Lost generation calls Reno streets home
by Rhina Guidos, Outpost Contributor
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A life slips through system |
The homeless of Generation X, those between ages 18-30 are among the lunch-time crowd who wait for what may be their only meal of the day.
Brad Listman, a Reno resident, was among one of the younger faces a couple years ago. At age 28, he went through a bitter divorce and could not keep a job because of his anger. In his late 20s, the man who came from a middle-class family and once dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player, found himself on the streets..
Younger homeless like Listman are popping up more in soup kitchens in Reno,facing different problems other than heavy drug use and bad post-war experiences afflicting the older homeless.
"I had problems," Listman said. "Depression started, then drinking came in...then it got worse."
Listman was homeless for about eight months, eating out of garbage cans and sleeping underneath trucks.
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Listman was directed to Project Restart, a Reno center aimed at helping problems that cause homelessness, and was helped in getting his life together again.. Project Restart helps by securing housing, mental health counseling, alcohol and drug treatment, child care and medical care.
At Project Restart he met Leigh Ann McGinnis, a social worker and coordinator for the Homeless Assistance Network Delivery System (H.A.N.D.S.).
"Homelessness is a symptom of something else that's happened," McGinnis said.
McGinnis said social problems like alcoholism, drug addiction, mental health, lack of family structure and poor job skills can lead to homelessness for younger people.
She deals with homeless of all ages. The homeless of Generation X have different circumstances from homeless of other generations, but the methods to help them are not always available, McGinnis said.
"Programs to help homeless with problems are geared toward the older people," McGinnis said. "Younger people don't succeed."
For example, one method of treating alcoholism is the 12-step method, which is tailored toward older people. It has religious or spiritual influences that don't always make a connection to the younger alcoholic homeless, or demands a philosophy admitting powerlessness, which is difficult for the younger homeless to relate to or to accept..
In addition, abstinence from alcohol seems like an extreme measure to a lot of them.
Aroma therapy and acupuncture are being used by some, as alternative methods to treat addiction, McGinnis said. But the homeless can't pay the price, and there is little state funding for more innovative treatments.
She said some of biggest problems faced in helping the homeless is the lack of specialized resources for treating changing problems.
"Programs are still trying to cater to old Vietnam vets," McGinnis said. "We haven't met the need."
Listman said he faced no problems in finding resources to help him out of the many problems that lead to his homelessness.
He said he had adequate treatment in dealing with his depression, controlling his anger and controlling his alcohol problems. He was assisted in finding work and suitable housing.
Listman said he occasionally ran into other younger homeless who had drug or mental problems or have fallen apart after a divorce, just like he did. He is now working on getting a forklift license and slowly putting his life back together.
Listman received helped after he asked. Those who do not ask for help are less fortunate.
McGinnis goes to the Truckee river once a week to drainage ditches and the woods to look for those less willing to ask for help and offer the social services of Project Restart.
McGinnis works closely with a program called Homeless Evaluation Liaison Program (H.E.L.P.), which links the Reno Police to agencies dealing with the homeless, such as Project Restart.
Jon Catalano, a police officer involved in H.E.L.P., said he has seen an increase in the number of younger homeless. Catalano said many members of a younger generation live in the streets, in parks and ditches around Reno.
Catalano said younger people end up homeless because they drop out of school, lack of family structure and have fewer blue collar jobs available to them..
"They are less ready to be on their own," Catalano said. "The future isn't very bright."
The future has not held much hope either for an increasing population of mentally-ill younger homeless. Leslie Carter, a 28-year-old woman, was killed in a Reno park last February. McGinnis said Carter was on the streets because of lack of services available to the mentally-ill homeless and Carter's situation was difficult to improve.
McGinnis said success in the fight against homelessness is measured not as a whole but on each person's individual success.
"Sometimes, there's different ways to measure success," McGinnis said.
Success can mean not drinking alcohol for one day or getting permanent housing. They are all small ways of getting stability in a person's life, McGinnis said.
Listman said the younger homeless have a better chance at life than the "old timers who just give up."
Listman said the best thing to do is to set a goal and get on with life. He once dreamed of being a baseball player and was going going to Lassen Community College.
Now he just wants to have a normal life. "I don't want to be homeless again," Listman said. "I can give up anytime but I've got good clothes on my back and good friends...I just want to be happy again."
copyright 12/4/97 Nevada Outpost
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