Blog, I

One of the more common problems facing the unsheltered community isn’t lack of shoes…it’s lack of properly fitting shoes. With the incrrase of diabetes in this demographic rising regularly, foot care and monitoring is one of the concerns dealt with by many clinicians servicing the homeless.

Got to admit, you’ve either got to be insane or love caring for people in the health field. One person I befriended had left his shoes and socks on for a month, to the point of not being able to walk. I ended up having to take them off myself while he nearly passed out on a picnic table bench my family had ate just an hour ago on.

If you’re in the giving mood, rather than purchasing a pair of shoes that might not fit, check with the outlet to see if they have store gift cards. Put the money; and amount for tax and extra laces to be on the safe side; on the card and give personally to someone you see, rather than drop in a gift box.

Trust me…it won’t go wasted if it’s a place they can get access to. If not, throw in a few bus transit tokens for good measure. You can buy yourself a pair of golf shoes for your generosity

Half a block away I watched someone quietly select their spot for some rest, while others were eating at a local shelter blocks farther off. Normally I’d expect sleepers after meal periods served locally, so chances are he was able to work today, already ate something from the store, and knew he was relatively safe from being bothered while everyone else was in meal lines.

This is actually one of the safest means of sleeping…out in the open. It’s more dangerous to rest your head in a concealed area. In the middle of a parking lot, anybody approaching you directly tends to kick in a ’sixth sense’.

I thought about getting closer, but he obviously needed the rest. The distant blur kind of adds to the moment.

---

Feel free to eMail or visit my project Homeless In Jax.

The other morning I was ’spotting’ for things on the way to work, and noticed that what I mistook for Georgia smoke was actually fog in front of a wooded area. Click the thumbnail for the larger image.

---

Feel free to eMail or visit my project Homeless In Jax.

At over 80 degrees, the woman faces away from the bus stopped meters away from the sign, bench, and her. She sits eating crackers and cheese spread from a can.

In the area of town where she’s at, there aren’t any services. Three other women were spotted within the same half hour, coming from their hiding places with their belongings in baskets and wheeled luggage.

They’re older and alone, keeping away from others after experiences of beatings and rapes by both men and women, sometimes also homeless while at other times not. In the light of day, in the middle of a parking lot, sitting quietly and alone she’s able to find peace in the heat wearing her coat and nibbling at her crackers and cheese.

As long as she’s wearing it with her arms in it’s sleeves, nobody will try to grab it as easily if it was in a bag or next to her. Before nightfall, she’ll go to her place she hopes is safe that others don’t know about.

---

Feel free to eMail or visit my project Homeless In Jax.

Originally taken Sunday, June 11, 2006 at 5:00 pm in the downtown Jacksonville area. A three officer bike unit, with one being a female. Figure out what was going on that day, that would have cops actively checking homeless people downtown.

Mind you…the guy’s sitting down. Not in cuffs. The female officer’s giving someone in another vehicle who just stopped directions. They’re running him, but he’s not in cuffs…no beer or bottle nearby…you figure it out.

---

Around the same period, I spotted this while leaving the Sulzbacher Campus. Many times I’ve spotted things…errr…out of the ordinary on the fence, in trees…just about everywhere. Nothing dangerous or inappropriate to post here…just…different.

I’ll be a gentleman and not relate personal health issues, other than I had to leave work three hours early yesterday. Came home and hit the sack after taking an antibiotic and ibuprofen. Couple hours later, I wasn’t in pain…just drained.

On the way home I managed to get a nice distance shot of two men. From the looks, they were on break from ‘volunteering’ or ‘program duties’, relaxing. There were two other shots of women with children, but I haven’t been able to do anything graphically with them to be able to display them without them identified. I tried a few different techniques of masking, but I think I’m being critical of my own work too much…the pics were that good to me!