DEB
When I first realize that I have to go to a shelter, I am petrified. I'm not sure what to expect when I get there. I have only heard stories about them. What I have heard is not very good. I walk up to the front door, stand there for a few minutes, getting the courage to ring the door bell. When I do a young woman answers. I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach. I don't want to be here! I want to turn around and run away. The young woman asks, "What's your name? Come in."
It is suppertime when I arrive so they say that they can do the intake after supper. "Go right in and join the group at the dinner table," the counselor suggests. I am so nervous. I go to the first seat and sit down. We are having pork chops for dinner and the girls seem like they have never had them before. I have never seen so much food disappear so fast. They gulp it down. I finish my dinner and put my dishes away. My nerves are so bad, I need to have a cigarette. However, I don't know where to go. I am scared, but I'm desperate so I ask one of the women, "Where do I go for a cigarette?" She says, "Come with me. I'll show you where the smoke room is."
Now it's time for my intake with one of the counselors. This is something else. The questions that they ask me. It's worse than being at a job interview. The interview is finally over and they take me down to this room where they keep the bedding and they give me sheets and a blanket and a pillow that looks dirty and smells musty. Then they take me to where I will sleep. There are 10 beds in this room, end to end, with only about a foot between them. Now my anxiety is mounting.