 From the desk of
Karen O’Shannacery,
Executive Director
This letter was written by a former Lookout tenant. I think you’ll find it interesting.
- Karen
Adequate housing in recovery
Many people think of "homeless" people as men or women sleeping under bridges, in doorways or simply walking the streets. But I suggest that the word should reflect those situations where an individual has neither a place or domicile of his own or a place in a family or other close-knit group of his or her choosing to live in. This includes those individuals who are "couch surfing" or living with family or friends in less than optimal situations, sometimes in dysfunctional or dangerous situations. And then there are those who are burdened with "living" in tiny, rundown, noisy and even dangerous hotel rooms.
I suppose that I should mention at this point that I moved into a shelter after a failure at recovery; I ended up undertaking the clean and sober path at a Lookout facility; in fact, it became my treatment center.
I told the staff that it was my goal to remain alcohol and drug-free. To that end I enjoyed a good deal of support. After a few months I was able to move into a transitional housing unit; this involved the security of having a two-year lease.
One of the things I discovered through this experience is the importance of having the choice to have a private, self-contained secure and peaceful place of one's own.
It's challenging enough to recover from drug addiction and/or drug addiction without being in contact with people who are not interested in recovery or who are still using or drinking.
And it's not conducive to recovery to be in a place where there is noise, lack of privacy, interference with one's ability to sleep, etc.
One of the gifts of a shelter is that it provides, as in the case of the Lookout, decent accommodation when a person has run out of financial resources. This is particularly helpful when welfare is so much more difficult to obtain, particularly when compared to a decade or so ago.
One thing that is immediately appreciated when becoming a resident of a Lookout shelter is that the staff are generally and genuinely trying to help you; this is a more personal type of service than you will experience at some welfare offices, for example. |
