Homeless is a series of diaries I have been writing since August 20, 2015, several weeks after I became homeless. PADS is the organization that is in charge of the homeless shelters where I stay nearly every night, and provides assistance signing up for available services, job searches, etc.
Homeless 50 is a compilation of information that might make understanding various acronyms and recognize some of the people a little better. You are welcome to start with Homeless Now and work through the other diaries, but starting with Homeless 50 may give you a jump start.
We were back in Medinah last night. If you read Medinah each week and think, “Hey, I think I’ve heard of that place,” maybe you’re a golfer? Tiger Woods won the Western Open at Medinah, I believe. Not in the Baptist Church where I sleep on Saturdays, but nearby.
The floors in the different sites are very important to me. I would rate the padded gymnasium floor at Our Savior’s in Carol Stream probably highest in comfort-providing. Next, the couple of wooden floors and carpet-covered floors (Our Saviour’s in Naperville, First Methodist in West Chicago, Redeemer Lutheran in Hinsdale and others) would place as fairly comfortable.
The tile-on-concrete floors come next – St. Isidore’s in Bloomingdale, the faux marble at the Synagogue in Lombard and Wood Dale Community Church.
The tile floors in Medinah are another level, though: Hard, yes – but also amazingly well waxed and slippery. At most sites, I can wear socks overnight, and can (thanks to the chair) raise off the pad and walk to the bathroom. At Medinah when I place my left foot on the floor, it always feels like it’s going to slip-slide away. My friend Kathy (owner of my BFF doggie friend, Bristol) gave me some of those socks that have rubber on the soles – but I tend to forget them, on Saturday nights. So, I end up barefoot or with flip flops.
Last night I woke up just as the time jumped from 2 am back to 1 am, pulled off those slippy socks, and headed off for the bathroom. On the way there, I thought, “Hey… did I kick some liquid?” When I returned from the bathroom, my foot proved that yes, I had kicked some liquid, and I nearly took a header as I slipped along that wet, all ready slick tile.
I went out to the volunteer, explained the situation, and returned to my mat to keep anyone else from walking through it. There was a new woman there last night – we learned this morning that she was dropped off by the police – who was walking through the women’s area and over to the women’s room about every 10 minutes. The volunteer gave me a little basket of towels, so I wiped up the water as best I could in the dark.
It must have been good enough, because no one fell. I played with my phone for a bit (there’s this game called Fruit Bump that keeps me busy much longer than it should), watching the new woman walk back and forth between her pad and the women’s room, and then fell back asleep.
I still have no idea where the water came from… Maybe the lady walking back and forth had gotten a cup of water and spilled it, or someone with a pad near me had brought a cup of water to their pad, and then knocked it over. It was dangerous as hell, though.
There are so many awesome things about Medinah. The volunteers are top-notch, and go out of their way to make us feel welcome. The food is amazing. Some of the pillows are wonderfully fluffy (you wouldn’t believe how many flat pillows PADS has at most sites.) All of the pads are the new thicker pads. The volunteers set out pads, chairs, and make up the beds with fitted and flat sheets and a blanket folded on top.
But that slippery floor is a killer!
We got to sleep an extra hour last night. That was lovely! Let’s do that again next weekend, ok?
The woman who had spent the night traveling between her pad and the woman’s room couldn’t find her purse – it was found near the women’s room later, but she had all ready left the premises. We found out that she had been de-toxing, which I guess was why she couldn’t settle down and sleep.
Vito, who is in charge of the PADS group at Medinah, drives clients who don’t have vehicles to the train station or to a church that allows PADS clients to watch some tv, take naps or eat lunch (or all of those things.)
I went to Soap Opera Laundromat and did laundry, which sounded like more fun to me. Candy was planning to head to “Quick Tests” to rate some movie trailers and earn a few bucks. I may give that a try next week. I’m a little concerned about having enough money for gas and the motel (until I get reimbursed) for the judging job in mid-November, so earning a few bucks for gas may be helpful.
That’s the news from the homeless at the Lisle Public Library.
© 2015 sheddhead – not to be used without written consent of the author, unless quoting portions of this diary on DailyKos, with links back to the original quotation