MARCO SITUACIONAL

who do you spend time with” all 14 participants reported they were “loners” and did not spend time with anyone. However, with further conversation all 14 participants revealed a network of people they relied on for support and survival that were not family and not romantic partners. Current residents discussed having relationships with people whom they considered friends. In addition, if a relationship was perceived as stressful current residents spoke of finding a different community of friends to rely on that contributed to their staying in HousingWorks.

“Everybody don’t get a long and see eye to eye. It’s just like anywhere. They more worried about your business than their business, you know just do you- don’t worry about nobody else. Then I feel like things would go a lot better.” –Current resident

Current residents discussed having a community of friends they formed in the housing program. The friendships were usually developed around a communal activity offered by the program. For example:

“We got a group here, about 12-13 of us, called the Labyrinth group we go usually the third Monday of each month and do our labyrinth walk. When all of us get together there’s a real togetherness there and we can go to anyone of those people in that group if we have a problem and they'll talk to you and listen to you and try to help you out with your problems.”-Current resident

The third EcoMap illustrates the strength and influence of relationships with friends on Bryan’s exit of HousingWorks. As previously noted, Bryan claimed to be a loner and not have friends yet went on to discuss certain friendships that were harmful. There are two lines to show that the relationships were both stressful and mutually strong. Bryan explains his strong connection with a friend who is still homeless and the consequences of that:

“One of my friends came by and at that time he was sort of a partner and he was homeless. Him and I had been friends for quite a while and I allowed him to take a shower and stay over. But he was a drug user and we got high together.Most all of my friends are on the streets. In HousingWorks, I didn’t know anyone who wasn’t on the streets. I didn’t want to go back out there because I had somewhere to stay so why not bring them in here? Then they’ll have somewhere to stay and you know we’d be inside! I

had air condition in the summer and plenty of heat during the winter. It was ideal. You know if I was able to save my food stamps I would have a cook out and invite friends over and that would help to gain more friends. And these are people that are still out on the street.” –Bryan

Figure 4.3 EcoMap: Bryan

Staff reported that friendships with people who are still homeless and people who are using or selling drugs are the leading cause for residents to exit their apartments either voluntarily or involuntarily. The relationships that people form while homeless are a tight network of bonds that have replaced the traditional affiliative bonds to housed society. The following excerpt illustrates this point.

“I say you know you can cook your own food the soup kitchen is for people who are still homeless why are you still going there its like you are taking advantage you know? But

they don’t see that way, they say that’s where I go hang out with my friends you guys won’t let them move in here so I might as well go see them everyday there.”-Case manager

Additionally, a staff participant explained two points having to do with

relationships with drug activity and HousingWorks exits. The first is having drug dealers and drug users stay at their apartment, which results in unwanted attention from

landlords. The second point is that, there are times when an individual owes drug dealers money and if they do not have the money to pay them they will leave their housing. Owing money has a different type of consequence when someone has an address, and some have chosen to sacrifice their housing to escape paying debts.

“Our hot button item is not so much if somebody is using drugs but if they have a lot of people involved in drug activity in their apartment which draws the attention of outside sources be it the police or the landlord. I think we’ve had a few people that owe drug dealers who left because they didn’t want to be found.”-Case manager

Summary. These individual themes intersected with each other to influence exits from HousingWorks. For example, participants sacrificed meeting physiological needs through HousingWorks to meet psychosocial, identity and/or relationship needs met while homeless (see Figure 4.4 Individual Factors). Most often participants in this study (all four groups), described drug use or drug activity to explain exits from housing and returns to homelessness without a critical look into what underlying issues drive

prolonged homelessness. Clearly, issues of alcohol and drug addiction present a number of factors that contribute to exits from housing. For this study, I wanted to explore additional issues concerning street culture assimilation, affiliative bonds and

relationships, and psychosocial needs. Therefore, although drug and alcohol abuse are mentioned, they were not the focus of this analysis.

Figure 4.4 Individual Factors 4.3 Program factors

Participants reported the following program factors directly contributed to exiting HousingWorks: transitions from homelessness to housing, formal operations, and the quality of staff and support services. To help navigate this section, the following are how I defined these terms. Transitions are situations that happen during the time when a resident is adjusting to living indoors and the housing program. Formal operations are defined as understanding paperwork, lease agreements, and following the rules of living in an apartment outlined by the HousingWorks program. Quality of staff and support services are defined as how case managers help clients with transitions into their housing, completing paperwork, communicating eviction status and the process, and assisting clients once they leave HousingWorks.

4.3.1 Transitions from homelessness to housing. Ten of the 14 homeless