On April 30th,  we looked at the main barriers to individuals obtaining and maintaining housing.  Wendy pointed out that individuals must have employment in order to enter transitional and private party housing.  Even those who have employment are often unable to maintain employment due to recurring issues with substance abuse, which is the largest single contributing factor to homelessness.

We discussed issues of healing, specifically spiritual healing associated with recovery.  Jim Trefil did a brief presentation on the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and their relationship to the principles of the Oxford Group, a non-denominational group espousing “first-century Christian principles.”

The four “procedures” of the Oxford Group were: (1) The sharing of our sins and temptations with another Christian life given to God; (2) Surrender our life past, present and future, into God’s keeping and direction; (3) Restitution to all whom we have wronged directly or indirectly; and (4) Listening for God’s guidance, and carrying it out.

Jim discussed each of these procedures in turn, demonstrating how each related to one or more of AA’s 12 steps.  The first procedure, for example, correlates closely with AA’s 4^th (moral inventory), 5^th (admission of “exact nature of wrongs” to God, self, and another human being) and 12^th steps (carrying the message to others). 

The second procedure tracks AA’s 3^rd step, in which alcoholics make a decision to turn their will and their lives over to the care of God.  The third procedure tracks AA’s 8^th and 9^th steps, which direct the alcoholic to identify all those he has harmed, and to make direct amends to as many of these people as possible.

The fourth, and last, Oxford Group procedure is AA’s 11^th Step, in which the alcoholic carries out, on a daily basis, his decision to abandon self-will (“dying to self”) in favor of God’s will, a will he discerns through continual prayer and meditation.

Viewed in this light, Jim pointed out that AA, although it is open to all religions, has a deep Christian foundation.  The concepts of confession and restitution, or as Jim called it, a reckoning, are well known in Christianity, and following the 12 Steps might be a good course for any Christian to follow, whether alcoholic or not.

We subsequently discussed the application of the 12 steps, and how members of the Healing Place do so in their day-today lives.  Jim and Ron Smith, another Healing Place graduate, shared at length about some of the difficulties in following such a path, but both agreed that the rewards were well worth it.

For those who do find the spiritual healing needed to overcome their addiction, they often are unable to find employers who are willing to give them a job due to their job history or criminal record.  In the current tough economic times we are seeing far more clients successfully complete The Healing Place program just to find themselves homeless and jobless, sleeping in the overnight shelter. 

We talked about the role the church can play in helping to connect individuals who have successfully completed recovery programs and who have demonstrated a desire to turn their lives around.  One of the most significant ways congregations can help is to connect graduates with potential employers.  Congregational volunteers can also serve as career mentors helping job seekers surf the Internet, prepare for interviews, and preparing resumes.  However the most valuable gift the career mentor brings is hope.  Many become depressed and discouraged when faced with closed doors and rejection.  Prayer, encouragement and the fact that someone cares can make the difference between someone persevering through this difficult transition or returning to the street.

This past Thursday, Erika Haskins from Homeward was with us and she shared with us some information about the homeless network system. She emphasized the gaps that exist on either end of the spectrum in prevention and in permanent housing stability and the two year process that people in homelessness go through in order to get from one end of the spectrum to the other. Beyond those needs we talked about having a one stop- service site for the homeless. A place where certain kinds of services are provided depending on what the needs are and what can be maintained with order. There are other models of sites that are doing this and homeless services providers are finding these one-stop sites to be very helpful. Through these sites, people in homelessness can get what they need in one place instead of having to travel across a city, most likely without funds, to get to another service provider . We didn’t get a chance to break into groups and discuss how the church could meet the needs of some of the gaps that Erika talked about. As you blog, consider your personal assets document- these are assets that are tangible( car, house, a job, etc) as well assets that are not, such as spiritual gifts (teaching, encouragement, mercy, etc)…how could you use the assets that you have to help in the gaps that exist in the homeless system that Erika spoke about? Also, feel free to discuss any other ideas that you have from the conversation that night, or any questions.

Hello to our Spring 2009 Evening Workshop of Unity Works. As we explained in our first session, you will have to participate in the blogs weekly- sharing your thoughts and ideas about the book as well as what we may have discussed in the workshop session.

This past week was our first session, which was an introduction to Unity Works and understanding the break down of the homeless population and their needs in a very general sense. We posed this question to the group: what do you think are some of the biggest obstacles that prevent us from reaching solutions to the issues of poverty? There was a wide array of answers from, ignorance, lack of understanding, and fear… to politics, government/red tape, and money. The question is, with all of these obstacles, how would anyone know where to begin or even how to begin? Obviously there are numerous obstacles to overcome, but we believe that by sharing with you some of biggest  barriers our clients face that you will understand the system a little bit better and have a better idea of how and where to plug into helping overcome some of those barriers for some of those within the homeless system.

There is no better way of starting, than by understanding where you are in how you serve those in the city right and which direction you may want to go in the future? Your homework assignment for this first session was to read the Perkins book, Chapter 14 and to decide what type of servant you are, as well as doing the Assets packet. Please respond to this blog by discussing some of the obstacles that were not mentioned, or the type of servant that you are or anything that you found to be interesting within the reading.

Jim Trefil was our speaker this past week; he served as a peer mentor at The Healing Place and now works with us at Caritas Works and Embrace Richmond. He educated us on the history of The Healing Place and then went into the specifics of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).  We learned that day, that AA was founded in 1935, and Bill Wilson was helped by Ebby Thatcher who became sober through the Oxford Group. The Ox ford Group was not about substance abuse, but rather it was a religious group that professed early Christian teachings turning away from denominational separations. It most importantly had a plan of action which included the 4 procedures Jim mentioned .The first procedure was “examine and share sins and temptations with another Christian, use that sharing to witness to others,” which related to the 4th, 5th and 12th step in AA. The 2nd procedure was to “surrender all of life into God’s direction,” which is the 3rd step in AA. The third procedure is to “make restitution to all we have directly or indirectly harmed,” which is the 8th and 9th step. The fourth and final procedure was to “listen to and carry out God’s guidance in all things,” which is the 11th step. These were not to help get sober but to encourage members to live up to the teachings of Christ, which we undoubtedly see in our guys from the Healing Place as they partake in Community with one another. As we stated in the workshop that day, all of you will be invited to see a Community session at the Healing Place, so you can see some of these principles come to life.

Substance Abuse affects 60-70% of the homeless population and as Rudy and Jim both said it takes healing to get past it. This healing does not just occur in dealing with the issue of substance use, but rather getting to what is deeper. The founders of AA became sober because they understood that it took something greater than them to heal their lives and their need for alcohol, it took understanding God and who they were in God. We heard Rudy say that over the door at the Healing Place a sign says, “Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Taken,” sometimes we all have to understand that God created each of us uniquely and that in itself is part of the healing process. Through the process at the Healing Place the men that leave there find a “God of their understanding” in order to really make it, one of our Americorps members, Charles, always says, “ If you don’t get the God part of the program you don’t get the program and you’ll be back.” After hearing Jim give the history, and Rudy share his story and his faith, how comfortable are you with, “God of my understanding?”  Or both of the guys mentioned that their church is “The Healing Place,” what is your response to that? Our friends found healing through Alcoholics Anonymous and guidance of “The Big Book”, not the Church. Or maybe I should ask, what is the church? Please feel free to discuss.