Seeing blue hands on a nearly unconscious friend is frightening.

Seeing blue hands on a nearly unconscious friend I've come to love is a frightening moment.[1]

                                                                                                                                                                                      

Barely half an hour before this frightening moment began to unfold, I had been introducing "Casey"  to the seven people from Urban Hope Church who were visiting Emerald City with me.  We were all engaged in conversation about an unusual recent event in Casey's life.  Shortly thereafter, Casey rejoined the community under the bridge, prepared and injected her afternoon medicine.  That's when near tragedy joined her where she was sitting on the sidewalk and where God's intervention allowed me to be with her during it.

Casey's dose of medicine was either too much or made up of what she didn't expect it to be.  Either way, she was overdosing just short of needing Narcan.  Her hands were turning blue.  Her pulse was week but present. [2]  She was breathing on her own, occasionally with moderate stimulation.  It's that final point, breathing on her own, that the community uses to determine the need for Narcan.  Narcan itself, while being a lifesaving agent, does carry certain after affects that can be unpleasant as I've been told by survivors of overdose.  Addicted people will use it on each other as needed but only if REALLY needed. 

Not even ten minutes before this, one of the women in the SUM program at Urban Hope gave me a new copy of "Jesus Calling" to give to someone in the community who I thought would appreciate it.  As this group of seven was pulling away, I hopped in my Uplander and hopped back out.  The perfect person to receive this book came to mind.  It was then, as I was walking down the sidewalk to find that person that I saw Casey and stayed with her - as did members of the community - while she was in the most concerning portions of her situation.  I tucked the book in my pocket and sat with Casey on the sidewalk for half an hour, maybe more.

Seeing fifteen added pounds on a person I've come to love is a joyful thing.

Earlier in my visit, I saw for the first time in probably forty days a woman who had been incarcerated for most of that time.  Her eyes sparkled with renewed life and her cheeks were filled out.  "I'm clean and I've gained fifteen pounds!" she said as she reached out for a hug with a renewed joyful and natural smile. 

This is not the first time that I've seen renewed life in a person returning to Emerald City after time in jail.  My biggest frustration with seeing them post-incarceration is that I'm seeing them there, in Emerald City or their other bridge community of choice.  Why can't there be a guaranteed place filled with dignity and respect for jail-detoxed people to go that will foster their further cleansing and rehabilitation?[3]

Seeing absolute determination to enter detox in one I've come to love is a joyful moment.

                       

Recovery from addiction doesn't just happen.  It's not like physical trauma where something horrible happens and the victim goes to the emergency room and begins immediate treatment.  Recovery from addiction begins when the addicted person decides within them self that it is time to begin the process.  Once that point has come, the person will probably have to stay in their homeless community for a few days while a bed can be found, insurance can be approved and transportation can be arranged. 

Between the moment that the person decides to begin recovery and the time they get to that available bed, they must continue to consume their medicine.  That means they will continue to stand in streets with their 'hungry' sign or walk the streets waiting for a 'date.'  Sadly, for many, during that delay of days, determination withers like a flower that's not been watered and the person stays in their lifestyle maybe to be re-determined some time later.  Between determination and re-determination, hunger signs and dates and the very real potential for overdose continues to be a part of everyday life. 

For at least four months, "Bob" has been showing determination growing within his spirit as evidenced by our lengthy conversations.  Yesterday, Bob's determination bloomed into action.  We talked about one option for detox and recovery that really appealed to him.  Anna is working on the details.  If all goes as we pray it will, Bob will be leaving the streets of Kensington and moving into his new life early next week.  Between now and then, he continues life on the street with his 'hungry' sign and his medicine.

Jesus Calling       

As all of this was calming down, I drove around the block to the bridge community on Frankford Avenue to visit everyone and to find "Diane", the one person who I knew would really appreciate this book.  While I had a nice visit with folks, she was not there.  Diane is a charming devout Roman Catholic who loves our LORD, is fully addicted, who supports that addiction through 'dating' and who has very openly shared with me the conflict within her soul concerning those opposing aspects of her life. 

I decided to drive around the block back to Emerald City to see if I could find Diane.  "Dear LORD, if she's the one who should have this book, please help me find her."  The light was green on Lehigh Avenue as I rounded the bend to turn onto Emerald.  Diane was walking on the sidewalk of Emerald and turning onto Lehigh.  We caught each other's eye.  I pulled over to the side of the road as I motioned to her to come over for a moment.  I met her on the street behind my Uplander.  We hugged each other as I told her I had a book for her from a woman at Urban Hope.  She saw the title: Jesus Calling, and began to cry.  She said "Oh, Thank you so much, Chris."  She apologized for needing to leave so quickly, turned and continued to walk down the sidewalk with a man. 

