The Importance of Urgency...

“We’ve got to get out of here, right now!”

I spoke those words to the 20 homeless men and women who were seeking shelter in a building that was leased by the hospital I worked with, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which is about 100 miles northeast of New Orleans. For the second time that day, on August 29, 2005, in light of the category 5 gale force winds of hurricane Katrina, we were forced to relocate, due to the caving in of the ceiling, and what seemed to me, to be a river of water flooding into the area where only minutes before, fatigued people were trying to sleep. The people who were chronically homeless, were homeless again, and perhaps for some, once again, their lives were in great peril. Fortunately, we made it out of the building safely, and none of the people who I worked with suffered any physical harm from the horrendous events of that day.

Up to that point in my life, I had worked with people who were homeless for 17 years, and I took great pride in being an agent of change in their lives, and I felt honored to partner with them, and work with them, and to see them achieve self-efficacy and become self-sufficient from their current condition of being homeless. I took great pride in partnering with HUD, the City of Hattiesburg, and many other public and private organizations in working to convert a 5,000 square foot residence into a place where up until August 29, 2005, had provided 30 beds for people who wished to exit their homeless condition. Although a challenge at times, I did enjoy working with the multiple agencies, federal, county, hospitals, rehabilitation, faith-based and others, that teamed up to effectively deliver services to the people who needed them, especially during the months that followed hurricane Katrina, before we were able to relocate again into the residence.

In coming to Dallas to work again with people who are homeless, and whose life experience may still reflect them being in some form of physical or psychological peril, I remember those words I spoke some 3 years ago. This time, without a hurricane driving me, but with the help of partner agencies that work at The Bridge, I hope to react methodically, but in some respect, with the same urgency, to see people escape the perils that come along with being homeless…right now!

Dr. Ken McGill
Director
PATH Dallas