Four of the past five weeks ranked as the worst for heat-related illness since 2018. Metro Health reported that this summer has been the most dangerous in terms of heat-related illnesses in San Antonio. So I think the message really needs to be on prevention so that we're not continuing to see these high numbers." “And the higher the temperature for that week, the more incidences that we're seeing. So we know that those numbers are increasing,” she said. "In just one week, there were 60 individuals who EMS was called out to help for heat related illness. I had a tent, and three times they stole my whole tent from me.”įrenchie said a constant breeze channeled by the drainage ditch makes the heat manageable but these conditions are still dangerous, explained Dr, Rita Espinoza, the chief epidemiologist with San Antonio Metropolitan Health Department. He’s now living under a tarp tossed over some shopping carts because his tents keep getting stolen. He’s been at the camp since October when he lost his house after his wife died. He grabbed his share while excitedly chatting with Barrera about nothing and then walked back down the gulley.Īfter Monster left, the other residents came forward.Īnother man goes by Frenchie. He’s grateful for Barrera’s visit and the hook-up of cold water, sports drinks and snacks. He’s midsized but seemed to be all muscle with arms that appear to belong to a larger man - only his smile is bigger. The shirtless man known as Monster stepped through the fence hole. Real names are for people who have lives attached to the system, and these are people who have decided they don’t want to be part of that. Here, names are as fluid as the living accommodations. “There’s a guy down there that I only know him as 'Monster.' I don’t even know his real name or I forgot it,” Barrera said. The people who live in the concrete drainage ditch emerged through an opening in the chain link fence that’s been pulled apart to make an easy portal from one world to another. He honked his truck's horn with three short bursts. In July, he visited a homeless camp off Fredericksburg Road behind a Dollar Tree and a plasma center. Then next time, maybe you get a name or maybe not.” “On the first encounter, I just give them the hook up with the water, and I don’t even ask their name. They don’t know who you are and where you’re from or if you’re the police,” he explained. They may not like it when someone walks up to them and starts asking questions - 'how you doing' and stuff like that. But every day he meets the unhoused where they live, providing help and building trust. Many of the people he meets on the streets are reluctant to join a program and follow its structure. His goal is to convince the unsheltered to come to Haven for Hope for their housing services. As a former heroin addict in recovery, he knows the back streets and alleys of San Antonio. Pete Barrera is the outreach coordinator for Haven for Hope. Get TPR's best stories of the day and a jump start to the weekend with the 321 Newsletter - straight to your inbox every day.
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