This gentleman, living on the street, has a pretty cool connection with my dog Frida, and I can see that he even tends to wait for her.
Last time, he prepared a Tupperware with croquettes just for her. To do this, he asked a friend who has a dog to give him some.
He’s a Polish gentleman in his 50s. We’ve been following him on the street for about a year, although there is hardly a way out of his situation because he is undocumented.
His connection with Frida is surprising! He really identifies her with Street Nurses. She brings to the meeting an exceptional dimension, different from the usual medico-social follow-up.
Her presence creates moments in which we can talk about something else. For example, this gentleman tends to be rather depressive, and Frida helps create a bond of trust, which is essential to give the conversation a certain depth.
In the past, he had a Maltese dog, for years. He would love to have a new dog but is not fit enough to take care of it, walk it, assume the responsibility. But Frida brings back memories.
With Frida present, he listens much more, and we can ask him questions about his depressions to assist him better, even if he doesn’t ask for it and acts as if he had everything under control.
Frida also helps break the negative image of the psychologist. Thanks to this, we will try to take him to a medical home for a psychological follow-up.
We hope he can be reintegrated through work, in spite of his age and very poor health. He remains smart and resourceful and always has a pin in his jacket in case something needs fixing.
Sarah, psychologist in the street section
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(*) We do our utmost to respect the privacy of our patients and our professional secrecy. However, we want to testify to how they must survive and how we are working together to reintegrate them. As a result, the names of places and people are deliberately omitted or changed and real-life situations are placed in a different context. There is no direct link between the photos and the stories above.