4 GROUNDCOVER NEWS VENDOR VOICES No way home Standing on the corner, I’m not invisible. I notice how you cross over to the other side to avoid me. Those of you brave enough to walk by me, as you approach, are expecting me to ask you for something. You see the situation before you, I am holding this smile and a newspaper. Don’t be a Snooby! (A person who looks down on others.) You assume the worst because you don’t know my story. However, along with being a hard worker, I have always been a generous, kind, loving and easy-going person. That’s why I was taken advantage of! I thrust myself into writing because it’s the only thing that can’t hurt or be taken from me. Growing up in Detroit, my mother always told me how my father was abusive to her. At the age of four I was told to go upstairs and hide. I was not the hiding type. I stood there and watched when my father broke into the house and was swinging a hammer at my mother’s lover. She was at the top of the stairs with me. I remember her tossing a gun to her lover. He caught the gun and correctly. I always felt a void, longing for a FELICIA WILBERT Groundcover vendor No. 234 emptied it on my father! That left me not knowing one side of my whole family. I blocked the memory; however, I often had a recurring dream about the house on Cadillac Street. She married Carl (the lover). He was very abusive to me and my two brothers. He knew my sister had a different father. My mother was quite the lying cheater as far as her marriage vows. Carl never abused my sister. I grew up believing what my mother declared to be the truth about my dad. As a child you believe in your parent or parents. You’re naïve, expecting to be guided close-knit family. At 21, I had a baby — the first grandchild in the family. I always told my mother we were supposed to be loving and good to each other, considering we have less than 100 family members. Trusting your mother is a risky thing these days. You would never expect your mother and sister to be part of a church cult. It’s painful for me to express. However, it must be told: raping and trafficking your own grandchild — even having him hypnotized, thinking he would never remember what happened to him. It probably would’ve worked if only she would have left him alone. Fortunately for us, a guilty conscience never rests. In 2014 my son was shot four times in his back with a .22 caliber gun. My mother and the church cult were hoping to silence him. I thank God he made it through. Relocating from Florida, where we lived, was my first experience of being homeless. My state of mind was fragile. I did not have anyone who I could talk to or trust. I was shattered and felt alone. This was my only child, fighting for his life. My family showed up at the hospital pretending to care. Only checking to see if he was going to pass. Who could I trust considering my mother had just called me on that Monday before my child was shot and warned me that my child would be shot?! I had to be strong for my child and my grandson, never letting them see me cry. Holding back all tears, squinting through all the fear! The final nails that were supposed to annihilate and destroy me and my family occurred in 2022. My sister invited us over for Fourth of July. They set us up, my only sister and her husband. Knowing that their nephew (my son) is transgender, and was still healing from the last episode in his life, they gender-bashed him, and threatened to kill him and his son (my grandson). Even our other relatives would not tell the police the truth. My sister pressed charges against my son for pulling his see NO WAY HOME next page JANUARY 24, 2025 People in the neighborhood: Nate's story In an article titled “Engaging the homeless paranoid patient” on the National Library of Medicine website, it is reported that the estimated percentage of homelessness caused by mental illness, particularly schizoaffective paranoia, is around 23%. People with this disorder are distrusting of the medical community for their own reasons, but one common and very real reason they don’t like the healthcare system is because of forced medications. Nate is a 6’6” white male in his mid 40s. He was diagnosed with bipolar manic/depression and schizophrenia at the age of 15. Currently homeless, Nate has made a life of managing his mental health and surviving his condition. Nate started his story, “People think I’m intimidating, but I'm really a nice, gentle guy. I moved to Dexter, Michigan with my family in ‘86 from Austin, Texas, where I was born. My father was really abusive, so I moved to Ann Arbor to live with my mother at the age of 12.” Nate is the second oldest of two brothers and has two younger sisters. He has a dog Cash, whom he loves and who keeps him honest. I asked, “How did you become homeless?” Nate answered, “I’ve been on SSI since just out of high school and have been homeless off and on ever since. My mental illness makes it hard to stay in one place. I’m staying in shelters and day centers right now. The last time I became homeless was recently. I was calling the police about some issues I was having, but they said I was just being paranoid. As a result I was arrested and that's when the court decided Community Mental Health needed to intervene.” That intervention resulted in him losing his apartment. “How is your medication being managed?” I asked. Nate replied, “I’ve been on medications for the last fifteen years. Community Mental Health stripped me of the medications I was on and started over; which is just mind boggling.” I asked, “Was this court-ordered?” “Yes,” Nate said. “They took away medications that were working, which JIM CLARK Groundcover vendor No. 139 only made my paranoia worse. Now they are trying to build me back up [on a new medication]. It’s been over a year now. I’ve been telling them for months that I have depression and need help. They just recently put me on Wellbutrin [an antidepressant] which was about a month ago. Meanwhile, all they had me on was an injection and a sleeping pill.” “Tell me about the injection,” I continued. “It was a medication they introduced to me and asked if I would take it. I can’t remember precisely if I was yea or nay, but it didn’t sound good. The CMH worker said I was mandated by the court to do what they say to do, so I was going to get the shot. I was pissed about it and rightfully so. I am the best advocate I can be with my other doctors; we had good medications and they took that away,” he replied. I asked Nate whether the injection was forced on him, and he said, “Yes.” I then asked, “What happened next?” “I asked the CMH worker to look up the Invega shot and she told me a lot of bad things about it, “ he said. “She said I might have to be hospitalized. There are permanent things that can happen if one is not taken off carefully. I’ve gained a lot of weight, more than forty pounds since they started injecting me. Nate outside Purple House. “The court won’t let me off of it, but I’m told I’m getting an apartment soon. So I’m hoping by showing them I’m paying bills and staying sober and not calling the police they will see I’m doing better and reconsider.” Finally, I asked, “If you were handed a golden opportunity, what would it be?” “To have better healthcare.” I added, “If you could have a free ride to college, what would you study?” Nate’s answer was: “I would like to get a degree in cyber security.”
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