House of Charity Episode 4 12.1.08

One of the hardest things to understand when beginning work at the HoC was the concept that, for those living on street, the cycle of the moon can affect mood.

I'm not kidding. The term lunatic having it's root in the latin lunaticus, according to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunatic) sharing it's stem with luna, the latin word for moon is based on folklore, and debunked often by scientific studies.

Here's a website doing just that (and it's for kids! There are links to dozen's of studies available here):

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/moon.html

However, the studies are society-wide, and have not been done specifically for homeless individuals, who, as a rule, spend more time outside and in the elements than do those of us living indoors. Similar to the persons inspiring the folk-lore, considering we've moved into increasing levels of comfort and separation from the elements as we've 'progressed' as a society. The homeless are in a different circumstance.

But the lunar cycle is just one of the ways in which the HoC finds it's rhythm. There's a daily ebb and flow, a similar experience throughout the week, as well as the month.

It's the yearly cycle that's most drastic. Since the brief snowfall last week, there have been more returning faces that we haven't seen since early spring than I can shake a stick at. Which means one thing--sleeping outside in Spokane is officially becoming less of a chronic condition (i.e. one that makes life difficult) and moving more into the fatal range (i.e. can be life-ending) without the proper equipment.

It also changes shelter life considerably. There are fewer open beds. Travel is difficult, since most use their legs to get them from point A to B, not to mention adequate footwear coming more and more at a premium. Making an appointment may mean getting wet feet that are hard to dry, and the extra travel time may make it hard to get back in time for lunch. Wet boots take quite a bit of time--and room--to dry. Since the outdoors are now less hospitable than the indoors, and more and more people are packing into the shared space, it's hard to get a moment to yourself (something that anyone, homeless or otherwise, needs). Tempers flare, and may result in someone being unwelcome in the shelter--a difficult position considering the outdoor temperature becoming harder and harder to bear.

In short, there is little about winter that isn't stressful on shelter living.