Securing legislative funding to address homelessness can feel like a roller coaster. In Massachusetts, provider and peer activists have spent the last five years fighting for resources for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness, with ups and downs along the way.
After almost 15 years as a model client in a Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) program, I performed a medically supervised withdrawal from methadone maintenance therapy nine months ago. Although the “acute” phase of detoxifying from the drug was relatively easy and took a couple of weeks to accomplish, I was completely unprepared for what came next and has lasted through today. I was tormented by numerous challenges after completing MAT: Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS), resurgence of long dormant Bipolar 2 symptoms, and a new and profound psychological and physical response to repetitive traumatic events that I had experienced.
My journey working with homeless young adults began eleven years ago. I interviewed for a case manager position at Youth on Fire (YOF), a daytime drop-in center for homeless young adults ages 14-24 in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA. I had just moved from the Midwest, and remember saying to YOF’s youth hiring committee, “I don’t know the resources around here yet, but I can promise that if you let me into your lives, I will be the biggest cheerleader you’ve ever had.” They did let me into their lives, and over the next eleven years, they taught me not simply to cheer for them, but how to support them as they navigated through the world. Below are some of the most important lessons I learned in over a decade of sharing laughter and tears, tragedy and triumph, and despair and hope with an incredible community of young people.
On Thursday of last week, the New York Times printed the following statement on their opinion page, Room for Debate, entitled Homes for the Homeless:
