It was the best of cases, it was the worst of cases. It's also an unflattering social parallel where my latest homeless sidekick, Andy Rios, plays the real-life nonfictional protagonist with a virtuous and congenial nature.
In this lateral and contemporary Dickens satire, Rios fell into an abyss -- an 8 month homeless odyssey of life on the street, pushing a shopping cart.
Rios, by all accounts, has a regulated but challenging mental health obstacle. After his mother passed some time ago, he was left to fend for himself in a one bedroom subsidized apartment and he seemed to get by on his own with little help. That was until his one bedroom apartment became disqualified for the rent subsidy which landed him on the street with little notice. For Rios, this predicament is more than just a brain teaser of the crossword solving variety -- it's a debilitating arch villain.
Fortunately for Rios, when you're homeless and on the streets of Tampa a deputy will eventually find you and get you help if you need it -- and, in Rios' case he needed it. After hearing about him in the first email detailing where and how to find him, it was still a few months before I would be able to hunt him down. That's because of his kindred, under the radar demeanor -- he doesn't make waves and isn't the typical source of complaints.
After a co-op of patrol deputies finally unearthed him and alerted me to his location, a quick assessment led to the startling familiarity that he should never have been homeless. He was equipped with his ID card, a monthly disability check, and food stamps -- now he just needed help finding shelter from the anemic fallout of the streets.
As a matter of newly acquired protocol, we don't refer or direct the homeless on where or how to get help -- they get in our back seat and we drive them there. With the homeless initiative in full-swing we know in advance which resources are the most likely to offer the right type of assistance based on their individual circumstances.
When Rios was ultimately snared and evaluated, it wasn't much more than a 3-hour investment in time and resources before we found him a place to stay and shelter from the boulevards and byways of his aimless odyssey of life on the streets.
A special Thanks to Deputy Owen, Deputy Delre, and Deputy Thomas who helped make it happen.
See Andy Rios' story covered by Jeff Butera in the ABC Action News segment posted at the lower end of this blog.
Steve
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