Greg Brady: A Young Man Living in the Fringe

Greg Brady is 23 years old and lives on his own in Riverwest. He grew up in rural Iowa and came to Milwaukee to attend UWM three years ago. All he really wants in life is to be independent from his parents, whom he had become estranged over petty arguments over time, and to live on his own and graduate from college with a degree in architecture. Greg was irresponsible his first three years of school and partied a little too much, and as a consequence he developed a bit of an alcohol problem. His drinking was starting to affect his finances and he didn't have enough money for tuition and was forced to drop out of school just two semesters short of graduation. He had a bartending job but was fired when his boss found that he was drinking too much on the job. He has been out of work for one month. Due to him losing his job he couldn't afford rent and was evicted from his apartment. Greg now has to [[crash on a friends couch]]

Greg was fortunate that his friend Peter let him stay on his couch until he could get back on his feet. Peter was very generous with his space and food but after a couple weeks he started to get frustrated with Greg because he hasn't been looking for work and has just been eating all of his food and getting drunk every night on his alcohol. Greg knows that he is taking unfair advantage of his friend's good will, but every time he tells himself he is going to sit down and apply for jobs he ends up having a beer or two to soothe his anxieties about his current situation. And then "a beer or two" turns into about 4 beers and 3 or 4 mixed drinks. Thinking about his alcohol problem just makes him want to drink, and the thought of going to treatment or moving back in with his parents also makes him want to drink. After some time though, Peter cannot continue to allow Greg to live this lifestyle in his home and gives him an unltimatum: [[Try to get a job interview within a week to supply his own food]] [[Move back to Iowa to live with his parents]]

Greg applied to five different places and after a couple days he got a call back from Pick 'n' Save to set up an interview. He was thrilled to get a call back but he still has to feed himself, and even before thinking about food he must think about how he is going to get alcohol for that night. Peter stopped buying alcohol and started locking his cupboards of food but told Greg about the Riverwest Food Pantry which offers food assitance on Tuesday evenings from 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM and Saturday mornings from 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM. He missed the Saturday hours and can't make it Tuesday evening because it's at the same time as his job interview. If he goes to the interview he'll miss the Tuesday hours as well and won't have food for the week. Should he: [[Go to the interview]] [[Skip the interview to get food assistance at Riverwest Food Pantry]]

Greg chose to move back in with his parents in Iowa. Back to [[Start]]

Great news! Greg went to the interview and got the job! The manager that interviewed him said that he would be happy to welcome Greg into the Pick'n'Save family and that he can start training on Monday. When Greg asks when he might be able to expect his first paycheck the manager said it wouldn't be until the end of the next pay period, 2 weeks away.. That is too long to wait for Greg to eat, and more importantly, too long to go without beer money. He now has a decision to make: He can either steal food from Pick'n'Save when no one is looking, or he can speak to the manager and see if there is anything that can be done to help keep Greg fed until he gets his first paycheck. Greg has never been one to steal, but he also has never been one to ask for help or admit that he needs help, but at this point he doesn't have any other options, unless he just gives up and moves back to Iowa in his parent's house. [[Steal food from Pick'n'Save]] [[Ask the manager what can be done]] [[Move back to Iowa to live with his parents]]

It was a tough decision, but Greg decided that the need to eat was more immediate than the need to go to the first job interview that was offered. He went to the Riverwest Food Pantry early in the morning where he was allowed to take enough food to last him about a week. Some of the food included a loaf of bread, a small jar of peanut butter, several cans of beans, and a couple cans of mixed vegetables. Coming to terms with the fact that his life has come down to relying on a food pantry in order to eat was not easy, but Greg realized something needed to change. When he got back to the apartment from the food pantry he decided to start applying for jobs immediately. With three applications sent out and a full belly, Greg was feeling a sense of accomplishment. However, now that Greg had food, he also had what little money he DID have available to use for alcohol. Buy a pint of vodka and [[take it easy after a productive day]]. [[Research about rehab facilities in Milwaukee]]

Not good.. Throughout Greg's first day of training he was stashing food into the break room where his backpack was. He successfully gathered a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a tray of cookies. However, when he realized that liquor stores would be closed by the time he got off work and that he'd have no alcohol to drink that night his habit got the best of him and he was spotted on camera stealing a pint bottle of vodka and hiding it in his pocket until he could get to the break room (security watches the liquor section cameras much more closely). When Greg's manager questioned him and asked to see his backpack, the food was found as well. The manager fires Greg on the spot and is threatening to have him arrested as well. Greg is now in an even worse situation, he can either accept responsibility for his actions and get arrested, he can try to run, or he can speak with the manager and explain his situation with the hope that he will not call the police. Accept responsibility for his actions and get [[arrested]] [[Run.]] [[Speak with the manager]]

Faced with the possibility of being arrested and going to jail, on top of all his other problems, Greg decided to try the manager's empathy. He explains that he is all but homeless living on a friend's couch who is on the verge of kicking him out onto the streets. In defeat, Greg admits to the manager about his drinking problem and begs for a second chance. The manager tells Greg that he is sympathetic to his problems, but that there is not much he can do to help and that he certainly cannot continue working at Pick'n'Save. However, he does mention the Riverwest Food Pantry to Greg and suggests that it would be a good place to start. The manager wishes him good luck and allows him to leave, without being arrested, and without the stolen food and liquor. Greg must now [[go back to Peter's house]] with the news that he got fired on his first day of training.

