There is a very thought-provoking article up on Slate right now called The Vancouver Experiment. It details a drop-in center in Vancouver, BC where addicts can come to get their fix. Yes, you read that right. Of course, the center doesn’t provide drugs; the folks have to bring their own drugs, and they have to inject themselves. There are booths which provide a safe place for users to use. According to the article:
For many of the users, the injection room is a first point of contact with the health care system. Users get medical treatment from the nurses, who clean and bandage abscesses and give referrals for further care. The addicts are a deeply traumatized population, many with mental illness and histories of abuse and so require an extraordinary amount of patience. An oft-repeated dictum for the staff at Insite is to “meet people where they are.” It is a constant effort to be nonjudgmental about the choices addicts make.
This is a place where folks who struggle with debilitating addictions can be “met where they are,” without judgment or moralization. They come to this place, get high in a safe environment, and have access to some basic health care and other help. When they are ready, they can enter a two-week detox program located upstairs in the same building, and graduates of that detox program can take advantage of temporary housing on the third level until they are able to secure more stable housing.
This is a truly revolutionary approach to health care. So often, we expect people to reach a certain level of health or wherewithal before we are even willing to help them. Many health care providers require folks to be “clean” or “sober” before giving treatment, others may expect other behaviors or attitudes before willing to provide help. Here at this place, the health care and social workers are meeting the folks exactly where they are, so that when they are willing to enter a process of healing, they will have trusted individuals to whom they can turn for help.
I did a 20-month internship with Craig Rennebohm of the Mental Health Chaplaincy during my masters program. While I spent most of my time there placed at the Recovery Café, a drop-in day center for folks recovering from addictions and homelessness, I was incredibly blessed to have Craig as my supervisor because he taught me so much about meeting people where they are. Craig is a true example of this, as he literally goes to where the people are–on the streets of Seattle. He goes to them and respectfully, compassionately, and patiently reaches out a hand in friendship. By meeting people exactly where they are, Craig has opened doors to healing and new connection for many folks.
Another example of meeting people where they are can be found in the life of Jesus. As he traveled and ministered, he ate with “sinners” and “saints” alike, communing with tax collectors and prostitutes and lepers–those most cast aside by society. While he challenged and encouraged them to grow, he always started by meeting them exactly where they were, reaching out in peace and love.
I wonder what the world would look like if more of us lived like Jesus, like this Vancouver clinic, or like Craig. It would certainly be a place of much deeper compassion in general, but I also wonder if it would be a place where folks found that healing and recovery would come easier in the midst of a community that truly supports rather than judging and moralizing about one another’s behavior.