Katherine Morrison is executive director of the Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network, or A-Span, which seeks out and works with the homeless in Arlington, providing them with food, shelter, clothing and social services.
How do you find homeless people?
An interesting element of it is how do you know someone is homeless? Our workers are trained, they are really familiar with the territory they cover. We have one worker who works just in Rosslyn. There is a lot of homeless traffic across Key Bridge. He also knows places in the woods, parks where people congregate, underpasses.
How do you make contact with the homeless?
Our workers don’t approach anybody, they let somebody approach them.
We have a van with our name on it and we carry around supplies, like clean socks and clean underwear and that is an enticement for people to approach.
We have Spanish- and Farsi-speaking workers, so when we make contact with someone we offer the opportunity to come here and we will transfer them in our van.
Who are the homeless?
Statistically speaking, it’s 85 percent men. About 40 percent have mental health problems and 40 percent have substance abuse problems and many have both. We have seen an increase in immigrants who have been part of the construction business and aren’t getting jobs.
What is the most challenging aspect of working with the homeless?
For workers, it is frustrating because it can be such an incredibly slow process. It can take months just for someone to talk to us. We all celebrate things like someone just coming in to take a shower. It is wonderful work when you have a success.
