Stories

One beautiful morning in August somebody suggests over a cup of coffee that I tell something about my life, the road I travelled. Who am I that someone asks me to talk about myself?

When you entered our follow-up, Mr. N.*, we had to collect a maximum of data concerning you, in order to accompany you as well as possible. That's when I received an e-mail from a member of your network that took me aback. It was a rather discouraging message, saying that you had chosen to live on the street anyway and that you had always refused to live in housing. This is obviously not the first time I've heard this kind of thinking, but it's still surprising. So let's drop it?

Mr. K. has been followed up by Street Nurses for almost 4 years.  He lost his first home, which did not suit him as it was too isolated and made him loose his bearings. He could not cope with the situation and, unfortunately, landed, after a short time, back on the street. The street: that’s what he knew too well as he had lived there for dozens of years. Like most homeless people, he suffered from serious physical health and addiction problems.

Mr. J. lived on the street for a very long time. For years he slept in a tent near a Brussels quarter where people knew and liked him. When we met him, he was physically in bad shape, hygienically completely neglected. Our team took the time necessary to get to know him while he was the one who made us laugh with his jokes. His sense of humor was totally intact.

Mr D is seventy. He has lived in Belgium since the sixties where he got several degrees and worked in different sectors - but always in the black. In fact, he has no papers.

Luc lived on the streets for 7 years. Together, we managed to get him out and find a place to live, in which he stayed for 5 years, before, unfortunatly, passing away in the summer of 2020. Discover his moving testimony.

One day, the conditions came together for you to integrate an accommodation and to leave the emergency shelter in which you had been sleeping for about ten years. Three times we came to pick you up and take you to your new home. Three times, you refused to follow us. You said you were too tired or had a stomach ache.

A few weeks ago, we met M.R. He was referred to us by another non-profit organization with whom we collaborate. M.R. lived on the streets for 7 years and has now been in a shelter for several months, after having been hospitalized.

A short time ago we looked up one of our street patients, a man who does not realize how seriously ill he is. On his back he had an enormous growth. His shirt stuck to his skin and to his oozing wound.

What touches and enriches me most as a social worker are moments of quiet togetherness. Of course, we must achieve our objectives, respect appointments, etc., but I prefer those moments when “nothing” happens between me and the patient.

This is the story of a patient I met during my first inspection round with Street Nurses. Mr. L. lives on the street. He misses a leg that had to be amputated in his country of origin after wrong medical treatment. He has a strong, friendly personality and is well liked by people around him.