Word On The Street

We met our dear friend T on a cold January day 2017. While working with our friends there can be many ups and downs, over the last 3 1/2 years T has worked on our Hire Ground Crew, we were able to connect her to medical service with Housecalls for the Homeless as well as showing her she was not Invisible. There were moments during our relationship were T diasappeared for a time which always raises concern because there are so many things that can happen to someone living outdoors, especially a woman. This summer T made a descision to move forward by doing all the paper work needed to help her get connected to a provider that could house her. T was put on a housing list were she was matched with Catholic Charities, we were able to get T to her housing intake and this morning she received her keys to her own place. Collaboration is the key when working with our friends outdoors and in Onondaga County we have a wonderful Homeless Housing Coalition (HHC) that works wonderful little miracles. Together with your support we can make this house a home by filling all the gaps with items she may need for her new place. If you feel inclined please consider making a donation to IMFK, together we are Building Hope and Changing Lives

John and Leigh Ann

Last week while doing street outreach I received a special order for Sloopy Joe’s. When we hear a request for a specific meal we listen intently knowing that a lunch can open a door for true change. So today we made these wonderful sandwiches and we are excited to bring them out to the streets to show our dear friend that we heared his request. Being heared is powerful, when living in homelessness there are times when providers tell you things that they think you may need when in fact you might not need that at all. We at IMFK listen to our friends and try to meet their immediate needs that they express to show them that we care. Once they trust us they allow us the opportunity to guide them into some better choices. In order to be a good listener one must first be silent, these two words use the same letters and if we but them in the proper order its amazing what starts to take place. People just need to be HEARD! 

Believe with us that this lunch will show our friend that we were trulu Listening.

What a Great day today to be collaborating with Onondaga County, today our crew was assiting in the set up of Lights on the Lake. The team was excited to see the behind the curtain work that needs to be done to pull off a great CNY Tradition. Dignity and Value is one key for encouraging our friends to make good healthy choices for themselves. Today one of our crew members stated that he was ready for rehab, he wants to stop using Heroine. Paulette and Kevin made the arrangements and at the end of the day our friend will be connected. Love never fails and be consent over time builds trust were are friends can then make a good sound descion to bring change into their live. Lights on the Lake brought Light into our crew today!

Food is the entrance into someones heart and is the tool we use to start a new relationship. Today a Ravioli Dinner allowed us to meet our new friend J. Today was first contact and when we came apon J he was sleeping on a bench under a bridge. We seen him, pulled over approached him and checked to see if he was ok. At first J was apprehensive to talk but when we showed him our goodie bag and the lunch we made he was all in. As we talked with him we were noticing that he had some major scrapes, cuts and open wounds that needed mending. We were able to bring him over to our outreach van and clean him and bandaged all his wounds. We were able to provide him new footware and explain what we could do for him with our connections, J was polite and appreciative but did not want any further assistance today. What a great 1st contact today now the journey of building a trusting relationship begins. Keep J in your prayers and thank you for your continued support of our work

John and Leigh Ann 

The Streets can be very ruff for our friends and when you add addiction and mental health to the mix its Life and Death. Today as we were serving a group of our friends lunch one friend (we will call him M) pulled me to the side lifted up his shirt and said he needed to see Doc. When I looked down I seen a huge abscess that needed to be addressed and got him over to see the Doc at the outreach van. M was suffering and in so much pain, once Doc looked at it he said we can bring you relief right now. Doc was prepared to lance the abscess and M was ready to have it done. 15 minutes later the wound was addressed packed, bandaged up and M was given a round of antibiotics with follow up care on Saturday. M was so thankful for our assistance and couldnt stop thanking Doc for his help. This abscess all started from an infected injection site while shooting up and if it was not addressed today could have turn lethal real quick. Our friends will not go to the ER’s because of shame and the stigma that comes with being homeless and a addict. Doc Lehmann’s work is so vital to bringing Value and Dignity to our friends, its priceless services! Doc doing these out of the box treatments save lives and bring Hope to our friends who feel Invisible. Adding Street Medicine to Street Outreach is a no brainer for our community. Is it the best practice probably not is it saving lives absoultely. As Doc says “lets not let the perfect being the enemy of the Good.” Today we did a GOOD thing!