For the past three years, I have been a manager of a self-storage facility in Snohomish County Washington. As a manager, I have been able to cut theft down by 80% while raising gross monthly income up by 17%. It has been a successful partnership thus far and the position has allowed me to put more time into development of the CAN Project and I AM ME Program. When I started this position, I didn't realize the education I would receive on how homelessness and drugs affect a business, a group of businesses, or a community. I have always worked with people in-need from a service standpoint and not as much from a business that is being affected by the actions of the people in-need.
This past week as I walked the facility, I had to ask a homeless individual sleeping in front of a business to leave the property. Yesterday, I had to clean up heaps of trash scattered in front of a business by "dumpster divers" (individuals that regularly go through a property’s garbage for recyclables and food) and today I had to pick up a pile of mail that looked to be stolen from a nearby neighborhood. After cleaning this specific area, I went to another area of the property for a security check and had to pick up a syringe left on the pavement. Some would say this seemed to be a bad week, but unfortunately, it is a common occurrence.
Everyday my staff and I have to keep an eye out for addicts, drug dealers, prostitutes, and criminals that are looking to take advantage of our property. Daily, we encounter situations and stories being told. I have been blessed to have the background and experience of working with people in-need, so my patience is greater than most. We handle each individual as a person, a community member, and someone that can follow the guidelines required by the property. It is a challenge because I am not providing services or resources that could assist the people we meet. However, with a program like the CAN Project, I can at least suggest a resource or even research that resource to better locate local services that I can suggest options and opportunities to individuals “in-need.”. Most of us assume people “in-need”, momentarily or long term, know services and resources available to them, but that isn't always the case. Simply making a resource suggestion can possibly make all the difference.
About six months ago, I had a business call me because a youth would not leave their store. It was apparent he was high and under the influence of a narcotic. I went to talk to him. It took about 15 minutes to get him to leave the store but he was so paranoid that he couldn't maintain self-control. It is only our job to get people to leave the property when they are in this condition, but this individual was a minor and seemed he was way beyond being just high; he was scared! I took him aside, called his mom and the police, then sat with him for 30 minutes until the police showed up. As I talked with him he let me know he wasn't high per se; he had been up so many days under the influence of being high that he couldn't function and was hallucinating, seeing people, and he was in fear for his life. He let me know he had been using hardcore drugs since he was 12 and he was now 15. His mom was hysterical and worried but you could tell they had been here before in this situation. She confirmed that he had received death threats and she too was scared. She was thankful for the extra service and concern. It ended when she came and retrieved her son from the police because in this area there are worse things than a youth, under the influence, who is paranoid.
As I looked back, I thought about all the other businesses and staff in our communities that experience encounters like these every day. They haven't had the privilege of working with these people for 20 years or have had the training to handle these situations. How must they respond? What can they do? The Community Activity Network Project will become a resource that can provide concerned citizens with the opportunity to locate services, to make suggestions, or reach out for additional assistance. It will also provide opportunities to locate trainings that may be available.
There are community 411 and information stations that vary by city, county and state, but there isn't one that allows you to see all of what is available in and around your local area including emergency and in-need services as well as providing positive opportunities, events, and activities. The CAN Project wants to provide the ability to locate solutions that meet the specific need of the local community, not a “one-size-fits-all” suggestion. By providing a larger service area resource, we are providing more options.
The more people know of the positive options available in the community, the more suggestions available, the more knowledge people gain, then the more positive effect we can have on those that are currently in-need in our communities. This in turn can make a difference for businesses and staff, the community, as well as citizens and tourists who employ those businesses. A community is a sum of all its parts including those that may be momentarily in-need.
This past week as I walked the facility, I had to ask a homeless individual sleeping in front of a business to leave the property. Yesterday, I had to clean up heaps of trash scattered in front of a business by "dumpster divers" (individuals that regularly go through a property’s garbage for recyclables and food) and today I had to pick up a pile of mail that looked to be stolen from a nearby neighborhood. After cleaning this specific area, I went to another area of the property for a security check and had to pick up a syringe left on the pavement. Some would say this seemed to be a bad week, but unfortunately, it is a common occurrence.
Everyday my staff and I have to keep an eye out for addicts, drug dealers, prostitutes, and criminals that are looking to take advantage of our property. Daily, we encounter situations and stories being told. I have been blessed to have the background and experience of working with people in-need, so my patience is greater than most. We handle each individual as a person, a community member, and someone that can follow the guidelines required by the property. It is a challenge because I am not providing services or resources that could assist the people we meet. However, with a program like the CAN Project, I can at least suggest a resource or even research that resource to better locate local services that I can suggest options and opportunities to individuals “in-need.”. Most of us assume people “in-need”, momentarily or long term, know services and resources available to them, but that isn't always the case. Simply making a resource suggestion can possibly make all the difference.
About six months ago, I had a business call me because a youth would not leave their store. It was apparent he was high and under the influence of a narcotic. I went to talk to him. It took about 15 minutes to get him to leave the store but he was so paranoid that he couldn't maintain self-control. It is only our job to get people to leave the property when they are in this condition, but this individual was a minor and seemed he was way beyond being just high; he was scared! I took him aside, called his mom and the police, then sat with him for 30 minutes until the police showed up. As I talked with him he let me know he wasn't high per se; he had been up so many days under the influence of being high that he couldn't function and was hallucinating, seeing people, and he was in fear for his life. He let me know he had been using hardcore drugs since he was 12 and he was now 15. His mom was hysterical and worried but you could tell they had been here before in this situation. She confirmed that he had received death threats and she too was scared. She was thankful for the extra service and concern. It ended when she came and retrieved her son from the police because in this area there are worse things than a youth, under the influence, who is paranoid.
As I looked back, I thought about all the other businesses and staff in our communities that experience encounters like these every day. They haven't had the privilege of working with these people for 20 years or have had the training to handle these situations. How must they respond? What can they do? The Community Activity Network Project will become a resource that can provide concerned citizens with the opportunity to locate services, to make suggestions, or reach out for additional assistance. It will also provide opportunities to locate trainings that may be available.
There are community 411 and information stations that vary by city, county and state, but there isn't one that allows you to see all of what is available in and around your local area including emergency and in-need services as well as providing positive opportunities, events, and activities. The CAN Project wants to provide the ability to locate solutions that meet the specific need of the local community, not a “one-size-fits-all” suggestion. By providing a larger service area resource, we are providing more options.
The more people know of the positive options available in the community, the more suggestions available, the more knowledge people gain, then the more positive effect we can have on those that are currently in-need in our communities. This in turn can make a difference for businesses and staff, the community, as well as citizens and tourists who employ those businesses. A community is a sum of all its parts including those that may be momentarily in-need.
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