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Resource Report - 30 Franklin Street Harm Reduction · Resource Report

0:20
Hello and welcome to Resource Report, where we
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share with you important information about local
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nonprofits and resource organizations that support
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the community we share, produced by Pathways
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to Agency. I am your host, Rainmaker. Today's
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featured organization is Franklin Street Harm
0:39
Reduction. This interview took place in two parts.
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First, we will hear from co -director Christina
0:45
McVeigh, and later we will also hear from harm
0:48
reduction support specialists James Condon and
0:52
Goblin. For now, here's Christina. I am here
1:06
at Franklin Street Harm Reduction with Christina
1:10
McVeigh. And can you please reintroduce yourself,
1:16
your position, and how did you come to be here
1:18
at Franklin Street Harm Reduction? Absolutely.
1:21
So I am Christina McVeigh. I use she, her pronouns.
1:25
And I am one of the founders and the program
1:30
director of Franklin Street Harm Reduction. And
1:33
my partner, Sean Wright, and I founded this.
1:38
We've now been open for about six months. And
1:41
we have both just been in this field for a very
1:45
long time, and us and everybody who works here,
1:49
we just really see a lot of gaps in the community.
1:51
And so our whole goal was to try to fill those
1:54
gaps a little bit. Yeah, that's very much needed.
1:59
There are gaps all over the place and so many
2:02
people working to close them. Thank you. Has
2:04
it only been six months? Only six months. We
2:07
opened August 11th. We just had our six month
2:10
anniversary. I can't even believe it. Okay. So
2:15
you kind of a little bit mentioned why y 'all
2:18
started, but how did it start? Well, I mean,
2:24
we have been doing outreach for other agencies
2:27
for several years. And then in our free time,
2:33
we were getting safe smoking supplies and donating
2:36
those and just volunteering at mitigation and
2:39
some other places. And really, we really wanted
2:43
something that was very focused harm reduction.
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So this is very similar to what we've done in
2:48
other programs, but the difference is that it's
2:51
100 % focused on harm reduction. We don't bill
2:55
to Medicaid. Everybody is here voluntarily, and
2:59
it's really just kind of becoming a place where
3:02
so many different providers and services could
3:05
be under one roof. So we really wanted to create
3:08
something that was really welcoming. It's really
3:11
important to me that somebody could just come
3:13
in and get coffee and use the bathroom and not
3:16
even engage in any groups and just feel safe
3:19
and start their morning out positive. And so
3:21
that was really initially where it started. We
3:25
thought we would rent a tiny office and do some
3:27
outreach and maybe be open a couple mornings
3:29
a week. And then this building became available,
3:32
so we just went for it. It seemed like there
3:35
were so many amazing services around us that
3:38
it really felt meant to be with OlyMap and CCS
3:42
and Hope and Healing, Peer Olympia, Capital Recovery
3:46
Center. It just really felt like, oh, this is
3:48
where the people are, and this is where we could
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do something that, you know, partners with all
3:54
of these folks. That's wonderful. You know, like,
3:57
I've had a homeless experience, you know, sleeping
4:01
in parks under places with my kids and my ex.
4:04
And, you know, being able to have somewhere to
4:07
just go to in the morning where, you know, it's
4:11
okay to just have your morning and just kind
4:14
of get yourself sorted out for the day and have
4:16
your free coffee and charge your phone, you know,
4:20
and just collect yourself, use the bathroom,
4:23
wash your head and the sink, you know, that's- You
4:27
know, people take these things for granted. You
4:29
know, when you have them, you don't think about
4:31
not having them. And when you don't have them,
4:34
they're like such a blessing. Thank you for that.
4:37
And then, so what, aside from that, what do y
4:42
'all exactly do? Like, that's very simple, but
4:45
what are y 'all... We do a lot. We provide peer
4:48
support groups and we provide one -on -one peer
4:51
support and peer support in groups. And I'll
4:55
let James and Goblin go a little more into the
4:57
specifics of the groups. But we provide SMART
5:00
Recovery groups, Wildflower Alliance groups,
5:03
and then a lot of creative groups as well. And
5:06
then we also invite any provider who has a harm
5:09
reduction focus to come in and also do outreach
5:14
in here. So we have things like Oly Camp Kitties
5:17
and now Red Rose Animal Rescue, and they can
5:20
connect to Free Spay and Neuter for dogs and
5:22
cats. We have, like, Department of Health comes
5:26
in and does rapid STD testing for Syphilis, Hep
5:30
C, and HIV. We have wound care folks come over
5:34
from Providence and the Mission, and they provide
5:37
services on site. We have Community Youth Services
5:40
come over and connect to people who are 24 and
5:42
under to talk about shelter and housing. Gosh,
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there's just so many different folks that have
5:48
been coming through. We just started with WorkSource
5:50
coming in. So that's brand new. And they're helping
5:53
people with resumes. They just started last week.
5:56
And then the other thing we just started was
5:58
Medicaid signups. So we have somebody coming
6:00
in and helping people with Medicaid signups and
6:02
connect to providers. So we have about six staff
6:06
at Franklin Street. But then throughout the week,
6:10
we have nine groups a week, and we have a provider
6:12
in almost every morning or afternoon now coming
6:15
in. Wow. And then OlyMap comes over and does
6:18
Coordinated Entry. Yes. So it's kind of similar
6:22
to the Resource Hub, the Thurston County
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Resource Hub, where you have different practitioners
6:26
coming in, different organizations having some
6:29
days there, as well. So y 'all are like a different
6:33
hub over here. Oh, that's pretty wrapped up. Yeah,
6:36
signups... It's been really awesome. It's been
6:39
really great. And so, you know, Hope and Healing
6:41
is next door providing medically assisted treatment.
6:44
So they can come in. We partner together all
6:47
the time. It's just really great. We can take
6:49
people over to OlyMap. You know, today we worked
6:53
with somebody who was getting support with CCS
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and Hope and Healing. So we're just all working
6:58
together. It's really nice. It's really nice.
