For many years - many many years -
I have had this belief that if someone is homeless, give them a Home.
And tonight - I had a change of mind and heart on that.
And I'm kind of embarrassed about that given my own work with myself on trauma, pstd and the nervous system.
There is a Citizen Journalist named Kevin, a veteran social worker, having spent 25 years in the field, who is on the streets of Portland almost daily showing us what it's REALLY like.
No fancy soundbites.
No fake editing.
Just REAL footage.
And tonight he showed us a man - a man without a home - living on the streets of Portland - who has been in this position for years.
For four years this journalist has tried to get this man into a home and for four years, this man has refused.
However something happened tonight.
The journalist, Kevin, had a conversation with this homeless man and spoke of educating him about living inside.

The homeless man seemed to have a shift - and said he was open to being educated on being housed.
You see, our nervous systems become programmed with what is familiar.
Even if it isn't good for us, if it is FAMILIAR it feels comfortable.
And if one is traumatized, which let's face it - I would say most if not all of those living on the streets have a lot of unprocessed trauma in their bodies - CHANGE feels threatening.
Even if that change means a warm bed, safe secure roof and walls, a meal, a shower - even if the mind and body might feel "YES" - even if that change is actually GOOD for you - if it's necessary for your survival - if the nervous system senses change there will be resistance.
Fear.

I hope this man is open to talking and learning how to be housed again.
For it is literally like starting over.
Learning a new way of being.
Living.
And when there is trauma in that process,
SLOW is key to success.
Baby steps.
For to flood these people with forced ANYTHING will only make the trauma worse and delay real healing.
I am seeing this with myself.
Even though I am not homeless, I have been a shutdown traumatized wreck inside for almost 20 years.
Things just went unaddressed, unacknowledged.
Combine that with an utter lack of effective treatment (TALK THERAPY ALONE DOES NOT WORK FOR TRAUMA) and I let myself become in some ways a shell of a human - completely terrified of leaving ANY place that I define as Safe.
Unable to trust anyone.
Totally forgot and I mean TOTALLY forgot to remember what it feels like to feel Safe.