09-17-2023 GAR - Flipbook - Page 3
Homelessness and Addiction
Two Crises Intrinsically Linked to Each Other
By Gregory J. Alexander, Contributing Writer
“
Homelessness drives people in here, whether if it’s
because they’re on the
street or they’re living in
an encampment, or their addiction has just caused their family or other loved ones to just
say, ‘Look, you know, you can’t
be here anymore,’” says Daniel
Stoltzfus, CEO of Helping Up Mission (HUM, https://helpingupmission.org). HUM has impacted the
lives of those experiencing homelessness, poverty and addiction in
Baltimore by providing individual
care that addresses their physical,
psychological, social and spiritual
needs since 1885. Stoltzfus says
that HUM has a dedicated outreach team that visits locations
where people experiencing homelessness are gathering and congregating to spread the word about
HUM’s services.
“It’s just being there for people in
their time and need. And one thing
that I’ve learned is you can’t force
people to realize that they’re at rock
bottom, and they need to get help.
They have to be willing, but what
we want to do is to be there to catch
them when they are ready,” he says.
“It’s likely that those experiencing
homelessness have also experienced
other traumatic experiences in life,
which may include addiction,” says
Lawanda Williams, chief behavioral health officer at Health Care for
the Homeless (www.hchmd.org), a
nonprofit organization with locations in Baltimore City and Baltimore
County that aims to end homelessness through racially equitable health
care, housing and advocacy.
“The isolation and stigma associated with homelessness can fuel
substance use. Also, using drugs
alone is especially dangerous,”
says Molly Greenberg, R.N., harm
reduction manager at Health Care for
the Homeless.
Stoltzfus says that in Baltimore,
fentanyl remains a particularly dangerous drug, especially due to its lethal nature. “The risk of overdose
and, sadly, death when somebody
uses fentanyl, and the number of
substances now that are being laced
with fentanyl … it’s really reinforced
Photos Above: Molly Greenberg, R.N., harm reduction manager at Health Care for the Homeless
the importance of recovery and sobriety. We have had some losses where
graduates of our program and others
have relapsed, and fentanyl is just one
of those things that is likely going to
end in serious health issues or death
if somebody relapses,” says Stoltzfus.
“It’s that much of a life and death
struggle right now. I’ve described it
like Russian roulette with bullets in
more of the chambers … it’s a scary
situation.
“That being said, we continue to
see with our community that the
number one drug of choice coming in
is often alcohol – about 40% of our
residents’ main addiction is alcohol,”
says Stoltzfus.
Williams says that as a native
Baltimorean, she doesn’t believe that
the opioid epidemic is anything new
but, rather, it’s gained more attention
as it’s affected more demographics.
Personalized Approach to Care
Health Care for the Homeless’
Williams, who has been at the
organization for 13 years and oversees the behavioral health division,
including psychiatry, addiction, case
management, community health,
housing services, and more, says that
her team aims to “meet people where
they are,”which she explains is not only
in the physical manner, but also where
patients are emotionally.
“We engage with individuals to
find the care that they are ready for,
realizing that for some people sobriety is not the only option at this moment. There is so much shame associated with addiction already, so the
last thing we want to do is to attach
shame to any services we provide,”
she says.
One of the approaches that Health
Care for the Homeless uses is harm
reduction, which Harm Reduction
International explains as “a set of
policies, programs and practices that
aim to minimize the negative health,
social and legal impacts associated
with drug use, drug policies and drug
laws. Harm reduction is grounded in
justice and human rights.”
Greenberg notes that previously
patients were required to meet with
a therapist in order to access medications as part of a medical assisted
treatment (MAT) plan. “Research
