Street roots., May 01, 2015, Page 10, Image 10

Page 10
New s
Street Roots • May 1-7, 2015
Running
recovery
R unning doesn’t ju st elevate Waldon
A dam s’ mood, it wards off his manic
depression and helps “burn o ff the
medicine” he’s been on since his H IV
transitioned to AID S. The 54-year-old was
honorably discharged from the navy after
he began suffering from PT SD , and been
chronically homelessness due to his mental
and physical illnesses.
P H O TO BY
M A T A IL O N G DU
BY JENNIFER ORTIZ
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
eon colored sneakers and ponchos
contrasted the backdrop of a gray
sky. The sound of raindrops and
rubber pounding the pavement
synchronized to roaring rock and roll music.
Twenty six miles. Five hours and 27
minutes. A familiar feeling of pride and
success overcame Waldon Adams as he
crossed the finish line. Sweat and rain
soaked his body at the completion of his
13th marathon.
It heightens his mood. It wards off his
manic depression. Since his HIV
transitioned to AIDS in 2008, he runs to
“burn off the medicine.” For Adams, the
benefits outweigh the possibility of his
asthma acting up during a run.
“We all have ways we channel our energy.
For Waldon, it’s running ... But without
housing, you can’t pursue any of that,” said
Tom Murphy, the director of communication
for Miriam’s Kitchen, where Adams now
works.
Adams has experienced many episodes of
homelessness in the past 32 years due to
his mental and physical illnesses. He said
that he had been to “all the psych wards and
all the hospitals,” only having a place to
spend the night if he was “sick enough.”
For the past six years, however, living in
S
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an apartment has helped stabilize Adams’
lifestyle. Friendship Place has provided him
with case management and permanent
supportive housing. Former Division
Manager Jill Carmichael managed the
different housing programs and supervised
Adams’ case manager« Friendship Place has
integrated permanent supportive housing
since august 2008, according to Carmichael,
“Permanent supportive housing is the best
intervention for the most vulnerably chronic
homeless individuals in our city,”
Carmichael explained. “It provides safe and
stable housing with intensive case
management ...which we know is cheaper
than leaving them on the street.”
In fact, providing permanent supportive
housing costs almost half of the cost of
providing emergency services. Chronically
homeless individuals live on the streets and
may use emergency shelters and other
emergency services such as emergency
room visits, ambulance rides, hospitalization
etc. This can cost up to $40,843 per person
a year, according to a 2014 report from the
Advisory Board Company. Permanent
supportive housing, where people can be
safe from the elements and thus use less
emergency sendees, has a price tag of
$22,500 per person a year.
The District’s Interagency Council on
Homelessness (ICH) plans to spend more
money on permanent housing in its efforts
to end chronic homelessness by the end of
2017. At a public discussion on the ICH’s
plans for 2015-2020, Kristy Greenwalt, the
director of ICH, said that because it is
spending a lot of money on emergency
shelters it wants to increase the
effectiveness of permanent supportive
housing. This will reduce the need of
emergency shelters, according to
Greenwalt
Adams has plugged in to the community
through the housing and case management
services he receives at Friendship Place. He
was asked to speak at an event at Miriam’s
Kitchen, where they kept in touch and
reached out to him with a job opportunity.
Adams now works as an advocacy fellow for
Miriam’s Kitchen.
“I’m manic, and sometimes I can’t stay on
topic. As time went on, I was asked to speak
more and more,” Adams said the job offer
came as a surprise. “I guess I was speaking
on their talking points, because they offered
me a job.”
The Advocacy Fellow Program at
Miriam’s Kitchen began in January and
Adams is making history as an inaugural
fellow.
Through his new job, Adams has several
speaking engagements lined up. He has
been learning about different housing
See RUNNING, page 11