Ten-Finger Exercises

HOMELESS

I rode with my co-worker Arlene, a social worker, last Friday as we went to visit a patient. On the way back into town I remarked at a certain corner that the man who was there on Sundays with a "NEED HELP" sign never seemed to be there during the week. He is neat, fairly well dressed, probably about 50. (I wonder if I'm thinking that people begging on the streets should be shabby? Maybe.) Anyway, I made the comment that I'd like to stop and interview him sometime, if he would talk, to see what he does the other days, how he happens to be in that predicament, if he gets what he needs, if he shares the territory with another man I've seen there, etc.

I'm not sure how to ask that kind of question without it being offensive. Not, "Have you got a franchise here, or something?"

Arlene said excitedly that yes, she had always wanted to interview homeless people too, to find out what in their lives had brought them there, etc.

Saturday night Bill and I went to the Red Cross fundraiser.

At 3 a.m. Sunday morning, Arlene's house burned down.

She lived way up in the foothills in a very windy area. Because of the distance to a fire station, she had no insurance on her 3-story home. She did not know she could have insured the contents. Arlene's daughter wakened to the sound of the fire. The two of them and a teenage grandson all got out safely, but the house is unliveable. She says the fire department could find no cause of the fire and suspected arson until they heard there was no insurance.

The Red Cross has put Arlene up at a motel for four nights. The other two have gone to stay with friends. She says there is a "log cabin" on the property that her son built a long time ago, and she wants to stay there. It has no water or electricity. The power company is coming out tomorrow to see if they can get power to it. She says she can shower at the Y. Another co-worker offered bedroom furniture, but she says there's no room for it. Not even room for a twin bed someone else offered. I'll offer to let her stay here, but it's far from her homesite, and she wants to be nearby she said.

She's 71 years old, thin as a rail, and proud. And homeless.