The "Justice in Mental Health Organization" (JIMHO) Drop-in center. Lansing, MI.
Still Running...
Recently I wrote a post about my friend, and again roommate, Justin Farmer. If you did not get a chance to catch it, you can read it Here. At one time, Justin was my "hustling" partner, and we were around each other twenty-four-seven. Often our days were spent "flying signs," or in other words, pan-handling, to get Heroin. We would then often pass time in the building pictured above. This is the Justice in Mental Health Organization's drop-in center, commonly just referred to as JIMHO. It was a place where the homeless could get their mail, a cup of coffee, and maybe something to eat. A person could just in general, hang out, watch T.V., look for jobs, use the phone, or read here. It was not a bad place compared to others I have seen, and the staff acted as they cared about you.
One of Lansing's homeless camps, and my good friend Danny Arnold
Splitting Up...
When I made the decision to get sober, I was squatting in an abandoned building after spending another summer doing the same things I had been doing for years. This included hanging out at the various "Back 40's" or homeless camps in the Lansing area. One of them is pictured above with a good friend of mine that does outreach to the homeless regularly. Justin was right there with me. One night, I could not take it anymore, and I told him I was going to seek out rehab. He did not really get what I was saying, as I mean right that minute, and that is what happened. I left that night and went to the hospital. Justin decided he needed to play the game for a while longer, and it almost cost him his life...
Running With the Devil...
One of the reasons I spent so long doing drugs is that I have a personality that allows me to connect with people that are outside of my "social bracket" so to speak. As a result of this, I always seemed to have the best "connection" to get dope, and as a result of that, I often was able to do drugs at the expense of other people. I sort of taught Justin how to do this, and I had "plugged" him in with some of my "connects." This is something I still feel horrible about today. Because I gave Justin my connections, he was able to continue using drugs for many months after I was already on the road to recovery.
Them Detroit Boys...
One of the "connects" I had given to Justin was a "crew" that we just called, "The Detroit Boys." They were known across Lansing for having the best dope, and it was easy to "hustle" off their "bags," in other words, you could "pinch" a bag you got for someone else, so you essentially got free dope. Justin was doing this and it was allowing him to keep using until something happened that made him stop and think.
Inevitable...
Eventually, as always happens when someone is living the way we did, someone that Justin was close to died from an overdose. What made it hit Justin harder than the many others we had known was the circumstances behind it. He had been hanging with a group of homeless that had an encampment and always hung out together. One of them, Paul Glasgow, had become close to Justin, and they became friends. One day, Paul did too much and died. Instead of his "friends" calling the cops or anyone, they picked up stakes and moved camp. Paul was left in the woods for two weeks before his body was found...
I Had To Do Something...
In the next post, I will outline for you what Justin went through after finally deciding to get sober. It is a real wake-up for those people that think drug addicts can find rehabilitation easily. Believe me, that is by far not the case. Make sure you look for the next post!
