Stalking the Street Urchin

A few posts down I wrote about the Street Urchin in Cocoa Village. She's not really an urchin as she isn't really a child, physically. She surfaced again today in her downward spiral growing deeper and faster. After lunch in the Village my friend Lala had gone out side to smoke, I was on my way out to say goodbye to her and head over to the island for some shopping. Lala was trying to convince the Urchin that she needed to go to Circles of Care (a nearby psych unit). The Urchin was talking a mile a minute, LaLa just kept telling her that she needed to get on the bus and go now, she gave her the 65 cents for the bus and the rest of her cigarettes.

We knew the chances were slim that she would make it there, she had no idea where she was , she was in a psychosis that entailed her being back 10 years ago. There is nothing we can do, like I said the cops don't know what to do with her, she's not a danger to her herself or others so she can't be Baker acted. The problem is the scum of the hoods that prey on her when she is down and confused and lost. They pick her up and take advantage of her, leaving her in bad parts of town.

I left a few minutes after that, I was getting crazy thoughts that maybe together we could drive her to get help, but more than likely she would freak out along the way. It makes me so sad, it breaks my heart. After doing some shopping on the Island I drove through the village on the lookout for her. I didn't have a plan, didn't know what I would have done if I did find her. I saw her stuff behind a building in a parking lot corner shielded from the wind. I never did see her, the temps are cold this weekend. I'm going to put some of my older/or unworn warm clothes in my trunk and if I see her, I'll bring her food.

Maybe if this were a big town, she would blend in and I wouldn't even have noticed her. in Ft. Lauderdale they had a lot called Tent City, homeless people were allowed to "camp" there and would congregate at the nearby main bus terminal. The police (or some local agency) would buy them one-way tickets back to wherever their homes were. The homeless advocates would bring them food, disturbances were keep low. It wasn't perfect but it was something.