NOVEMBER 3, 2023 JAIL CORRESPONDENT Let’s talk about jail in Washtenaw County Hi, this is vendor #583, and I want to talk about jail in Washtenaw County. We’re locked down here pretty much all the time. We have two times we get out. For 18 hours we’re locked down. That’s a long time. I’ve been working on a class, that helps me to get out more — if we’re not on complete lockdown like I was a few weeks ago. It’s harder to be a woman in jail because we get work cards and still have a lockdown. Guys get to work and they clean the whole jail and they get to go outside. Girls have a harder time. We have mental health services here which we do not have much access to. There are no one-on-ones. Court helps get us to rehab. You have to use this “kiting” [an informal request or complaint system] on everything. Say you want to talk to someone like the chaplain, or the mental health workers. They give you this “kite” and you fill out your first name, last name, what block you’re from. Mine is G. You get a pen, and you have kite paper, and then mental health sends you some coloring pages or crossword. Keeps you busy. The kite system is our way to complain on any issue. You send the kite, and it goes in the care of the officers; they don’t have to accept your kites. Then medical has their own kiting system to see the doctors and to get meds or see the dentist. Doctor visits are now $10 and dentists $10. We have a dayroom TV. As I was saying, there are two times you get out. There are two levels. Level time. We can buy coffee, pop, clothes, underwear, socks, boxers, shampoo, or body wash in jail, lol. We wear all white to go to bed in, white T-shirts, socks and our long johns. It’s a very cold and hard place to be in. Once you’re locked down it’s very BEVERLY BOSS Groundcover vendor No. 583 1 gets out in the morning, and the second level gets out in the afternoon, and then we’re all locked down after that. Today I got out from 1-3:30 p.m. Back out 8-11:30. That is our long day. Short days are 8:30 a.m. till 11 a.m., 4:30-7 p.m. And if you’re lucky you get classes while you’re locked down :) We have to wear shower shoes and uniforms and only get to wash clothes once a week. Back to the work card mentioned in the first paragraph: if you work, the hours add up and you could earn early release. But it's still up to the judge. We can have a tablet that you can use as a phone and watch videos or podcasts, but we have to order them from the store with money. Say your family wants to put money on your account. Your family puts money on the commissary (it’s new, now, so it’s called eXpressAccount.com). You take the money, buy a movie or something else, and put money towards your store where you can add it to your phone hard. Some don’t have family or friends, and you feel like you’re forgotten about. Lots of girls and guys have mental health problems and nowhere to go. It's a very sad, hard, cold place to look at yourself. You look forward to mail from outside, you look forward to being visited and a little money on commissary. It’s all every jailmate looks forward to, a phone call. The struggle in some jails is needing a phone call and having no kite, no one to help you out, and so you beg other jailmates to help with phone calls. It took me three weeks to get a hold of my dad. The jail up north [in Standish, Michigan] is very cold and very hard and you feel no hope and it feels like you’re forgotten. Thank God I have Groundcover News. I would never have had anyone to reach out to in isolation but for Lindsay at Groundcover News. It has been a big blessing to me. Like a sister, she never left my side and has gone above and beyond to help me out. Washtenaw Camp Outreach has been amazing. The help and support I have been getting has been so much appreciated. I could never really show how much it means to me. I have been blessed to be a Groundcover vendor. I have family I never had before and a job that helps me to grow, with life’s ups and downs. I also want to thank the readers and customers for their support. You guys are amazing to me. That's it on jail. I’m going to say bye “till next time.” It takes a village to raise a baby and I think it takes a village to help people with mental health issues. People outside jail [on the street] need a hand. Our push, our kind word or hug, our prayer, our ear, someone to listen to you, compassion. We need to lift people up, and some have more than others. Start helping someone you see on the street; people need people. I don’t want to be forgotten in a cold place. I feel love and worth now. I am working on me, and I have family and friends and support. This is my “kite” to my readers, my hope. I started at Groundcover News and you let me have a voice. I once did not have one. I am nothing without you and Groundcover. I want more mental health and help for “the veterans,” and more love and joy to spread. So if you see someone down outside, just a kind word can go a long way — letting street veterans know they are cared about and not forgotten. It’s not all about money — it’s thought, companionship, fellowship, that people need. Over and out. Groundcover News salutation, vendor No. 583. GROUNDCOVER NEWS 15 FACTORS from page 4 discrimination and housing discrimination hurt many, leaving them homeless. Perhaps a possible solution for the current chaotic state of affairs could be a rise in open co-op housing, similar to that for university students. There are two types of underemployment: visible and invisible. Visible underemployment is underemployment in which an individual works fewer than full-time hours in their chosen field. Invisible underemployment refers to the employment situation in which an individual is unable to find a job in their chosen field, and is paid much lower than their customary wages. “Not in the Labor Force” is actually a third type of underemployment in which individuals cannot find suitable work and quit the labor force altogether. In 2020, the underemployment rate skyrocketed after the market crash. The combination of underemployment, stagnant wages and job layoffs contribute to homelessness. Mind Your Own Mental Health It is estimated that up to six percent of all American adults suffer from some type of mental health issue. Among the homeless, this rate rises to 20-25%. Although Washtenaw County has remarkable mental health services, many individuals go untreated, sometimes in combination with substance use. Mental illness sometimes is just the way the brain is wired, and is biochemical in nature. Thus, mental illness is not the individual’s fault. Soldiers returning from World War I, WWII, Korea and Vietnam had mental issues termed as Shell-Shock, now known as post traumatic stress disorder. This contributed to homelessness, and was sometimes tied to domestic abuse and job loss, leaving Know When to Quit, it’s Not Legit A common stereotype of the homeless is that they are all addicted to alcohol and/or drugs, which is false. However, it is true that among the homeless population the rate of substance use is disproportionately high. In 2017, the National Coalition for the Homeless found that 38% of homeless people were dependent on alcohol, while 26% used it alone or in combination with other substances. In some cases, homeless people have even turned to using crack, meth or heroin in order to obtain Social Security Disability payments. While this is a fraud, it is because that may be the last option for obtaining housing. Now that Fentanyl and other synthetic drugs are on the street market, the rates of addiction and death are poverty and some individuals or families homeless. As many as 200,000 veterans are living on the streets today. on the rise. I feel that random drug testing at the shelter should be mandatory, and a program like Celebrate Recovery should have meetings at the Delonis Center and/or the Commuinty Mental Health Annex. This can help individuals break their addiction. This is the end of my first article on the ten categories and 17 factors. Still to come is discussion of shelter issues and the money trail from HUD (federal Housing and Urban Development) down to local authority. Stay optimistic, keep your chin up, you matter. You are loved. Thank you to my supporters! To be continued …
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