Mr. M.* is in his fifties and has been living on the streets for more than 10 years. He is in good physical shape. At the last blood test, his doctor only noted a small vitamin D deficiency, which is not surprising in Belgium.
Mr. M.'s main problem is a psychiatric disorder. Without specific professional support, it is difficult for him to live in a dignified way, meeting all his daily needs. His condition makes it sometimes difficult to contact him. He does not even always hear the support our teams offer him.
At Street Nurses, we consider hygiene to be an essential lever for social reintegration. This is why one of the things we offer him, is to accompany him every week to a hygiene and care center, so that he can take a hot shower, wash his clothes and enjoy a cup of soup. 
He regularly rejects our help because he is often very tired after spending short nights outside.
One day, we came back by car from an appointment with another assisted person. We then suggested to drive him to his shower: he was all in for it! To celebrate, we played his favourite music all the way to the hygiene center.
Mission doubly accomplished: (1) we got him to take a shower, (2) while having great quality time singing in the car.
Little by little, we established a routine: every Friday morning a car ride with the best music of the moment to get him his shower! We thus managed to create a stronger bond with the gentleman who could now take care of himself on a more regular basis.
After following this routine for a few months, his life got back on track. He agreed with the psychiatric follow-up we set up for him, and he now often tells us that it does him a lot of good.
His social situation also improved, and recently we accompanied him to the municipality to pick up his identity card, which had not been in order for years.
All by car, of course! You don't change good habits.
Yasmine, nurse in the street department
Be the driver of change
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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.