7:00
For those that are putting resumes together over
7:02
here, we've got... I actually have an office in
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the YWCA building right down the street, and,
7:08
you know, we have Kathleen's Closet over there.
7:11
You could just go- Yes. -On certain days of the
7:13
week, I think it's Tuesdays and Thursdays she's
7:16
open, and get your work clothes for your interview.
7:19
That is so cool. Mhm, it's free. That is
7:21
really cool. We've been over there. That is a
7:23
really cool resource. Yeah. Yeah. Can you explain
7:49
a little bit more about the support groups? Yeah,
7:54
we partner. So we are an international partner
7:57
with SMART Recovery, and SMART Recovery is a
8:02
harm reduction focused, non -faith based support
8:08
modality. And one of the really cool things about
8:11
SMART Recovery, it is designed so that somebody
8:15
who's dealing with a gambling addiction, could
8:17
be with somebody who's dealing with a sex addiction,
8:19
could be with someone who's dealing with an opiate
8:21
addiction, it doesn't matter. All those folks
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could be together. You don't have to be abstinent
8:27
to come to a group. You just have to be safe
8:30
in the group. And then it's really about talking
8:33
about coping skills and recovery and support
8:38
networks and people coming together and learning
8:41
new ways to support each other. And so that's
8:43
what SMART Recovery is about, which is very cool.
8:46
And Wildflower Alliance really goes along with
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that. They're very harm reduction focused. And
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under Wildflower Alliance, we have a program
8:53
called Alternatives to Suicide. That's one of
8:56
our groups. Another group is Hearing Voices Network.
8:59
And really, we want us to be a really safe place
9:02
to talk about suicide ideation, to talk about
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hearing voices without all that stigma that comes
9:08
at it, that you don't necessarily just need a
9:11
safety plan. first thing that you're talking about
9:13
something. You need a safe place to even be safe
9:16
to talk about it before a safety plan is even
9:19
going to do you any good. You've got to process
9:20
what's going on. You've got to get feedback.
9:24
Yes. And build trust. Yeah. Yeah. It's a process.
9:29
Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. So, and that's
9:32
not to say that some people don't have safety
9:34
plans, but as soon as somebody says, I have this
9:36
feeling, the first thing we don't do is we don't
9:38
just stick a safety plan in front of them and
9:40
say, sign this before we keep talking. You know,
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it's like, no, let's talk. Let's, you know, what
9:46
do you need? You know, that kind of thing. So
9:48
those were those. And then we also really... Friday
9:52
afternoon, they just got finished with Art and
9:54
Games. So we always have an Art and Games or
9:56
Art or Games group on Friday afternoon just to
9:59
end the week on a positive social time. You know,
10:03
go into the weekend when there's less resources
10:05
available in a more positive way. And we do a
10:08
Writing group and Skillshare. Goblin does a Writing
10:13
group and James does a Skillshare. I'll let them
10:15
talk more about those. But yeah, their groups
10:17
are great. They're so good. Cool. You mentioned
10:29
briefly in the beginning about being able to
10:32
come in in the mornings and get your coffee and
10:34
the bathroom and whatever, but that would be
10:37
the Drop -In. There's more to it than that. Can
10:40
you detail the Drop -In? Yeah, Drop -In is open
10:42
Monday through Friday from 8a to 11a, and basically
10:46
we are open for coffee, we have snacks for the
10:50
first couple hours, and I mean like light outreach
10:52
snacks, like chips or yogurts or something. And
10:55
then we have hot water for cocoa and cider. And
10:58
then you can use the bathroom, you can use the
11:00
computer for 20 -minute spots on the computer,
11:03
and then there's always a group every morning
11:05
as well. And so if somebody just wants to come
11:08
in, charge their phone, get coffee, and not be
11:11
talked to, that's totally fine. They just need
11:14
to give their first name or whatever name they're
11:16
choosing to give us to check in, and that's it.
11:19
We don't need to do an intake, we don't bill
11:21
to Medicaid for that, and then if you want to
11:24
come to a group, you can, but if you don't, that's
11:26
totally fine. So it's very chill. I feel like
11:30
people aren't going to hang out here if they
11:32
don't get to know us and trust us. And that's
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also what's made this community so special is
11:38
there's a lot of respect going both ways. That's
11:42
awesome. Thank you. I love that so much. And
12:11
then there's...but there's also Individual Support.
12:14
There's Individual Support. So we have five peer
12:19
support... we call them Harm Reduction Support
12:21
Specialists, and they are here and available
12:24
to just meet with you one -on -one just to listen.
12:27
And, you know, you lead the path and we just
12:31
kind of walk alongside and support. So some light
12:35
case management, but a lot of what we're doing
12:37
is connecting, so if somebody wants to get into
12:40
housing, we're connecting them to housing resources,
12:42
we're connecting to treatment resources. We don't
12:47
have a shelter, we don't have a kitchen, so we
12:49
don't do meals. We just have little donations
12:51
of snacks and coffee, um.. so we're quite small. So
12:55
it's really about talking and support and connection
12:59
to other resources. Yeah, and so that's really
13:04
helpful. Sometimes people just... have... are overwhelmed
13:08
by their situation and you know like when you're
13:10
in survival mode all the time there's the parts
13:13
of your brain that help you to plan and make
13:17
decisions seizes up- Right. - Just shuts down and
13:21
you're overwhelmed and you just don't know where
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to begin. You might have like a laundry list of
13:27
things on your plate to deal with, and you're
13:30
also... where am I sleeping tonight? Right. You
13:32
know, sometimes. Sometimes it's not that. Sometimes
13:35
you have a space, but it's uncertain. Yeah. And
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how do I navigate that uncertainty? And you just
13:42
need somebody to hear you. Yeah. Just talk out
13:45
the situation. Absolutely. And kind of like work
13:49
together with someone to problem solve, you know,
13:53
and you don't know what you don't know, and so
13:55
finding out information, you know, and having
13:59
someone there who is connected to the information,
14:03
that's so perfectly valuable. It's pretty special
14:07
here. We also have the Thurston County Syringe
14:10
Exchange here. And they're here Tuesday and Thursday,
14:14
and they operate out of the back of the building.
