׉?ׁB!בCטVVu׉׉ 7cassandra://J3TKR9pk_lIWhAyqK1lLEb1c08qgeChHqY_z7hbxACcM`׉ 7cassandra://Xa6Vn5B4vXHZ1O8Lid9ZBxksfFXUSBwySglEZPr52A8_X`U׉ 7cassandra://uP_98vVNFvk9gc7uGA-fQzkzk0zUWNcdKL7D9Mm3AbE$|`̶׉ 7cassandra://GdlO7mYUmNhRJmMM7g0VesiWo3BJhConklArvBWhusQ͠_sPdp׈E_sPdp׉EDIssue102 $1 One Dollar suggested donation. our donation directly benefi ts the vendor. Please only buy from badged vendors. o Breaking the Cyclee Cyc Recovery Anna McGraw discusses her journey into alcohol abuse and addiction and her courageous climb out. Page 4 How to Break the Cycle Any cycle of thinking or behavior that exerts that same level of energy with no direction or purpose will eventually lead to an unhealthy outcome whether it is relational, spiritual, psychological or physical. Page 5 Toledo Streets is a member of the International Network of Street Newspapers ׉ 7cassandra://uP_98vVNFvk9gc7uGA-fQzkzk0zUWNcdKL7D9Mm3AbE$|`̶_sPdpց_sPdpՁ בCט u׉׉ 7cassandra://-4W4CuUrJkf2Ys4VqOtGSihfCO86v8Yoe7aU3rjGhQ4m`׉ 7cassandra://UxmvQDc_JYvsFzlFZj8YxRUQrKeSCdVPSp0eoIq7Zkk`׉ 7cassandra://X5MzM4xtDHe-PJzHHOAB-4oS6O_2m1O9wbpZnMQvPd8?<`l׉ 7cassandra://HJX-71xOcdJfC7QWFX3g9VI-Ahh6I0cSf-a-Wx5gqZUP͠ _sPdp׉E"Page 3 Breaking the Cycle: Trigger Warning October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The theme of this issue is Breaking The Cycle. Page 4 Recovery by Anna McGraw My name is Anna and I’m an alcoholic and addict from Colorado. I am 25 years old and have been sober since January 24th , 2020. Page 2 Page 5 How to Break the Cycle By Matthew D. Rizzo, President & CEO, A Renewed Mind I recently read an article that compared anxiety to a hamster wheel…lots of energy expended but gets you nowhere. Page 6 Chocking on Smoke: US cities open clean air shelters for the homeless Wildfi res raging across the West Coast have pushed air pollution to record levels, compounding the COVID public health crisis. Page 7 These Books Break the Cycle By Franco Vitella If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that much of what we were doing needs improvement. Page 8 How The Climate Emergency Exacerbates Homelessness By Kathryn McKelvey In 2007, a fl ash fl ood ripped through Kathryn McKelvey’s home in a rural Oregon town, leaving it utterly destroyed and her family homeless. Page 11 Bethany House For 35 years, Bethany House has maintained long-term transitional shelter space for domestic violence survivors and their children. Page 12 Vendor Spotlight: Andrew Chappel Page 14 Puzzle Page ׉ 7cassandra://X5MzM4xtDHe-PJzHHOAB-4oS6O_2m1O9wbpZnMQvPd8?<`l_sPdp׉E!Breaking the Cycle Toledo Streets Staff October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The theme of this issue is Breaking The Cycle. This theme does not come lightly, as this topic includes diffi cult and uncomfortable subjects. I want to make our readers aware that throughout the next few pages you will fi nd potentially disturbing content. Some of the content may include graphic references to topics such as sexual abuse, self-harm and suicide, violence and other possible triggers. I believe that opening such challenging topics up for discussion may help victims and survivors in their healing process. However, if you are not comfortable or ready to confront a personal trauma, please use caution reading through this issue. If you feel triggered, please know there are resources available to support you and I have noted them below and throughout this publication. Our intent for theming this issue “Breaking the Cycle” is to celebrate those who have broken the cycles they have found themselves in while acknowledging the courage it takes to do so. We also empathize with those who fi nd themselves in what feels like an endless loop of hopelessness. Often what we fi nd is that breaking the cycle requires support from others. We pride ourselves in walking beside our vendors as they begin to discover the cycles that impact their lives and support them as they embark on the most diffi cult part of the journey, which is the fi rst step. As diffi cult as it is, we know that we cannot make the change for others. Many people have experienced the frustration of seeing someone they love in a harmful cycle. Although we cannot do it for them, we believe that they likely cannot do it without us (or another support system), just like we have needed in our lives. So we will stand next to our vendors as they face the daunting cycles that surround being unhoused and living in poverty. We will celebrate the profound accomplishments and be a safe place to fall if those cycles start to repeat. