As one year leaves us another unfolds. Every day at Spirit of Hope is an adventure. We have had such an amazing year. I have a hard time keeping up with all the stories that I want to share while being in the midst of working in all of those "stories". One that I would like to share with you happened just this last month in December. It is and will always be such a sweet ending to the year.
So, our story begins when we received a phone call from the local sheriff's department asking us if we would please take an older man that was homeless. He had been a vagrant for a while and no one in town knew what to do with him. He seemed to have some dementia and he was not a happy camper with most people. It caused our community to not want to deal with him...anymore. When I met with him the first time, I was not sure about him either. He was a bit crotchety, but I figured that he would even out eventually once we figured out what he needed for care, etc. The first night he was fine and the next morning I told him that I would take him up to ER to get his meds refilled. That did not go well. He eventually decided to take the help that we offered, and he went. The ER kept him overnight for medical reasons. I suggested that he needed a higher level of care since he could not very well take care of himself. He denied any help and they released him a day later to the streets of Carson City. Two days later I received another call from one of our sheriff's asking me to please take him again (That day he was found hiding under a bush). This was the time that I decided that no matter how hard to handle this little man was I was going to take a crack at it! They brought him to us.
We quickly got him some new clothes and had him shower. We fed him until, well, he never really ever got full. My men at the home were amazing and so patient. They helped us in the care of and keeping of him. We took him to his doctor and got all of his medications and almost everything replaced that he had lost for identity purposes. After several weeks he started looking so great! His cheeks filled out and he was stronger.
He is now living safely back home with extended family. His road would have been one of freezing and dying out on the streets of our city, but we took him in, and he was able to see his family again. That is the difference Spirit of Hope makes in our community!