First allow me to apologize for such a long delay between news briefs. As much as our editor Bill S. has been holding up his end of things just fine, grandiosity led Doc astray once again. He figured adding videos to these news briefs would be a breeze. The idea is to improve comprehension via conceptualization. Unforeseen challenges of confidentiality, stigma, reviving traumatic experiences and so on, presented some hurdles. They put this current production in a quagmire of contemplation. Stigma is an evil thing! It makes some folks prefer to keep their affiliation with VSN’s ARMOR Program quiet. I mean, they may be labeled as addicts and then get disenfranchised too or bullied by hypocritical community service providers. Who can blame them!
We started working from our Central Street office in 2012 and by 2016 it was clear, active addiction disorders are unable to make appointments. Furthermore, a Harm Reduction approach was imperative to keeping clients alive long enough to heal. So, we took to the streets and tent-city dwellings. It is quite sad today, to watch them shuffle about while two huge courthouse buildings (one fenced-in) no use to anybody, while active addiction freezes to death nearby.
Fearlessly facing disenfranchisement is the land of the free and tent-city dwelling is home of the brave. Some of the most comforting words Doc has heard these days are: “good night, I’m going home to sleep” and she means alone in her tent. Doc always reassures our tent-city dwellers there is no shame in living in a tent, our Native American ancestors did for centuries and now they too are overwhelmed with our opioid overdosing crisis. “The opioid epidemic has hit different Minnesota communities disproportionately. Native Americans in the state are six times more likely to die of an overdose than white residents — the widest race-based disparity of any US state — a statistic local health advocates ascribe to the historical trauma of being displaced by settlers…” (Nidhi Subbaraman, 2018). Note how trauma, how being displaced plays a role culturally, as well as individually. So, let’s displace traumatized young adults over and over because they rely on opioids to deal with their reality. A reality quite possibly tainted by neglect, abuse, or exploitation, during childhood.
Trust and confidentiality are major components of any addiction remission process, and they are extremely challenging to develop within those traumatized as children. When we provide confidentiality, a sense of security and comfort begins to develop. Being traumatized often involves victims feeling a degree of shame, guilt, and embarrassment; it’s not usually up for copyright infringement opportunities either! As much as non-judgmental dialogue is essential to re-internalizing and healing, sharing such dark stuff requires being selective of trustworthy souls, and keeping their dark secrets safe is critical to efficacy. Well, this is where Doc hit a fence post and then sat atop of it for several weeks. How to ensure the dark stuff is selectively revealed to help form a resolve for our homeless addiction disorders became the struggle; it became a whirlwind rather than a breeze. Affirmation in combination with living arrangements, nutritional sustenance, and hygienic resources holds the key, we believe! Assisting our community leaders with learning how to administer medicinal healing affirmation is on this News Brief’s agenda. It’s a very different concept from bullying and/or corralling these wounded beings into compliance.
From our perspective, Finland has got a piece of this puzzle in place already – a no preconditions housing arrangement. “You can call it a principle, a service model or a philosophy; the main thing is treating homeless people like everybody else — people who have the same rights and see housing as a human right. So, the housing first principle means that you give a homeless person a home, a flat, or a rental flat with a contract, without preconditions. You are not required to solve your problems or get sober, for example, to get a permanent home. And then, when you have this home, you can get support to solve your issues. This is a simple basic principle of housing first” (Tahiat Mahboob). This strategy provides an inherent layer of affirmation too, two major components of Slim’s survival. We have two empty courthouse buildings doing nothing for our community but wasting space.
Before viewing our accompanying video, let’s please engage a brief cognitive exercise by doing some brainstorming together. Special note: the following dialogue is mostly fictional and used merely to help better convey the medicinal concept of affirmation. This dramatization is not related to anyone known to VSN, although we’ve encountered similar degrees of childhood trauma over the years. Ok, ready? Envision an infant child snuggled in blankets, alone and asleep in a crib.
Now, what do you think happens if this infant child is left alone for days, waking and crying, with no human response from anywhere, over and over. Wow, then all of a sudden someone appears at the crib, feeds this little darling, changes the bedding, and puts on fresh clothing. This child feels the touch and presence of another human being and begins to thrive! Nonappearance happens again though, days go by, and nobody arrives at the crib. The child is barely touched, seldom held, and completely unsure of being loved or cared for in any reliable manner. This child is unaffirmed. And what do you think develops inside as this child becomes a toddler, receiving only droplets of attention or human response, here and there? Trusting others never enters the mind and severe emotional deprivation becomes an ever-present reality. What sort of survival strategies do you think evolve? Where do such adult-children find their niche in life, still craving what they were entitled to receive when very young? Do birds of a feather flock together? Is it for affirmation? Is their place to call home roosting among other disenfranchised community members, like our addiction disorders and tent-city dwellers? Yes, it is! When one feels unworthy of being loved, where else can they find a miniscule amount of social acceptance and loving comfort?
Enough said! Enjoy the clip and watch how an inspirational network of individuals invite and encourage, with healing affirmation, Slim to take that leap of faith, face her fears, and jump into new cleansing waters. Watch Slim’s friend Alex provides healing affirmation by visiting our tent-city dwellers with supplies. See how placing a piece of art inside a custom-made wooden frame says, “you are worthy of love and respect, Slim.” And please note, Slim is Representative of many of our homeless addiction disorders, even if well fed, loved, and cared for during early childhood. Trauma can change the rules of anyone’s game at any time!
Nice work Doc!