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 800-273-8255 National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233 Toledo Rescue Mental Health and Addiction Services 419-255-3125 3350 Collingwood Blvd, Toledo, OH 43610 Take Action The Buck Starts Here Toledo Streets and its vendors are a powerful, community driven solution to the problem of homelessness. Our vendors earn their way out of their individual situations through a collaboration of journalism, local business partners and their own hard work. Use these four steps to be a part of the solution. Meet Vendors Buy a Paper Get Informed • Vendors -- the people who sell the paper -- are at the core of Toledo Streets' mission. Each year more than 70 indiviuals work as vendors with Toledo Streets. At any given time, more than 25 vendors are at work, in the rain, snow, or heat. Vendors play an active role in the management of TS, meeting regularly to discuss issues of concern and even serving on our board. • With the money made selling the newspaper, vendors are able to secure basic needs, independence and dignity, and work toward obtaining housing. Vendors buy papers for a quarter and sell them for a $1, keeping all income and tips from each sale. Toledo Streets tries to tie its editorial to three basic principals: • Inspiring Hope, Fostering Community, and Cultivating Change. We are a member of INSP, a global organization of street papers around the world which provides us with content relevent to social justice, homelessness, and street community around the world. • Donate to the organization and give vendors experiencing homelessness and poverty a hand up. It supports not only the paper but also issues throughout NW Ohio. • Volunteer your time and expertise and help the organization grow. • Share Toledo Streets with your network, and tell people about the organization. Page 3 _sPdp؁_sPdpׁ בCט u׉׉ 7cassandra://jk4b1jHPU6YYsGYZqRIaErzm4TEf_x1Oxu-k8M2ddoE=`׉ 7cassandra://KkNU29mPl4ipYkUg1JmmI7lBppExQQJpLbcep7XgiKQ`׉ 7cassandra://8lSUHjSrtsjt3TybjOPBvOE5zrvLZ-QZfIbCHq0jn7U?J`l׉ 7cassandra://GcduHHnegTpx-KE0VukAfHPQeTSBfGXO3y7zhaqaf2Q ܅̆͠ _sPdp׉EM 2020. Although I abused substances and alcohol in high school, my true addiction didn’t start until I was in college. My abuse of marijuana, pills, and alcohol blossomed with my newfound freedom. I also found that I could self-medicate for several mental health diagnoses I had received in high school that pharmaceuticals hadn’t helped with. As my education progressed, I knew I would have to begin taking drug screens for nursing school. I attempted to quit using drugs on my own and was initially successful; however I turned to consuming more alcohol in order to compensate for my grieving drugs. Before I knew it I was consuming alcohol around the clock to keep withdrawal symptoms at bay. Halfway through nursing school, I was arrested for a driving drunk. Knowing this would bring a whirlwind of consequences and close so many doors for me, I Page 4 y name is Anna and I’m an alcoholic and addict from Colorado. I am 25 years old and have been sober since January 24th , turned to suicide. The next week was spent in a secure psychiatric hospital being treated my alcoholism and suicidality. While I knew that I needed to stop drinking, or face more outcomes similar to my DUI, I wasn’t adamant that I truly had a problem like other alcoholics or addicts. Less than a month after my release from the hospital, I was getting high and drinking again. Fast forward a year and I had graduated from nursing school and passed my state boards to be a licensed RN. My drinking and drug use is at an all-time high; I was consuming around a liter of vodka a day while smoking copious amounts of marijuana and taking a friend’s prescription benzodiazepines. Within a month of getting my nursing license, which I viewed as a huge personal milestone and the beginning of a career for myself, I faced the penalties of my DUI. I lost my driver’s license and my newly obtained nursing license, and I also lost my job. Faced with these turn of events, I again became suicidal and attempted to drink myself to death. A dear friend reached out to my family to let them know that, once again, I needed to get help. My father drove to come stay with me that night, and the next day I was set to fl y to Florida from Colorado to stay at an addiction recovery facility in Fort Lauderdale. That facility saved my life. The nurses, counselors, and doctors there invested personally in my recovery and helped me fi nd a new way to live my life. They helped me fi nd ways to cope with my mental health and the stresses of life without wanting to drink or get high. I went to group therapy, individual therapy, and