silly things

Just a quick update! Shuchi can now be referred to as Shoe String....the hilarious Outreach guys (Stevie and Duffy) decided they couldn't pronoune or remember her real name. Also, for some reason, we've discovered something that we all have in common: a fascination with scary movies, specifically those involving demonic possession? We watched The Exorcist on Jay's computer yesterday afternoon (just, odd timing & movie choice all around, right?) And then last night had a movie night and watched The Exorcism of Emily Rose. This is how we spend our down time at the shelter....haha! I hear its roughly -30 in Wisconsin....stay warm everyone! My poor car is probably dead in the parking lot of Oak Tree apartments as we speak :(
Right now some of our group is going along with Megan, the woman in charge here, to pick up food from a food pantry & bring it back here. Christine is cooking lunch, she's such an open & friendly woman, and an AMAZING cook. I got to talking to her & she, similar to many of the staff here, was also an addict not too long ago. She's 46 and now has a daughter who is a sophomore in college. It is really heartwarming to see thriving, happy people who were once in the same sad position as some of the people who are in the shelter now.
We've gotten to know most of the folks in the Access Program, which is an program for those who are on their way to complete sobriety. They help with the cleaning & are really prominent around here. I talked to one of them yesterday, he told me he wasn't feeling well & I asked him what was wrong & he told me "its the withdrawal...". Even though its a sensitive subject, I could tell that he was happy just to have someone care about how he is doing...very motivating to continue in this field of work (for me anyway). We also met a couple, Nicole and Scott, who were both IV drug users and are now trying to get into the Access Program. We hadn't seen them for a day or two, and then yesterday saw Scott come into the shelter by himself. A few of us asked him where his wife was, and he sadly told us that she owed jail time (40 days, for mouthing off to a cop I think) and was serving it so she could have a clean slate and get on the road to sobriety. We could tell he was sad, but at the same time, he had hope for the two of them and their life once she got out. Although a lot of the people we encounter seem to have no intention of quitting this lifestyle, the ones that really DO want to change their life are the ones that give me hope for all of them.

Brit