14:16
And they do Syringe Support Services, Treatment
14:19
Connection... They do a lot of wound care supplies.
14:23
There's a Hep C testing and case management program
14:26
also out of the back of the building at the same
14:28
time. And also on the back of the building, we
14:31
have a Naloxone machine, and it's free Naloxone.
14:35
You don't need to do demographics or pay anything.
14:37
You just push the button. And we have intramuscular
14:41
Naloxone. We have nasal Naloxone. We have Fentanyl
14:44
test kits, and then we also have cold bottles
14:47
of water, and emergency blankets, and safe sex
14:50
supplies all in the machine for free. And we
14:53
stock that every single night. And it's been
14:55
really successful. You know, if there's any vandalism,
14:58
it usually says thank you. There's a lot of graffiti
15:01
that says thank you. And people have been really
15:04
respectful of the machine. It's gone really,
15:06
really well. And that's just on the backside
15:08
of the building. It's open to the public 24 -7.
15:12
And you said Naloxone. Is that the same thing
15:14
as Narcan? Yes, it is. Yes, yes. It's just the
15:18
generic name for the Narcan. Oh, okay. Yeah.
15:20
And for people who don't know, can you explain
15:25
what that is? Yes. So Naloxone is what you use
15:30
to reverse an opioid overdose, and it blocks
15:34
the opioid receptors in your brain. whatever
15:39
opiates you're on, it's going to stop the effect
15:41
of that. So it's not going to stop the effect
15:44
of other substances specifically. It specifically
15:46
targets opiates, but enough so that it can reverse
15:50
an overdose and then we can perform CPR and then
15:54
we still want to connect you to hospital care
15:56
or whatever you're willing to do. But it works
16:00
and it works very well. Awesome. Yeah. And it
16:03
is free and anybody is welcome to come and take
16:06
it out of the machine. You just push the button
16:08
and down it drops. Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank
16:10
you. Y 'all do referrals. We do a lot of referrals.
16:23
We work with Hope and Healing, We work with Coordinated
16:27
Entry and Family Support Center and OlyMap. And
16:31
then just really, we're just always brainstorming
16:33
to see what you need. If I don't know a referral
16:35
offhand, you know, I might call Thurston County
16:38
Hub or Crisis Clinic or Peer Olympia and say,
16:41
hey, somebody's asking for this thing, and I'm
16:43
out of ideas. What do you have? So a lot of networking
16:46
with all the other providers. Awesome. Yeah.
16:50
The groups are, so every morning we have a group
16:53
at 9, and every afternoon, weekday, except for
16:56
Wednesday, we have a group at 12:30. So, and today
17:00
was Friday, and Art and Games was on Friday.
17:05
So yeah, every morning at 9, there'll be some
17:07
group. And it rotates? It's this Game all quarter.
17:13
You have Writing, Creative Expressions, SMART
17:17
Recovery, Connection to Life, Art and Games,
17:20
and Skill Share. Yes. And we have three SMART
17:23
Recovery groups a week as well. So every weekday
17:26
morning, there's a group at 9. And every Monday,
17:30
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, there's a group
17:32
at 1230 to 2. So when are the groups again? So
17:36
the groups are, we have a SMART recovery group
17:39
is Monday morning at nine, Tuesday afternoon
17:43
at 12:30 and Friday morning at 9. And then
17:47
we have a Writing Group on Tuesday morning at
17:50
9. We have creative expressions on Wednesday
17:54
morning at 9a and then Skill Share on Thursday
17:57
morning at 9a. And then in the afternoons we
18:00
have.. On Monday afternoon at 12:30, we have Alternatives
18:04
to Suicide. And then on Tuesday afternoon, SMART
18:08
Recovery at 12:30. And then on Thursday afternoon,
18:11
we have Hearing Voices Network at 12:30. And then
18:17
on Friday at 12:30, we have Art and Games. Awesome.
18:20
Yeah. Cool. Okay, and so how does a person get
18:26
services or join a group? They just walk in.
18:28
Walk in and give their first name, and that's
18:31
it. That's all they have to do. We don't report
18:35
anything to anybody. We don't do anything more
18:39
than take your first name, and we count how many
18:41
people attend a group. That's it. That's it.
18:44
No intake, no nothing. We have plenty of paperwork.
18:51
If somebody is doing case management and wants
18:53
us to, we have plenty of release forms to communicate
18:56
with other agencies if somebody wants us to,
18:59
demographics forms, all the contacts. If somebody
19:02
wants to do all that, they absolutely can, but
19:05
they don't have to do a group. That's good to
19:08
know that they have that option. Like, you know,
19:10
if somebody, for example, and this might be like
19:15
a specific example, but it gives an idea of what
19:19
people might be working with. You know, if you
19:22
are already going through Coordinated Entry.
19:25
at maybe the Family Support Center, you know,
19:27
but you're coming over here and you're going
19:31
through other services for recovery and like
19:36
maybe you're also applying for disability. There's
19:40
going to be release forms because SSI is going
19:44
to want to do different evaluations for your
19:49
disability. And so there would be release forms.
19:54
Yes. We don't confirm anything without your consent
19:57
at all. So if somebody walks in and they say,
20:00
you know, have you seen this person? I say, oh,
20:04
gosh, I can't confirm or deny. You can leave
20:06
a message for that person, and if I see that
20:07
person, I could pass the message. but I don't
20:10
confirm anything without written consent. That's
20:12
good to know. That's good to know. People have
20:15
concerns about that kind of thing. I would say
20:17
the exception is, is so if they're coming in here
20:21
and meeting a Department of Health provider to
20:23
do STD testing, that's going to be different.
20:26
They're going to give that provider whatever
20:28
that provider does, but that provider does not
20:31
then give that information to Franklin Street.
