Housecalls for the Homeless in New Orleans

[AlanfromBigEasy]

I was invited to repost this here after it was deleted from The Oil
Drum.

<b>Quiet Satisfaction </b>

Next week a close friend, a psychiatrist doing her residency in New
Orleans, will start a first ever (as far as they could determine)
house calls on the homeless from 7:30 AM to 9 PM a couple of days/
week. She and another resident will be working with a social worker to
bring available aid and support to the estimated 12,000 homeless in
New Orleans.

I am unsure of the final details, since this initiative has evolved,
but I did hear that it was a go.

She has been the point of the spear in dealing with the many issues in
New Orleans. Suicides tripled post-Katrina, depression and Traumatic
Stress Disorders are extremely common, social services disrupted and
she was one of only 22 psychiatrists we had in the Metro area. And I
am convinced one of the more effective ones, certainly no one worked
harder or put in more hours !

Many people were essential to making this “Housecalls to the Homeless”
possible, but she was one of those. Without her, I do not think it
would be happening.

Why my quiet satisfaction ?

She has told me that without my aid and support she would have been
overwhelmed and would have likely left her residency here in New
Orleans.

And why post this on TheOilDrum ? (Since deleted)

To illustrate that not all efforts are fruitless and hopeless, that
isolation is not always the best way, and that positive, if
unintended, consequences can flow from reaching out and helping
others, and society at large.

A lesson for society and individuals post-Peak Oil.

Best Hopes,

A proud Alan

BTW: She is the one who told me “The longer one lives in New Orleans,
the less fit they are to live anywhere else. And that is a good
thing !”