We visited Sam while he had a friend over. Her long, blonde hair should’ve been grey. She looked drunk. Sam sipped Old English in a can. His friend’s Old English sat unopened on the TV table.
Sam needed help with $100 in rent, and food. Our St. Vincent de Paul Conference can help with $150 per person (up to twice in a calendar year) so we paid the balance on his rent and wrote a $40 voucher for food. Sam laughed, mockingly wiped his brow and sighed. “Well, I’m being helped out of one more scrap.”
On paper, Sam should have enough money to meet his basic needs. He lives in subsidized housing. He receives enough money from SSI to pay for his portion of the rent, and an additional $100, which can cover his other basic necessities. He receives $10 in food stamps each month. He can go to local food banks once a day for nonperishable items. When we visited him, his rent is unpaid, and he’s sipping Old English.
We didn’t ask any questions, though, about his spending habits, because that might have compromised his human dignity. We aren’t his social workers; we came only to create community between those who have and those who don’t.
His room is small. He has a bed, two lawn chairs, and two TV tables. The bathroom is humungous; it’s handicap accessible with grab bars and a wide door (no, Sam isn’t handicap.) His refrigerator is dorm-size.
I laughed hard with him. I laugh because he laughs so hard at his own jokes. He says he’s an excellent cook. His friend agrees and says it’s why she’s fat. She spends several minutes telling me how she admires him. She also confides that she’s tried to get in bed with him, but he won’t have any of that. Sam joked that one wife was enough.
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Wait, so is Sam a he or she? Why do you help him/her with giving money out if s/he only spends it on "Old English" (is that beer)?Why not teach him/her to fish instead?