AA and NA meetings every night. I met people who had similar struggles to me and we worked together to fi nd new and more productive solutions to our problems. I stayed there for 49 days. My life looks very different now. It feels different too. I live in Nashville, TN with my fi ancé and have begun the process of getting my nursing license back. I have found new hobbies and ways to fi ll my time other than drinking and drugging. My daily routine has completely changed; my life no longer revolves around where I can get my next drink or pill. I am genuinely happy. There are still hard days; there are days when I miss the high of my past life. But I would so much rather have one hard day of cravings than the thousands of miserable ones that would follow if I slipped up and used. Breaking the cycle of addiction is not easy or comfortable. It has required me to make many changes in my life, rather than just stopping the use of addictive substances completely. For me, what worked the best was changing where I lived. A geographical change allowed me to leave behind a myriad of things; I no longer had places to use, people to get drugs from, or people to use with. I fi nally understood what people meant when they say they got a “fresh start”. The other biggest change I have made in my life is adopting a policy of complete honesty, about everything to everyone. As someone who was habitually using addictive substances, lying had become a routine part of my life. I chose to use dishonesty and deceit in order to preserve a false feeling of integrity about my actions. I now choose to be completely transparent about how I live my life and why I do the things I do. Compared to the web of lies I lived in before, I now feel free. I am beyond grateful today for the life I have lived and everything I have been through. It is a beautiful life full of beautiful things. ׉ 7cassandra://8lSUHjSrtsjt3TybjOPBvOE5zrvLZ-QZfIbCHq0jn7U?J`l_sPdp׉EI recently read an article that compared anxiety to a hamster wheel… lots of energy expended but gets you nowhere. Any cycle of thinking or behavior that exerts that same level of energy with no direction or purpose will eventually lead to an unhealthy outcome whether it is relational, spiritual, psychological or physical. There is good news however: negative cycles have been, and continue to be, broken. Consider these four simple steps. First, become aware of the negative cycle. Without having an awareness that a negative cycle of thinking or behavior exists, it’s impossible to begin a change. Negative cycles are often hidden in our blind spot and protected by personal defense mechanisms. Some common examples of defense mechanisms include denial, rationalizing and blaming. These defense mechanisms share a common end point: unchanged thinking and behavior. In other words, being stuck means the defense mechanism is doing its job. Thankfully, we have a God who cares, and has a sense of humor. He has a secret weapon to help us overcome these defense mechanisms — our children. I once heard a pastor say it best in a sermon: When God can’t get through to you to bring about a positive habitual or character change, he sends you a son or daughter just like you to open your eyes. Isn’t that the truth? A living self-portrait! Seeing a belief or behavior in another person, especially someone we love, can open our eyes to our own blind spots. Other times, unfortunately, it takes a traumatic event to raise the awareness we need to break a negative cycle in our life. A break up, a poor medical report, job loss, accident or legal incident, can painfully, yet quickly, call to attention a negative cycle of thinking or behavior. Secondly, to change, one must possess the will to do so. Some call it chutzpah, desire, grit or determination but it takes a commitment to change. This can only be controlled by the one making the change. So, fuel your desire. The third step to breaking a cycle of negative thinking or behavior includes gaining the “know how” or skill set to change. Ponder this: you don’t just wake up and decide to run a marathon. It takes not only desire, but training and knowledge. If, for Page 5 instance, you struggle with getting angry too easily then learning relationship techniques, positive self-talk, and mediation are useful tools. Resources are available to break negative thinking and destructive behaviors. My personal preference is to gain education from a person I trust. Find a mentor who has experienced and overcome your same struggles, and ask for guidance. Finally, the fourth step is having an ability. It’s been my experience that not every person has the