Shelterlessness occurs when individuals lacking inner resources
reject assistance from relational and/or outside sources due to their
inability to process rational thought. This cognitive disconnect is
often the result of untreated mental illness or substance abuse.
Intervention is often required to begin reestablishing stable
habitation.
Jane was a Shelterless woman who refused countless attempts by
mental health workers, paramedics, and police to seek medical
care for her deteriorating physical condition. After discovering her
urine had created an infected ulcer on her foot, seven different
individuals from four different public services told Jane they would
get a judge to order her to be sent to the hospital. Jane relented
and went with them to the emergency room. Three hours later, she
walked out of the hospital in a hospital gown and died of exposure.
We call Jane’s fractured habitation Unaware Shelterlessness.
Two major types of Shelterlessness are:
MENTALLY ILL - Due to untreated mental illness, these individuals are unable to
understand or access relational, inner, material, and outside
resources. This causes the individual to live in areas that are unfit
for human habitation.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE - These individuals possess an overwhelming desire for a substance
that leads them to sacrifice their relational, inner, material, and
outside resources to obtain it. This causes the individual to live in
areas unfit for human habitation.
The Team at Hand Up Housing NFP
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