20:33
Franklin Street is just the host for those providers
20:36
to come in. Right. And it's connected to their
20:40
main office. Exactly. Right. Exactly. Okay, cool.
20:44
How can people get involved? Do you have jobs,
20:47
volunteering, donating? We... let's see, we are
20:51
putting together a volunteer orientation, so
20:54
anybody who wants to volunteer could reach out
20:56
about that. And then once we have that volunteer
20:59
orientation scheduled, we will start inviting
21:01
people. We'd like to do that about every two
21:04
months on the regular rotation because a lot
21:07
of people have asked. Otherwise, we do take donations
21:11
of books or coffee or snacks. We always need
21:16
belts and bras and binders desperately, um, again
21:19
we try to fill those gaps, so we don't really
21:21
have a clothing closet, we don't have coats, but
21:24
we do have socks, and underwear, and belts, and
21:28
we're always looking for bras and binders, they're
21:30
so expensive, so things like that that are sort
21:33
of that unique item that are really hard to get
21:35
are so useful to us, so yeah, and books... we love
21:39
books. And how do people donate those items? They
21:42
just drop them off anytime that we're open, yeah
21:45
that would be.. yeah. Remind us your hours. Sure.
22:11
Our hours are 8 to 11, Monday through Friday,
22:14
and then Tuesday, let's see, 11, no, Monday through
22:21
Friday, 8 to 11, and then 12 to 3, Monday, Tuesday,
22:27
Thursday, and Friday. Okay. Yeah. On Wednesday
22:30
afternoon, we do outreach to the Jungle, and
22:33
we're closed on afternoons Wednesday for staff
22:36
meetings. Okay. Yeah. Cool. Y 'all go out, do
22:39
outreach in the Jungle? We do. We do outreach
22:41
in the Jungle, and we usually partner with Hope
22:43
and Healing. And we go out there together and
22:46
just connect with participants out there and
22:48
bring harm reduction supplies and, yeah, just
22:52
connect. Yeah, and I see the Hope and Healing
22:54
van in your parking lot all the time. Yeah, that
22:56
is, so Hope and Healing next door. That is owned
23:00
by Chehalis Tribe. And so Hope and Healing, it's
23:03
a totally different service. We just love all
23:05
the same purple colors. And they've just been
23:07
wonderful partners. So they're just right next
23:09
door. And their hours are 9 to 3, Monday through
23:13
Friday. Awesome. Yeah. And they just do walk
23:16
-ups as well. Okay. So anybody can just walk
23:19
up and get support from them. They're on the
23:21
list to get an interview, too. Yeah, great. They
23:24
are amazing. They are amazing. And how do people
23:34
donate? They could just bring anything in or
23:38
donate if they have stuff to donate. Or on our
23:40
website, there is a donate button. So they could
23:43
go to the website and donate through there or
23:45
just drop off whatever. Okay, cool. Do you have
24:11
any upcoming events outside of your
24:14
Groups? We're going to be an Arts Walk. So we'll
24:17
be open to the public for Arts Walk on Friday
24:19
night and Saturday during the day. So our participants
24:21
will be able to create, make a whole place, a
24:24
gallery. And so we'll have, you know, community
24:26
art projects going on as well. So that's our
24:29
next event we have scheduled. Cool. Yeah. Is
24:39
there anything else you would like to share?
24:42
Gosh, I think. No, I think I'm just really grateful
24:48
to our neighbors in this community. I think,
24:51
you know, we're brand new. It's six months in
24:54
and we've been very welcomed. And, you know,
24:58
with new people coming in, sometimes we have
25:01
days and weeks when it's really messy with a
25:03
lot of extra trash and stuff, but we always get
25:06
it picked up. And so I say like, know that we're
25:09
going to have bad days where sometimes things
25:12
are a little messy. And then overall, things
25:14
have been really great. I mean, our folks that
25:17
come in are so respectful and kind. And each
25:20
single person just has their own unique story.
25:22
And it's just it's a really special place to
25:24
be every day. Awesome. Yeah. You know, I'm always
25:28
seeing people out in the front and walking around
25:32
with their blankets and their stuff and sleeping
25:35
outside when y 'all are closed. But when I come
25:38
in, it's such a nice environment. And the words
25:41
that you're saying are so reflective of that.
25:44
Do you have any incidents ever? I mean, there's
25:48
always something, you know, there's always a
25:49
bad day now and then. It's been made very clear
25:53
to us by the city that we're not allowed to have
25:55
people sleeping here and camping here. So that's
25:58
been a little hard because I don't think that
26:00
there are enough places to sleep in this town
26:03
that are safe. And there's not enough shelter
26:05
beds and housing and people need a place to sleep.
26:08
And I wish I could let people sleep here, but
26:11
city has us on walking patrol in the morning.
26:14
Code enforcement has really been on us with the
26:17
trash and tents, and so we really have to keep
26:20
that sidewalk clear, which is unfortunate, but
26:24
it's also sort of the way it is. And our participants
26:26
seem to really understand that. And so that's
26:29
been going okay. But no, it's been really, really
26:32
good, really positive overall. That's so good
26:36
to hear. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. So yeah,
26:40
it's been really good. And I am here also with
26:54
James Condon and Goblin. And y 'all, reintroduce
26:59
yourselves and what is your position and how
27:02
did you come to be here at Franklin Street Harm
27:04
Reduction? My name is James. I'm a Harm Reduction
27:08
Support Specialist here at Franklin Street Harm
27:10
Reduction. I have worked in services for a few
27:15
years now. And yeah, just happenstance was looking
27:20
for a job one day. And I was like, not expecting
27:24
to get anything, and then I found this, and then
27:26
I was like, well, I'll apply. I might probably
27:29
won't get it. But then now I'm here and it's
27:31
pretty awesome. So yeah. wonderful yeah yeah
27:35
thank you. And, and you, Goblin? So i have been living
27:39
in Olympia since 2020 i moved here in January
27:43
um I've been homeless in downtown Olympia, or
27:47
just, like, in Olympia in general for off and on,
27:50
about two two and a half years, um, and I worked
27:54
different services at the time, I worked up the
27:57
HUGS Food Pantry, um, did a lot of work there.. um,
28:00
both the old version during the height of Covid,
28:03
and the more recent version over at Gabi's...