ability to put into practice what they want to do even if they have the desire and knowledge to do it. I personally would love to be a pilot but lack the sharp eyesight to do it. If you don’t have the opportunity or ability to achieve your goals, seek professional help. The four steps to breaking a negative cycle will work but it’s important to remember that if you want to maintain this change, consider reinforcing your progress. Urban Meyer, a former college football coach, said it best when he said “what gets rewarded, gets repeated.” So, reward yourself when you make progress to keep it going. An accountability partner can help maintain change as well. Breaking the cycle of negative thinking and behavior is possible. The book written by Jeffrey Hiatt, ADKAR, is an added resource to assist with breaking negative cycles in your life professionally or personally. I have seen it work in many people and believe that the four steps outlined will serve as a simple but impactful way for making the changes needed. _sPdpځ_sPdpف בCט u׉׉ 7cassandra://QGvXkWvDv50RRREAup_VDDv3EVtsxIPqL2l7CexqO44O`׉ 7cassandra://G6S5NFwhzIlnvtnlFKCLlHTYoQrvfSQZxsPrtYMYljE`׉ 7cassandra://445lb_xF7fw82ohGBY66a7T7i-BUPrBhPt26zxoxNwoH`l׉ 7cassandra://UJEwvM-Wcn03iN8z8xPC3t0ZMkE0sowcVPFpJd32Am8w͠ _sPdpנ_sPdp@J9ׁHhttp://INSP.ngׁ ׁ Ј׉EChoking on smoke: US cities open clean air shelters for homeless Wildfires raging across the West Coast have pushed air pollution to record levels, compounding the COVID public health crisis. Some areas have made moves to help hundreds of people safely recuperate indoors from the virus as well as smoke-filled skies. By Gregory Scruggs Inside a row of warehouses in Seattle’s industrial district, gleaming new air ducts hint at the state-of-the-art filtration systems, ready to help hundreds of people safely recuperate indoors from COVID-19 - and smoke-filled skies. King County, Washington retrofitted the former automotive facilities to accommodate a potential surge of coronavirus patients in need of isolation and recovery wards, such as homeless people. The buildings, with cots separated by curtain walls and plenty of individual shower and bathroom stalls, now have a steady stream of occupants - but they are not sick with COVID-19. Seattle’s smoke shelters are among several emergency responses implemented in the last two weeks as wildfires rage across the western United States, burning about 5 million acres (2 million hectares) and spewing toxic plumes of ash and smoke. “We’re all in this together. We have to make sure those who don’t have a place to go have a healthy environment to be in,” King County executive Dow Constantine said. “(Healthy air) is not just for Page 6 those of us who have money and privilege and the ability to seal ourselves in our homes and recirculate our filtered air systems, it’s for everyone.” Seattle’s so-called “healthy air centre” opened on 11 September, as the air quality in some West Coast cities joined the ranks of the worst in the world, according to a global index maintained by Swiss company IQAir. “The air quality is horrible,” said one homeless man standing outside the centre who wished to remain anonymous. “I had to go to Harborview (hospital) and get another inhaler.” In the first week since opening, the facility in Seattle regularly hit its 100-person capacity, according to county spokesman Chase Gallagher. The Seattle area’s annual one-night count in January found nearly 12,000 homeless people. “What is the risk of bringing people together because of COVID (versus) keeping people outside because of the smoke?” said Leo Flor, King County’s director of community and human services. “The big plume plus the cumulative exposure to smoke really made us change that risk assessment, so that it was worth bringing people inside under the right conditions and giving them a chance not to be outside with the smoke.” Record high pollution Particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres, known as PM2.5, is the key measure for harmful air pollution, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The particles are thinner than the width of a human hair, small enough to burrow deep into a person’s lungs and even find their way into the bloodstream. By 15 September, air pollution had hit historic levels in five Oregon cities - Portland, Eugene, Bend, Medford and Klamath Falls, according to state officials. In Portland, Oregon’s largest city, local officials converted the convention centre into a temporary smoke shelter and started distributing KN95 masks “specifically for people who are unsheltered”, the city said in a press release last