For months now I have been trying to get a local homeless charity to back me up with the support I have been providing to a young man who is in receipt of services from them. My initial contact with him was through a cruising site where he appeared to be offering "services" in return for being "helped out"? I have noticed this way of working among some gay/bisexual young homeless men lately. The advice given by the charity was vague and non-committal so I decided it was best to ignore him. After all, I thought, he was bound to get enough contacts where he was hanging out?
Things came to a head last week when I felt it was just plain inhumane to continue to ignore his pleas for help. I was in good spirits myself, and he was prepared to train fare dodge to get to see me after all? I just said that perhaps it would be nice to meet after all, and he remained grateful for the food I had bought for him online when we first spoke.
As he got into my car it was clear he needed a good soak in a bath and he was very upset. He could not articulate what he wanted (or maybe he wanted me to say what I wanted?) so we decided it was for the best if I drove him back to his "home" town and formulate a plan on the way. I agreed to give him some cash to buy provisions but I insisted upon receipts. This was because I felt it was only fair that I should at least try to get some reimbursement from the charity working with him. He could not really cope with the "gay" angle of our introduction and began to cry and shake when I suggested I should buy the items with him in order to ensure I got receipts (him not wishing to be seen in public with an older(gay) man?). I said to him I had already started a line of communication with his charity about his circumstances, which made things worse. Not wishing to add to his problems I gave him some money with no comebacks.
I had previously made clear to the charity that I felt it would have been fairer on me, and the homeless person, if he had been provided with some free unrestricted travel. I would then have been comfortable meeting him sooner because I would not have had to worry about these basic dependency issues. I could have then sent him on his way again with some provisions, and this would have bought me enough time to gain insight into his circumstances and offer at least some background support in partnership with them.
It does beg the question though, as to why this Homeless Charity wanted to attend the East Kent LGBT Network meetings in the first place?
Things came to a head last week when I felt it was just plain inhumane to continue to ignore his pleas for help. I was in good spirits myself, and he was prepared to train fare dodge to get to see me after all? I just said that perhaps it would be nice to meet after all, and he remained grateful for the food I had bought for him online when we first spoke.
As he got into my car it was clear he needed a good soak in a bath and he was very upset. He could not articulate what he wanted (or maybe he wanted me to say what I wanted?) so we decided it was for the best if I drove him back to his "home" town and formulate a plan on the way. I agreed to give him some cash to buy provisions but I insisted upon receipts. This was because I felt it was only fair that I should at least try to get some reimbursement from the charity working with him. He could not really cope with the "gay" angle of our introduction and began to cry and shake when I suggested I should buy the items with him in order to ensure I got receipts (him not wishing to be seen in public with an older(gay) man?). I said to him I had already started a line of communication with his charity about his circumstances, which made things worse. Not wishing to add to his problems I gave him some money with no comebacks.
I had previously made clear to the charity that I felt it would have been fairer on me, and the homeless person, if he had been provided with some free unrestricted travel. I would then have been comfortable meeting him sooner because I would not have had to worry about these basic dependency issues. I could have then sent him on his way again with some provisions, and this would have bought me enough time to gain insight into his circumstances and offer at least some background support in partnership with them.
It does beg the question though, as to why this Homeless Charity wanted to attend the East Kent LGBT Network meetings in the first place?
2 comments:
Sounds to me that he just needs to find a decent woman to sort him out...
Well that will make him cry won't it!!
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