28:06
I worked with the Gender Justice League, Lavender
28:10
Rights Project... usually doing advocacy work.
28:12
I've done some AmeriCorps work, and before here,
28:17
directly before here, I had been working at a
28:18
weed farm, and I was rage applying, as the kids
28:23
do, and just stumbled across this place. that
28:26
was three blocks, apparently, from where I was
28:30
supposed to be moving, and it just.. cards on the
28:33
table. It all just worked out. Pretty great ride.
28:35
That's awesome. Yeah, and you were in my previous
28:38
interview, Gabi's Kids and HUGS QT Food Pantry,
28:42
number six. Yeah, your attentive listeners might
28:45
remember me from that time. Maybe. Okay, and
28:50
so y 'all are doing... We are Harm Reduction
28:54
Support Specialists. We do peer work, which can
28:59
look a little bit like case management, a little
29:01
bit.. not therapy, but a combination of the two.
29:04
You're a peer with somebody and you stand alongside
29:07
each other and you try to guide this person through
29:09
what they need help with. And we also facilitate
29:14
groups. Goblin and I each facilitate and co -facilitate
29:18
a few different groups. And yeah, we also do
29:22
open hours in the mornings where basically folks
29:25
can just come chill, drink coffee, hang out,
29:28
and we just sit and chat with them and try to
29:31
help them get what they need to the best of our
29:34
ability. Can't save everybody, but we try to
29:39
do something. Yeah, Christina mentioned the Individual
29:53
Support. That's what y 'all do. Yes, one -on
29:57
-one peer support. Okay, cool. That's really
30:00
cool. Just helping people navigate different
30:02
situations, listening, let them talk out the
30:06
thing. Yeah, a lot. Like in some of my peer appointments,
30:10
people just want to talk. Someone, maybe they
30:12
just need someone to talk to. Other people need
30:14
help navigating services. I've done a bunch of
30:17
document replacement, stuff like that. You felt
30:20
like a dozen people get their IDs. Yeah, a good
30:23
amount of people to get IDs, which is a huge
30:25
barrier for people experiencing homelessness.
30:28
Oh, for sure. I had interviewed Phoenix with
30:31
Integrate, and they had the homeless encampment,
30:35
but they were also their own 501c3 nonprofit
30:37
organization advocating for homeless rights.
30:41
And, you know, they had been gaslighted by the
30:45
city and told that, no, no, your encampment is
30:48
fine and you have the legal right to be here,
30:50
only to go have it bulldozed right after while
30:53
they were going and voting. And then people who
30:58
did not have their IDs on them now did not have
31:00
them because they had been bulldozed. That's
31:03
horrible. Yeah. And that's honestly not a new
31:05
story. That's, yeah, unfortunately, kind of a
31:09
common type of situation, which to me sucks.
31:12
So, yeah. So it's really good that y 'all are
31:15
helping people get their IDs and their documents
31:18
back. Yeah. We've heard this. And what are the
31:31
groups that y 'all do? So together, me and James
31:35
do Art and Games with Goblin and James. Yeah,
31:37
it was right off the tongue. In fact, that was
31:40
the group we got done doing right before we came
31:42
in here. And individually, like um, James does, I
31:47
know, the Skill Share, which is a big hit with
31:48
folks doing sewing, bracelet making, and everything
31:52
in between. I facilitate the Writing group here.
31:55
My personal favorite. I just, I love, I love
32:00
writing. It was something that helped me get
32:02
through some very challenging times. Just getting
32:05
words on a page is so important. And I encourage
32:07
everybody to give it a shot. And I've seen a
32:11
lot of people feel better after the group, you
32:14
know, writing down something that happened or
32:15
writing down a past memory or just, it's just
32:18
telling a story and just changing your reality
32:21
for a few minutes at a time while you're just
32:23
writing something down, and that's just, In my
32:25
opinion, that's beautiful. So I.. that's one of
32:28
the things we do. I know we do a lot of SMART
32:29
Recovery groups. I'm in a few of those where
32:33
we go through the SMART structure, the Four Point
32:35
Plan, very good alternative to AA.
32:41
I don't know if it's officially recognized yet,
32:44
that as in, it can be a replacement for AA, like
32:48
my opinion, it's one of the better tools that
32:51
we have access to. Like, I know if, like, back when
32:54
I was deeper in my recovery, if you put me in
32:56
an AA group, I would have fought you every step
32:58
of the way and thought it was garbage and stupid.
33:00
No shame. Sorry, no shame to AA. That's not what
33:03
I'm trying to do here. But I know that for me
33:05
personally, if I was put in a SMART Recovery
33:07
group at that time, I probably would have had
33:09
a lot better of an outcome. So one of the things
33:12
we do, we also do a lot of Wildflower groups.
33:16
Hearing voices, Visions, and Alternate Realities
33:19
is one of my favorites from there. And so I,
33:23
as somebody who kind of falls into that category
33:27
for that group, it's a very helpful group. Just
33:32
being able to form a community and be able to
33:35
talk with people about things that affect all
33:37
of us in that group in a way that we don't need
33:40
to mask and don't need to really worry about
33:43
outside perception is very valuable. Can you
34:02
give us a full breakdown of the SMART Recovery
34:05
Group? Okay. So, yeah. So smart recovery, it's
34:10
a harm reduction based modality. It's non -faith
34:13
based. It's like a meet people where they're
34:16
at kind of thing. And like, any sort of like,
34:19
you know, and we're not bashing AA, but in AA,
34:24
it's like the 12 steps. And then the idea is
34:26
to get someone to sobriety. SMART, you don't
34:29
need to get to sobriety. You just need to whatever
34:32
step that you want to get to that feels better
34:34
to you, you get...we will help you get to that
34:37
um and if that is sobriety we will help you with
34:39
that but for some people it's like cutting down
34:41
or xyz and it's also not just for um like substances
34:47
um it can be for behaviors like social media
34:50
addiction or um maybe you do something in social
34:52
situations that you wish you didn't do um yeah
34:56
it's really expansive and like you know for AA
34:58
you have to do there's Alcoholics Anonymous, there's
35:01
Narcotics Anonymous, it's everything, it encompasses
35:04
everything, all encompassing. Okay, so how, how.. so
35:08
okay. I'm, I'm coming to my SMART Recovery
35:12
group. How.. how, what happens, how does that work?