week. “A lot of folks were keen to take the masks, and many chose to tough things out for the first few days,” said Denis Theriault, spokesman for Multnomah County, where Portland is located. “But over time, more folks came inside as the smoke stayed,” he said in emailed comments. Churches banded together to open a relief centre in Bend, Oregon, according to local media reports. Government data shows that on 12 September, pollution from the fires pushed the city’s air quality over the EPA’s Air Quality Index (AQI) maximum rating of 500. The AQI considers any pollution level over 300 as hazardous. Other cities affected by the wildfires are also finding ways to bring people in from the smoke. In California, San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management turned three libraries into smoke refuges on 11 September. That same day, Vancouver, in the Canadian province of British Columbia, opened up community centres and libraries that had already been outfitted with highpowered air filters last year, according to city spokeswoman Ashton Patis. Many cities have had emergency smoke shelters included in their disaster planning for years, as scientists warn that climate change is leading to hotter, drier summers that exacerbate wildfire risk. Like Vancouver, Portland began preparing for the current scenario after devastating fires spread through the western United States in 2017, Theriault said. Health and homelessness Sam Carter, a founding principal of Resilient Cities Catalyst, a nonprofit consultancy, praised the Seattle facility for nimbly pivoting from pandemic isolation ward to smoke shelter. “Flexible infrastructure is critically important. We’ve long advocated for building infrastructure that can serve this kind of purpose in emergency events,” Carter said in emailed comments. “But, much of our work also tells us that while the physical infrastructure is a crucial component, the social infrastructure and social fabric of a place can be a far more critical factor when it comes to life-and-death scenarios.” Homelessness, an endemic social problem on the West Coast, is the root challenge in a city’s efforts to keep its residents healthy, Flor said. “Whether it’s smoke, snow, heat or cold, being homeless is already bad for your health,” he said. “The smoke is just a visible reminder of that, but it is always dangerous for your health not to have a home. Courtesy of Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation / INSP.ngo ׉ 7cassandra://445lb_xF7fw82ohGBY66a7T7i-BUPrBhPt26zxoxNwoH`l_sPdp׉EAThese Books Break the Cycle by Franco Vitella If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that much of what we were doing needs improvement. From how we live our lives to how we care for others, large swathes of society are revaluating their purpose and mission. If you need a path forward to break the cycle you’re currently stuck in, these books, all available from the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, can be your start. The F*ck It Diet: Eating Should Be Easy by Caroline Dooner The pandemic has changed our relationship with food. From shortages, food insecurity, and just plain comfort eating, now can be a time to reevaluate our relationship with food and how we obtain it. Dooner argues for a healthy approach to eating that does not involve on again/off again dieting and makes the case for a realistic approach to eating. Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me: Depression in the First Person by Anna Mehler Paperny Experts predict a looming mental health crisis due to the pandemic and let’s be honest – it’s not like things were easy beforehand. Mehler Paperny examines her own attempts at suicide and the inadequate mental health infrastructure that is available to us all. This an open and brutally honest firstview of navigating one’s mental state. Policing the Black Man This anthology of essays by various authors strikes at the key elements that make up the Black Lives Matter movement, examining a justice system that in many ways is stacked against African-American boys and men. Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America by Gilda R. Daniels Daniels, who served as Deputy Chief in the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights division, shows how attempts at voter suppression change over time and makes the case that a purposeful strategy of deception is attempting to undermine American democracy. Page 7 _sPdp܁_sPdpہ בCט u׉׉ 7cassandra://RVfKYL_SzZtbXmq2oKXAdU-GSE0AryDk0JUNRiVO16Q`׉ 7cassandra://Qppl3BNAia2B3JC2-9tz2-dwJJQ4ledHFO3y6MykZ30`׉ 7cassandra://z2ed96AqIEpYbarhHtHnRiihIkPwBftUoBaKWC_d1Fg