During our weekly Homeless Outreach on April 10th, I asked some of our homeless friends if it would be a benefit to them if we started bringing a nurse with us once a month. I thought a nurse could dress wounds, tend to other issues, and advise our brothers and sisters on the street how to deal with whatever health concerns they may have. The answer was a definite “yes”. So we will work towards that.
About halfway through our outreach trip that day, our dear friend Alexander (remember the glasses story?) told informed me that Derrick was “really falling out” (prison/street slang for “in bad shape”). Derrick is most likely in his sixties and walks with a cane. He also has diabetes, which is an extremely common ailment of the homeless folks we serve. He wasn’t feeling very well, but didn’t exhibit any symptoms that were overly-alarming to anyone. Alexander walked with him to where Derrick’s sister stayed, so he could be with her. (Note: We didn’t say ‘Derrick’s sister’s home’ or ‘where she lived’. The term among the homeless community is ‘where they STAY’).
This past Saturday, Derrick was the first person I visited with on our Homeless Outreach. He came up to me and immediately said, “Did you bring your nurse with you today?” I told him that we hadn’t gotten that lined up yet and it would take some time, but I could see in his eyes that something was wrong and he was scared. His diabetes had gotten much worse and he hadn’t been able to obtain the necessary medicine. Alexander had been keeping an eye on him again and Derrick’s stomach was become very bloated.
Derrick had been able to qualify for unemployment benefits for a time and could rely on that to help him pay for medication. However, those benefits had run out and with it went all of his income. I wonder if he could qualify for disability, but that is an unbelievably arduous and extremely lengthy process for our homeless brothers and sisters to go through. Most are denied.
At any rate, Derrick informed me that he was in pretty bad shape. My wife and I spent a couple of hours with him and Alexander, exploring our options to get him the help he needed.
No doctor or emergency room would see him. His case wasn’t “emergent” and unless it’s an emergency situation, doctors and ERs don’t have to provide care. He couldn’t pay, so they couldn’t (scratch that…wouldn’t) take him.
This is not a statement on healthcare. But the simple fact is that this man needed insulin and until he was in worse shape (foaming at the mouth, perhaps, as some of our diabetic homeless friends have been found doing), he was not going to receive traditional medical care.
I spent some time in the St. Louis Public Library, trying to locate any sort of clinic that might help. Every single one of them was closed on Saturdays. I found programs that might help with payment for medication. Closed on Saturdays. I asked him if we could call the physician he sees and have his prescription sent to a nearby Schnucks, where we could get him generic meds at a lower rate. He sees his physician at a clinic which is closed on Saturdays.
We finally accepted the fact that, barring an unfortunate medical catastrophe, Derrick was not going to get his medication over the weekend. We found out that he takes ten different types of medication for his diabetes. To get all of them would be about $50. To get just the insulin would be approximately $30. It’s $15 to see the doctor, which is a required to get the prescriptions.
Derrick had scraped enough money together to see the doctor late last week, but had no money for the medication. We asked if he could promise to meet us at a specific time Monday, so we could get him to his clinic. He said he could. And Alexander said he’d stick with Derrick until Monday and would go with him and us to the clinic.
After some more investigating, I found two regular DRR volunteers, Jonas and Hannah, who were willing to drive to St. Louis and get Derrick to the clinic. We sent them with the $50 today. As I type this, I just received a text from Hannah saying they had just met Derrick and Alexander and were on their way.
We left the information on financial assistance for prescriptions with Alexander and Derrick. Alexander promised to go through the info with Derrick and see what he might qualify for.
The DRR cannot purchase medicine for all of our homeless friends. And we cannot purchase it regularly for Derrick. We told him this had to be a one-time thing. A stop-gap measure. And we asked him to keep it to himself that it was us who provided the funding for the medicine. He understood.
However, we could not in good consciousness turn our back on this need. It was obvious to my completely untrained eye that Derrick was in pretty bad shape. My grandfather has diabetes and his belly blows up sometimes, too. He has to have the fluid drained from it regularly. Maybe that’s what Derrick needs. Either way, I feel confident in saying that if we didn’t get his insulin soon, he would have died.
The DRR has just come through a very tough financial time. In the 4 days prior to this Homeless Outreach trip, we had received a few donations that helped us regain some more secure footing. I do not believe it to be a coincidence that we had received these gifts just prior to this need arising.
This is what your support allows us to do. We purchase small toiletry items and small snacks and distribute those every Saturday. But those things aren’t the point. They’re items we can use to make connections with folks. And once those connections are made and relationships develop, that’s when our ministry begins.
A few months ago, we were able to bless Alexander with a new pair of glasses, which he was in dire need of (through this, we discovered that he has severe glaucoma, which we’re looking into treatment options for…so please keep Alexander in your prayers).
Now, we have provided Derrick with medication when he desperately needs it. YOU make it possible for us to meet these needs, to minister to these folks, to make a difference in their lives.
We don’t take on expenses such as this very often, but when it’s the right thing to do, we do it.
If you would like to support the Dirty Roots Revolution, or if you’d like to give specifically to this cause, to offset the expenses associated with Derrick’s medicine, you can send your gift to:
Dirty Roots Revolution
C/O: Ryan Mifflin
615 East Oak St.
Greenville, IL 62246
You can also contribute online through our website: www.DirtyRootsRevolution.com.
If you have questions or would like to discuss with me ways to support the DRR, please do not hesitate to email me at info@dirtyrootsrevolution.com or call me at 618.267.5436.
If you are a nurse or any other type of medical personnel, and are interested in accompanying the DRR to St. Louis occasionally, please contact me to discuss possibilities.
Thank you for your support. Whether you give finances and/or materials for us to distribute on the Homeless Outreach, whether you go on the outreach trips, or whether you lift our group up in prayer, you are involved in making a difference in the lives of many people!
One final thought. As Derrick and Alexander were preparing to leave our outreach site Saturday morning, I was visiting with a few other folks who had come by. Alexander asked me if he could interrupt me for just a moment. I said, “Sure”. He wanted to be sure him and I and Derrick prayed together before we left each other for the week.
So, with arms around each other, we prayed. We all prayed for the well-being of everyone on the street. Alexander and I prayed for Derrick and that God would sustain him until Monday. I thanked God (and still do) that Alexander was there to help Derrick.
And Derrick thanked God for the DRR and the blessing we promised to provide him.
Thank you for what you do to make that possible.
