The benefits of being a social worker

While the rest of Bloomington was probably drinking or doing something outrageous, like throwing cinderblocks through people's bedroom windows, the social service agencies in town participated in a "homeless count" on Wednesday night. Most communities across the U.S. participated in the homeless count, which includes a day count and a night count. During the day, volunteers interview willing participants at the local day shelters and soup kitchens, acquiring the data to maintain our much needed funding. The homeless participants are given incentives to participate, such as winter hats, long johns, and bus tickets. I volunteered for the night count, which is a little different. Small teams are sent to more remote areas of the community, known to be safe havens and camps for the homeless. My team was sent to the west side of town to follow the railroad tracks. We even got our very own police officer to keep us "safe." While there are some potential dangers, like running into someone who is beligerently drunk or out of their mind, my biggest fear was related to trying to walk down the railroad tracks without breaking my ankle. This fear made me very glad to have a police officer (with a radio) ready and available for whatever emergency situation we might find ourselves in. Mostly I felt like I was in a movie, walking around the railroad tracks at night looking for "fresh prints" with our giant flashlights. We did find some footprints, which we of course followed into the woods. Sadly we never found any homeless people, only a broken grocery cart in the middle of the woods. Of course I'm not actually sad that we didn't find anyone to interview - I am very grateful those who live outside did find a place out of the snow for the night. I'm not really sure why the national organizers of the homeless count choose January for the count, most of us in colder regions can't give accurate numbers. Those who choose to live outside for most of the year are very resourceful in finding a shelter during the colder winter months, sleeping on someone's couch (like Jenn?), on a porch, in an apartment with 10 other homeless men, and the list goes on and on. Maybe one day we'll have a count in the summer that can be an accurate picture of just how many people actually live outside in camps. Until then, I'll stick to counting them in the snow, doing what any good social worker would do - abiding by the rules of the funding source.