Through Relational Ministry yesterday, I had the privilege to sit with a woman in serious medical trouble and realize another woman's healthy weight gain and appreciate the changes in her overall demeanor.  I had the privilege of guiding a man into a possible detox experience and hand a sister in Christ a Christian book that she accepted with tears as she departed with a man. 

I'm Loving This! 

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[1] When I mention loving these people, I'm not being weird or inappropriate.  I simply mean this: I've come to love all of these people in the Name of Jesus.

[2] When I went to check her pulse at her wrist, I had to move to one side, the bracelet that I gave her the week before.  On that bracelet is the phone number for 1-800-RECOVERY  which is the number for Recovery Centers of America.  These words are also on it: "This bracelet could save a life."

[3] Addiction is a crossbreed of an illness that sends people to do time behind bars.  It's a rare form of illness that causes people to commit crimes to financially support it that lands them in jail.

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Blog Analysis Addendum: Seeing Blue Hands

Original Blog Title: Seeing blue hands on a nearly unconscious friend is frightening.

I. The Human Narrative: The Bracelet and the Book

You describe a series of rapid-fire encounters in "Emerald City." First, the terror of Casey’s overdose: her hands turning blue, her pulse weakening, and you moving a "Recovery" bracelet out of the way to check her vitals. Then, the bittersweet joy of seeing a woman return from jail with fifteen pounds of "healthy weight," only to realize she has been released right back to the bridge where her illness began. Finally, the encounter with Diane. After praying to find her, you meet her on a street corner. She receives the book Jesus Calling with tears of gratitude, only to immediately turn and walk away with a man to "humiliate herself" to fund her next dose.

"She saw the title: Jesus Calling, and began to cry... she turned and continued to walk down the sidewalk with a man."

II. The "Lynne’s Laws" Article and Section Review

This narrative provides the evidentiary basis for a new Article regarding "Post-Incarceration" care and reinforces the "Zero-Barrier" mandate.

Article 1, Section 1: The Medical Necessity and Parity Mandate. Casey’s "blue hands" are the ultimate physical evidence of a Tier-1 emergency. Under this mandate, the "wait and see if she breathes" method used by the community would be replaced by an immediate professional medical intervention that doesn't rely on the life-shattering "after-effects" of Narcan as the only option.

Article 2, Section 1: The Zero-Barrier Entry Mandate. You highlight the "Delay of Days" for Bob. Even after he chooses life, he is forced to stay on the street, holding a "hungry" sign and risking a "toe tag" while waiting for insurance approval. This Section mandates that Bob’s "moment of determination" is the only authorization needed for an immediate bed—no delay, no "withering like a flower."

Article 7, Section 1: The Safe Release and Transition Act (New).

• The Law: Forbids the "Bridge Release" of incarcerated individuals with SUD. It mandates that any person who has successfully detoxed in jail must be released directly into a "Dignity-Filled" transitional housing or rehabilitation program.

• The Application: This would prevent the "frustration" of seeing a healthy, 15-pound-heavier woman being dropped back off at the Emerald Street Bridge to face the same triggers that landed her in jail.

III. The Professional Tension and Consensus

• The Supportive View: Public health experts and prison reformers argue that the "Release to the Street" policy is the primary driver of recidivism and fatal overdose. They support Article 7 because it protects the "Investment in Health" made during incarceration.

• The Skeptical View: Corrections officials might argue they lack the budget to provide "transitional housing" for every person leaving jail and that their jurisdiction ends at the prison gate.

• The Lynne’s Law Resolution: This is a Recidivism Reduction issue. It is far more expensive to re-arrest, re-process, and re-detox a person than it is to provide a "Dignity-Filled" handoff to a recovery house.

IV. Legislative "Teeth": The "Wait-Time" Liability

• The Objective Standard: The "Determination to Detox" is a recorded medical event.

• Strict Liability: Under Lynne’s Laws, if Bob expresses a desire for treatment and is placed on a "waiting list" while remaining on the street, and he overdoses during that wait, the state/insurer is held Strictly Liable. The law treats the "Delay of Days" as a denial of life-saving care.

V. The Prevention Savings

By implementing the Safe Release and Transition Act, Pennsylvania saves on:

• The "Revolving Door" of Justice: Breaking the cycle of arrest-detox-release-relapse.

• Emergency Response: Reducing the number of "Blue Hand" calls that police and EMS must respond to on the sidewalks.

VI. The Corrected Path

Under Lynne’s Laws, the "Joyful Moment" of Bob’s determination would lead to an immediate transport, not a "Hungry" sign. The woman returning from jail would be met at the gate with a key to a room, not a trek back to a bridge. And Diane, upon receiving her book, would have been met with a system that recognized the "conflict within her soul" and offered her a prompt, respect-filled exit from the street—before she ever had to turn and walk away with that man.

#LynnesLaws