35:15
Very first thing we're going to do is we're going
35:17
to greet everybody with a warm friendly smile
35:19
hope everybody's doing good today, and uh we
35:22
usually roll off with our introduction, we have
35:24
a little introduction sheet we go through, we
35:27
talk about what SMART is. We talk about like,
35:29
what's going on, the Four Points. So we go through
35:31
that. We usually go through our group guidelines,
35:34
which are just that full, you know, be curious,
35:37
you know, please, like all of our like normal
35:40
rules from throughout the SMART. And then we
35:43
usually do check -ins, say hi, let everybody
35:46
talk about anything that's on their mind. If
35:48
somebody has something that they have been itching
35:50
to talk about, please do. And sometimes that
35:53
can be a launching point. And if it's not, We
35:56
usually go back to the Four Points and see which
36:01
ones are resonating with people or ask if anybody
36:03
has anything they want to focus on specifically
36:05
featuring these tools. And we have a SMART Recovery
36:08
booklet, like a workbook that we can go through
36:11
and it has all of the different tools and things.
36:14
And we give those out to all our participants
36:15
when they come into a SMART group so that they
36:18
can see what's right in front of them and they
36:21
can take it with them, if they've had things
36:23
that they want to work on with later. It's, yeah..
36:26
we usually open that up for conversation. We
36:29
might go through one of the tools that we're
36:30
using, you know, throughout that, you know, from
36:34
that launching off point and kind of break that
36:36
down. And then we do a checkout at the end,
36:39
see how everybody's feeling and usually adjourn
36:42
from there. It's pretty simple. It's pretty chill.
36:46
It's very low barrier. Like there are no requirements
36:50
to be in the group. You don't- like, you can you
36:54
can show up high. Like, you can show up high.
36:56
You can show up in whatever mental space. As
36:59
long as we can talk, we are fine. Come as you
37:02
are. Come as you are. I was going to say that.
37:05
Yeah. It's very much a meet -you -where -you're
37:07
-at type of place. And I personally value the
37:11
not focusing on sobriety, which, again, no bashing
37:15
AA. That's not what I'm doing here. But, like,
37:18
with AA, like, back when I was using substances
37:20
much more heavy. I know they would have wanted
37:22
me to back off almost entirely from everything.
37:25
And I realized that that wasn't necessarily the
37:27
path for me. I backed away from most of the substances
37:31
I was doing. The only one being cannabis at this
37:34
point that I'm still with. California sober,
37:36
you know. And I know that they would have said
37:41
that's bad. That's something I still have people
37:43
that tell me that's not exactly the route I should
37:45
be going. But I've always felt like it's something
37:48
that helps me. It helps me medicate. I don't have
37:50
access to any medication for any of my mental
37:53
illnesses, so it's a good it's a good substitute
37:56
and it's one that especially, if kept in check
37:58
can be very useful so I'm not a sobriety sobriety
38:02
sobriety only person it's about finding your
38:05
level, kind of everybody has their levels, and
38:07
where they want to be and those things are very
38:09
malleable they can change at any point like you
38:11
could be one way for an x amount of time and
38:14
then something happens, or nothing happens and
38:16
you just say I need something to be different,
38:19
and you can change that, and that's what it's
38:21
about. It's about setting that dial, setting
38:23
that meter to wherever you need to be and wherever
38:25
you are be. That's so validating and so nonjudgmental.
38:31
Thank you. Do you know what the Four Points are?
38:42
So first point, Building and Maintaining Motivations.
38:45
Two, Coping with Urges and Cravings. Three, managing
38:48
Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors. And four,
38:50
Living a Balanced Life. A lot of the times we
38:52
have people asking, like whenever we open up
38:55
for the conversation, we have a lot of people
38:57
anchor on the Living a Balanced Life part. And
38:59
I find myself going through those tools with
39:02
people more so than any of the others, not discouraging
39:05
any of the others. They're very valid and very
39:07
great, but I just know like... that's where a
39:10
lot of people may even start their journey. And
39:12
the thing about the Points is you can attack
39:14
them in any order. So it's not a one, two, three,
39:18
four, you're going down the Points. Some days
39:20
you may be focused on living a balanced life.
39:22
Some days you may be working on your urges and
39:25
cravings and dealing with the things going on
39:28
in your life, etc. And you're trying to manage
39:30
those aspects. And you can kind of bounce between
39:32
those points. I feel like that's one of the things
39:34
that makes SMART so vital. Any of these Points,
39:37
are they resonating with anything today? Like,
39:39
is anybody... so each SMART group is different
39:41
because we're going over different tools and
39:42
we're going, you know, even if we're working
39:44
with splitting models, like, you may not be working
39:47
with the same tools for the same, or for this
39:49
group that we were using the week prior. And
39:52
not because we're done using those tools, but
39:54
because it's about adapting to whatever the group
39:56
needs at that point. So some people will value
39:58
or want to go over the Life Wheels. Some people
40:01
may want to go over like, the ABCs. And there
40:04
are so many different tools that we have access
40:06
to, that it's very versatile. It's like somebody's
40:11
bringing a car to the shop and we're busting
40:13
out the toolkit. And we're just.. we have all the
40:16
tools we need to work on whatever we need to
40:18
today. And that's just. I like that analogy.
