A tale of two types of clients in the aftermath of a pandemic

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck early in 2020, we had one set of clients who were housed. They hunkered down. Almost all lost jobs (if they had them). Most paid no rent. Many fell behind on bills. Most became dependent on support, which was ample once the initial shock of the pandemic arrival wore off.

Fortunately, we were able to connect with many of them to provide wrap-around services in the form of online groups like Heart to Heart (peer to peer), Bible Study, Prayer Time, Women’s and Men’s Groups. We offered extensive support via phone, text and Facebook Messenger.
Now that recovery has arrived, these clients are facing the need to move back to financial independence as support resources dwindle. Many have been late reacting to the change this summer. It’s clear that some are facing eviction.

As the pressure rises, so do mental and substance abuse challenges. We will continue to supply financial and grocery resources to this group until the funds run out, but our main responsibility is caring for their mental health and guiding them to restart their journey toward independence.
We have another set of clients who weathered the pandemic on the streets. They may have couch-surfed a while with the former group, but they have no home. They depend almost daily on support for food, clothing, and encouragement.

During the worst of the pandemic, the social support that might have provided an on-ramp to join the first group has been shuttered or limited. Housing placement has slowed to a crawl. Few in this group have phones; they may obtain them frequently, but they lose them quickly to the unstable nature of existence on the street.
This group has significant and deep substance abuse issues due to the easy street access to meth and K2, both of which severely interfere with the ability to build any type of stability and change. This group benefits from brief wrap-around services we supply in the form of chatting at our gate or on the sidewalk.
We continue to feed this group daily, but our main responsibility is helping them assess where they are and determine if and when they are ready for change. Services to put them into temporary housing will recover, however slowly in Austin.

We will find a way to resume in-person masked groups for this set of clients so we can get them dreaming of a better future. Decent options for recovery exist, but none are instant, always available or easy.