Hello,
My name is Allyson, and I'm new here, but I thought I'd comment since I used
to manage a large public housing development in the state of Rhode Island.
It sounds as though this person may have some mental disability issues.
Lots of times the police know to bring a person like this to a local
hospital to be evaluated for psychiatric care, but sometimes they can't be
bothered (lots of paperwork) so they just "shoo" them away. It might be
helpful to call the local shelter and find out if there is a state agency
you can contact for assistance - for example, a Department of Human Services
type agency that might be able to send a social worker out to talk to him.
These people are trained to deal with these illnesses, and will be able to
advise you how to dissuade him from returning AND get him some much needed
assistance (including public housing).
good luck,
Allyson
On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 10:35 AM, felicity at cubes <
[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Wow, freaky! I wish I had some sage wisdom for you, Tara. I
> think keeping the police informed is the safest solution for
> you and your coworkers. It is unfortunate that this guy has no other
> place to go and you have been very generous, but you are
> right that you are not running a shelter.
>
> All the best,
> Felicity
>
> Cubes&Crayons
> www.cubesandcrayons.com
> cubes.typepad.com/blog
>
> On Oct 1, 2:31 pm, "Tara Hunt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Hey all,
> >
> > So, I thought I'd relay a story...not to freak anyone out or change
> > anything, but just as an experience that others can learn from.
> >
> > For about 6 months, there has been a guy who drops in regularly at
> > Citizen Space for free - almost too regularly at times - and would
> > fall asleep at the communal tables in the back. I thought, "Whatever,
> > no biggie, really," until I got a complaint from my landlord that,
> > when CS wasn't open, he would sit outside of our door or wander around
> > the building for hours. So, the next time I saw him I told him that he
> > isn't allowed to be in the building hanging around when we aren't
> > there. So, that was problem A. But he didn't really listen and we
> > would still find him sleeping outside our door. I must have told him
> > about 10x personally. Then he hadn't come around for a while, so I
> > thought that the issue was done.
> >
> > But no. One day I received an email from Eddie from The Hat Factory
> > asking me if Ryan Cook ever hangs out at Citizen Space and that they
> > had to finally ask him to leave and not come back because he was doing
> > the same thing - sleeping in the building - as well as bringing his
> > clothes and showering there. Eddie and another guy had taken Ryan to
> > lunch to get more information from him and didn't find much out.
> > According to Ryan, he had a job and a place to live. So they said he
> > would have to limit the times he dropped in and no more showering or
> > sleeping there. But he continued, so they finally threatened him with
> > calling the police if he returned.
> >
> > After that point, he stepped up his presence at CS again, this time he
> > had no laptop with him and people in the space (renters and other
> > dropins) were starting to complain about his presence. He would come
> > in, eat stuff from the cupboards, make coffee and leave a mess, then
> > sleep at the table. So, I told him he couldn't come back to CS without
> > his laptop - "This isn't a shelter, it's a workspace." I said. But a
> > couple of nights later, I came into the office to check on a package
> > at around 10:00 pm and, after unlocking the security door, I found him
> > behind it, hanging out. Of course, this freaked me out a bit, but I
> > firmly told him he wasn't allowed to be there, to leave and not come
> > back until he gets a computer.
> >
> > A couple days later, Jonathan, one of the desk renters, found him,
> > again, behind the locked security door and observed a pile of luggage
> > and clothes. This was early in the morning. He instantly left and
> > called me, telling me he didn't want to have to deal with this any
> > longer. I was very angry at that point and went directly over there,
> > but he was gone. Later that day, I caught him in the building again
> > and told him to take his clothes and leave and that I would call the
> > police if he returned. That was last Friday.
> >
> > On Monday, I wasn't at the space, but Arne told me he came in to
> > gather 'some of his things that he had left' at the space. CS is NOT a
> > storage locker. Arne supervised him and walked him out of the
> > building. I thought that was the end of it. But no again.
> >
> > Today, I stopped by CS to check on a package and, lo and behold, he
> > was there again. I totally blew up and told him I was going to call
> > the police and locked myself in the office. The police came by and he
> > was STILL hanging in the building. The officer talked to him, then
> > came and talked with me. I told him the story and th
