bible.
I’ m just
saying…..sometimes He visits in person.
