Compassion vs. Choke Holds: A great story from yesterday's Homeless Authority meeting
JHH and Julie Garcia to the rescue!
As the meeting began yesterday, at one point a lady came into the session. She was very vocal, very belligerent. She was yelling about how could we do this, she was homeless, she was denied medication, and many other things. We all held our breath. She was obviously in a mental health crisis - how were we going to react?
Thankfully, Theresa Sanders, who was standing at the podium at the time, came off the podium and asked her gently and sweetly to please take a seat - which she “kinda” did. She withdrew, muttering, off through a side door for a few minutes, but then we could hear her starting up again. It was such an awkward moment - what to do? Murmuring went around as she proceeded to amp up her volume.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye and behind me (I was sitting toward the front), I saw a few folks in black JHH shirts moving from their seats to the door and this terribly upset lady. Then I faintly heard Julie’s voice, soft yet straightforward. The yelling moved back down to muttering, and then peace.
Julie, Ken, Maurice - the whole JHH crew - saved this vitally important meeting from a potentially awful scene that would have ruined it. Imagine police or security officers, called in to remove this lady. She was not about to leave without a battle, and the screams would have unnerved us all. Yet Julie and her crew, without yelling, without chokeholds, with simple human persuasion and love, got her under control and calmed her down. They did it with firm yet loving kindness. She deserved to be heard, just not there and then. They saved all of us, not just the poor little lady.
I had to pass on this story. There are saints wandering around this town, and I just saw some in action. Lifted my heart for the whole day. Thank you so much, Julie and the JHH crew!
Dan
So glad you let us know how Rachel was helped. Personally, I thought her message, though not the delivery, was so important especially at that meeting. That was her reality and those of us who are trying to come up with a solution who don't live that reality have a lot to learn as she rightly noted. So thankful we have advocates like JHH to be their voice and helping hand.
While I'm flattered to be included in the resolution of Rachel's situation, I actually stayed out of it. I reasoned that having a man she didn't know approach her in a crisis might not end well. That's part of trauma informed care, knowing something about the potential trauma of the situation an measuring your response accordingly. I knew our team would step up and de-escalate the situation, and they did. They took Rachel to the JHH Day Center where she spent most of the day and doing fine.