40:21
Yeah. What are the most used tools? If you're
40:26
asking me the technical definition of this tool,
40:29
forgive me. I call it the Wheel of Life. Okay.
40:31
Where we draw a big circle and we divide it up
40:34
into eight parts. And we go, we have people,
40:37
whoever is interested in the tool in that day
40:40
or is addressing the problem, we will go through
40:42
what is something that you value in your life
40:46
and rank it on a scale of one to ten. So it could
40:49
be drugs. It could be walking your dog. It could
40:52
be, you know, finding shelter. It could be any
40:55
certain aspect of life. And you rank up these
40:59
are the eight essentially tenets of your life
41:01
in your eyes in that moment. And so it can help
41:06
give people like a perspective on where they're
41:08
valuing things or where they're placing their
41:11
value or if their values aren't aligned with
41:13
their actions. Like if you're saying you value
41:15
these things a lot more. and we're repeating
41:18
these actions, do we want to have a conversation
41:20
about that? And that's totally chill. Think of
41:24
SMART tools. That's the tool I go to 90 % of
41:27
the time. I use the other tools. SMART is only
41:40
one of the types of groups. One of our... other
41:43
groups is called Alternatives to Suicide. It's
41:46
a Wildflower organization, not organization.
41:49
Wildflower is a, I think it's an org based out
41:52
of Massachusetts, but they have a lot of harm
41:54
reduction based values that they follow, and
41:58
our Alternatives to Suicide group is kind of
42:02
like a mental health support group explicitly
42:05
for anybody who is experiencing suicide thoughts,
42:07
in the state of Washington, if you're a mandated
42:09
reporter, you actually don't have to report if
42:12
somebody says they're going to harm themselves,
42:14
only if it's harm to a child or a vulnerable
42:17
adult. So if people come in here and they say,
42:20
like, I want to kill myself, instead of saying,
42:23
okay, let's get you to the ER, let's do a safety
42:25
plan, let's blah, blah, blah. we sit with that
42:28
feeling instead, um, and talk about it, and talk
42:31
about where is it coming from, like, why are we
42:34
feeling like this? How can we help, how can we
42:37
be present and move through that and, um, instead
42:40
of just discouraging someone that kind of way
42:43
and we find that people often don't want to kill
42:45
themselves after they've been given the space
42:47
to express that feeling um rather than just have
42:50
it swallowed inside them, which I think is really
42:54
cool. It is, it is. There's.. you know, there used
42:58
to be such a stigma around talking about all
43:01
of that, and you know, a very valid fear that they're
43:05
gonna go and take you and put you in an institution
43:08
and you lose all your rights and there was a
43:11
time where that did happen, but you know that's
43:15
not a thing now, and it's like getting people
43:18
to understand that that's no longer a thing. That
43:21
we're approaching it through, hey, let's be open
43:23
about this and communicate about this. What's
43:26
going on, you know? And I interviewed the Family
43:28
Education Support Services very recently. And
43:31
they were also talking about that, too. Oh, Alternatives to
43:35
Suicide? Yeah, just talking about it
43:38
and just like, let's talk about it. See what's
43:42
up. Yeah. What else would you like to share?
43:47
Well, I don't know. We just we put on so many
43:49
great groups here. I encourage people to come
43:51
and swing by and pick up one of our group schedules.
43:53
We're also trying to put a group schedule on
43:55
our website. I'm pretty sure if it's not already
43:58
there. You have the Connection to Life. That's
44:11
Alternatives to Suicide. Oh, that's what that
44:13
is. We were using a different name for a second
44:16
because Wildflower was going through some leadership
44:20
changes and we weren't sure if we could still
44:23
use the same titles, but it is Alternatives to Suicide.
44:26
So.. sure, you're using a framework for their program
44:30
that they were? We are running, yeah, we are
44:32
running that. Oh okay, okay, cool, and and how did
44:36
y 'all find that? Up.. it's up in Connecticut you
44:39
said? Um, for SMART, here, they.. we were trained
44:42
with Wildflower's Alternatives to Suicide, which
44:45
we're calling Connection to Life on our schedule,
44:47
um, there was- oh we did group facilitator training
44:52
it was group facilitator training and then it
44:54
was.. also we had the SMART training, and SMART training
44:56
the next week, so yeah. Tell me about your Skill
45:07
Shares. Um, Skill Share is a group that I run
45:11
every Thursday morning, the topic changes every
45:14
week. So far we've done Duct Tape Wallets, Sewing
45:17
um Mend.. like Invisible Mending, and all that..
45:21
uh gosh I can't remember others I've also partnered
45:26
with City of Olympia Walk and Roll program
45:29
and we got a Bike Repair workshop in here, we've
45:31
partnered with the Olympia Timberland Library,
45:33
um and we had someone in there teaching people
45:37
how to sew on a sewing machine. And they actually
45:39
also donated a sewing machine to us, which was
45:41
awesome. Oh wow. And yeah, it's kind of.. the Skill Share
45:44
is kind of like an open invitation to anybody
45:46
who wants to reach out, especially like other
45:49
service providers that have a skill that they
45:51
want to share that's applicable to people experiencing
45:54
homelessness, of course. Yeah, they can teach
45:57
to people. And I really am welcoming other people
46:02
in to do this with me because I mean I only have
46:04
so many skills that I could share. So you're looking
46:07
for volunteers. I am looking for volunteers, yeah,
46:09
teachers.. and teachers, if you have something that
46:11
you want to teach someone, people come on down
46:14
we have someone coming in uh i think in two weeks
46:17
from now i was going to teach people how to make
46:18
dentalium earrings which are a type of like native
46:21
jewelry with dentalium seashells, um we also have
46:25
some someone coming in to do crocheting, so that's
46:29
pretty cool. Oh, cool. Yeah. Nice. And y 'all
46:53
just did your Art and Games today. Yeah, that's
46:55
me and Goblin's flagship group. That's been the
46:59
day one group. It's one of the groups that has
47:02
stayed so far, and we think it's going to stay
47:05
for a while, because it's so good. We have an
47:07
Xbox... we have a jailbroken Xbox 360, which means
47:10
that it has almost every single Xbox 360 game
47:13
ever on it. It's an open invitation. People come
47:17
in. We've got almost every art supply you could
47:19
think of. I've got canvases, watercolor, collage,
47:22
clay, beads. We've got everything. So, yeah,
47:27
people just come in and it's like open group.
