Week 16 – Clarity



Eye_irisToday things got a little bit clearer…in more than one way!

Not only did I wake up after my Lasik eye surgery that I had yesterday and could see better than 20/20, I also met up with Anthony and an outreach worker named Elizabeth who has been kind enough to provide Anthony with some assistance. Before I get on to Anthony, if you ever consider Lasik eye surgery or have keratoconus (a rare but treatable eye disease) you should definitely consider seeing Dr. Roy Rubinfeld in Chevy Chase, MD. He’s amazing!

So believe it or not, less than 24 hours after my surgery I was downtown sitting outside having a meeting – ok to be fair I did wear sunglasses, but still! Elizabeth is wonderful. She helped us navigate the complex labyrinth of social services available to Anthony. And while a few other organizations have been open to helping us, the system is so complex and turnover is so high that just when you start working with someone some other piece of the puzzle changes and you fall all the way back to the end of the line again. It’s so agonizing.

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Anthony talking with Elizabeth this morning about creating a pathway to housing.

With Elizabeth’s help, we mapped out the next five steps for Anthony. He seemed really positive about it and we all have a little work to do. I’m hoping that some day we will look back at this morning and realize how pivotal it was in getting Anthony his set of keys to his very own apartment.

As for progress on the book – I’m working hard to not be sleeping on the streets come April 24th!

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