I see Chris all the time. Every time I go over to the east side Chris is there. She's really an interesting person. It's incredibly difficult to understand her. But, at the same time, I feel like she is quite aware of what is going on around her. I just set up a computer at the Bad Dog Factory and Chris was the first person to use it.
But she clearly is severely mentally ill. Her daughter tells me that Chris no longer recognizes her. Chris gets a check from the government for her mental disabilities. But it is usually scavenged by the local drug dealers the day it hits her bank account. I believe they take advantage of her by selling low-quality drugs for above-market prices. Chris usually doesn't have money for cigarettes or anything else.
I have no idea where Chris sleeps.
I know she roams around her neighborhood a lot. But I couldn't tell you if she has blankets or a soft place to sit or lay down. If I had to guess I'd say she doesn't.
There is no possible way I could imagine Chris navigating the system to get into housing in her current state. But I have a slight hope that she might move her routine to a stable safe sleeping space if it had heat and a place to sit down. And then if we can get her stable in that area, maybe we could introduce her to some service providers that would help her move to the next phase of her life.
People like Chris are the people I think of when I think about this safe sleeping space.
We all know that there are no mental hospitals in America for Chris.
She was in jail earlier this year for a couple months. But no one took notice of her. She just came right back out on the street wearing the exact same clothes she wore when she went in. Nothing changed.
Would you be willing to share this petition with your friends? We already have 33 signatures. I think if we could get to 100 signatures that would show the mayor that there is an interest in giving this a try.
Thank you so much for all you do to support this group of people in Akron.
Sage