About 95% of the halfway house clients who come to us are homeless. And without resources.
No job. No money. No credit. Many have no identification. Some have only the clothes they're wearing. We often pick them up because they don't have a car.
But after they're with us a few weeks things change. They get food and rest. We help them find work and get their identification. Outfit them with clothes. After they're with us a few months, we even help them with dental work and glasses.
And most of those we help are grateful. Especially those who are serious about their recovery.
But a small percentage, once they start feeling better, begin to complain about the conditions. We make them work. The food's not to their liking. Their room's not nice enough. The complaints go on.
And sometimes they get their family involved - if the family is still talking to them.
When the family chimes in, it's always about how poorly we're treating their baby. We feed them too much pasta. Why do they have to have a roommate? Why did we serve beets and chicken twice in one week? Some of the residents have been in jail. Why do we charge $110 a week? There are a variety of complaints.
Usually the complaints stop when I gently remind them that a few weeks earlier their sweet child was living behind Circle K. Or in a park. Or maybe on a bus bench.
And that the only food they got was from either shoplifting, St. Vincent de Paul, a dumpster - or panhandling.
The complaining always stops when I suggest they let them come back home.
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