47:29
We listen to music. People can make art. They
47:32
can play video games if they want. They can play
47:34
video games alone if they want to. And Goblin
47:37
runs the games and I run the art. So it's Art
47:40
and Games with Goblin and James. Yeah, we've got
47:42
board games. We've got video games. I was like.
47:45
What? You're feeling gamey? You come to me. So
47:48
it's just a little Drop-In. It's not like really
47:52
organized necessarily. But sometimes maybe people,
47:56
hey, me and a couple people are going to play
47:59
this game. Oh, yeah. Come in and within reason,
48:02
obviously, do whatever you want. Like if you
48:05
want to just hang out in the space, you're more
48:07
than welcome. It's.. like, in my mind, it's a community
48:11
space. They hang out space for it's been a week.
48:14
everybody's been going through this thing, we've
48:16
been here, they've been here, like come in, let's
48:19
just relax the last like couple hours of our
48:21
day and it's relaxing like I..I have participants
48:26
that I never thought would play video games, come up
48:29
and be like yeah I'm ready to play and I'm like
48:31
yeah! We got a little.. a little like, older lady
48:35
last week com in, and she was like, you guys got
48:37
Call of Duty? You got anything with zombies? And
48:39
she was on there playing zombies. Yeah, that was
48:42
awesome. That was so much fun. That was so much
48:45
fun. I tried so hard to keep her alive, but the
48:48
box kept giving me awful weapons. Oh, I know.
49:00
What's the difference between Art and Games and
49:03
Creative Expression? Well, Creative Expressions
49:06
is also a Wildflower -based group, and it is an
49:09
art group with a therapeutic prompt. Okay. Like,
49:12
what did we do this week? I think it was like...
49:14
or last week we did.. make a gift out of clay for
49:17
somebody who has made a positive impact in your
49:20
life. And I think this week I did... gosh I don't
49:25
know, a time think of a time that you were proud
49:27
of yourself stuff like that. It's like an art
49:29
therapy. Art therapy, but we don't call it art
49:32
therapy, but like, um yeah, that's Creative Expressions
49:35
is like that, and it I leave it pretty open for
49:37
folks to make what kind of whatever art they
49:40
want to make but usually I do, have like a.. There's
49:42
like a theme. Yeah okay cool, and then Art and
49:45
Games is just expansive, whatever.. open just come
49:49
make art or play.. The final question, is there
50:09
anything else you would like to share? No, I
50:14
think that this is a great place and I am really
50:17
proud and happy to be working here. And I encourage
50:20
folks to swing by. Try to participate in our
50:23
groups if you want. Come by for groups. Come
50:25
check us out. Come talk to us. If you even want
50:28
to just come get a cup of coffee, we have the
50:30
same coffee that used to be at Burial Grounds.
50:33
It's Wobbly Cup. So that's pretty cool. Yeah,
50:36
just come chill with us. And I don't want to
50:39
sound redundant, but yeah, absolutely. Please
50:42
come check us out. Our services are open to everyone.
50:47
So please. don't be afraid, like if you're nervous
50:51
and you feel like you are in need of something,
50:53
if you're in need of someone to talk to, if you're
50:55
in need.. if there's just like, I don't care what
50:58
it is, i don't care if you're trying to fill out
50:59
your FAFSA, and you're just confused and needing
51:01
help with it, come sit down with somebody, come
51:04
meet somebody, we will help, um, whatever barriers
51:08
you're facing our whole goal is to help lift
51:11
those barriers up so that we can all get through
51:13
it, so please do not be afraid come check us out,
51:17
we don't bite.. At least not hard. (laughing) And we do serve
51:22
a lot of people who experience homelessness,
51:24
but like Goblin said, our services are not just
51:26
for people experiencing homelessness. Everybody
51:28
is welcome in this space. Awesome. Thank you
51:32
so much. No problem. Thanks for having us. The
51:43
Self -Management and Recovery Training, also
51:46
known as SMART Recovery, is a great facilitation
51:50
for recovery I was glad to learn about from Franklin
51:53
Street Harm Reduction. If you would like to find
51:55
out more, you can visit smartrecovery.org or
51:59
drop in and visit Goblin and James and see for
52:02
yourself how SMART Recovery can help you. And
52:06
if you would like to swing by, you can find Franklin
52:09
Street Harm Reduction at 704 Franklin Street
52:13
Southeast in downtown Olympia, just one block
52:17
down from Olympia Timberland Library. Look for
52:20
the purple building. You can also give them a
52:22
call at 360 -999 -6646 and online at franklinstreetharmreduction
52:31
.org. In addition, you can learn more about the
52:36
mobile Hope and Healing Clinic drop -in van located
52:40
in the parking lot of Franklin Street Harm Reduction
52:43
by visiting hopeandhealingclinic .com. That's
52:56
it for today's resource report produced by Pathways
52:59
to Agency. At Pathways to Agency, we are driven
53:03
by the belief that everyone should have the tools
53:05
and support to achieve their goals and thrive
53:09
in their communities. Our mission is to bridge
53:12
the gaps in understanding, accessibility and
53:14
trust by connecting individuals to resources
53:18
and sharing information and processes that can
53:22
lead to personal and community growth. Resource
53:25
Report offers information about existing and
53:28
emerging nonprofits and resource organizations.
53:32
Find out more at pathways2agency .org. From there,
53:37
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53:40
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53:51
in the interviews conducted by Resource Report.
53:55
Till next time, and thanks for listening.