After Greg was booked and put into a cell wearing the Milwaukee County Jail orange jumpsuit he was told that the judge would not be able to see his case for another 3 days. Greg is forced to spend the 3 days in jail. On the second night of his stay he experienced alcohol withdrawals and was taken to the medical unit of the jail until his court appearance. Finally in front of the judge, Greg is given three options. Either he can spend 60 days in jail, pay a $500 fine and walk free, or agree to attend and complete an alocohol rehabilitation program. [[Go to jail]] [[Pay the fine]] [[Enter rehab]]

When confronted by the manager about the stolen food and alcohol and after being threatened with arrest, Greg decided to bolt for the door. Unfortunately security caught up with him pretty quickly in the parking lot and held him until the police arrived. The police handcuffed and [[arrested]] Greg. Greg was now in the custody of the Milwaukee Police Department.

Greg decided that he would rather go to jail than pay the fine that he can't afford, or enter rehab. While in jail Greg talked to a counselor about his alcohol problem; he was fed up with his habit sending him into a downward spiral and his recent sobriety since becoming an inmate compelled him to accept treatment during his 60 day sentence. The state allowed him to transfer to a rehabilitation facility to serve the rest of his sentence in a much more comfortable environment on the condition that he adheres to the program and cannot leave the grounds of the facility until the program is completed, or his 60 days is up. [[Enter rehab]]

Greg did not have the money to pay the fine on his own, so he was forced to call his parents and ask if they would help him out. Greg's parents said they would help out only on the condition that he moves back to Iowa and attends rehab. [[Move back to Iowa to live with his parents]] [[Go to jail]]

Upon hearing the news that Greg was arrested for stealing from Pick'n'Save and ended up in jail, Peter decided he would not allow Greg to live with him any longer. While it may not have been entirely his choice to go to rehab, this is a huge step for Greg and something that he was not sure was a good idea, but he knew that he didnt have a choice and at the rate he was going he would end up on the streets, or worse, moving back to Iowa to live with his parents. After being in rehab for about 3 months now, Greg has been living comparably comfortable in the nice facility with a great group of guys that turned out to be very good friends, and with his newly achieved sobriety and knowledge learned from working the program he has seen a new light. One of the things he was asked to do in rehab was write out a plan for what Greg intends to do once he has completed his sentence and is released from rehab. [[Move back to Iowa to live with his parents]] [[Move into a halfway house and continue the program]] Leave rehab and [[live on the streets]]

When Greg returned to Peter's house he didn't say anything, he just walked in past Peter watching TV and went to his couch in the other room. The next morning when Greg didnt get up and get ready for work Peter asked him about it and Greg finally confessed to what happened. Peter was disappointed, but mostly felt sad to see his friend in this condition. He told Greg that he didnt have a choice but to ask him to leave. Greg has a few options. [[live on the streets]] [[Move back to Iowa to live with his parents]] [[Enter rehab]]

Greg decided to swallow his pride and ask the manager of Pick'n'Save if there is any possibility that he could get an advance on his paycheck in order to stay fed. He told the manager all about his recent struggles with money and even rolled the dice and told him that he had a bit of a drinking problem. The answer was no, but the manager did mention Riverwest Food Pantry and suggested that it would be a good place to start. He also mentioned a facility in Milwaukee called the Milwaukee Careforce which is a low income, government aided rehabilitation facility for men and women struggling with drug and alcohol abuse. Go home and [[take it easy after a productive day]] [[Research about rehab facilities in Milwaukee]] [[Steal food from Pick'n'Save]]

After a lot of thinking, a lot of searching the web, and even more drinking to get himself through it all without giving up, Greg finally contacted Milwaukee Careforce, an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center. After a brief in-person interview (in which Greg's breath still smelled like alcohol from the night before) he was accepted into their inpatient care facility. This is a huge step for Greg, and something that he was not sure was a good idea even while he was packing up at Peter's, but he knew that at the rate he was going he would end up on the streets, or worse, moving back to Iowa to live with his parents. After being in rehab for about 3 months now, Greg has been living comparably comfortable in the nice facility with a great group of guys that turned out to be very good friends, and with his newly achieved sobriety and knowledge learned from working the program he has seen a new light. One of the things he was asked to do in rehab was write out a plan for what Greg intends to do once he has completed his program and is allowed to move out on his own. [[Move into a halfway house and continue the program]] [[Move back to Iowa to live with his parents]] [[live on the streets]]

Greg decided to move into a halfway house with 3 other guys working the program. He was allowed to live in the house virtually rent free on the condition that he sticks with the program until he is seen fit to live on his own, and he also had to get a job. Greg's counselor was a member of St. Casimir church, which hosts the Riverwest Food Pantry, and he suggested that while Greg is living at the halfway house he take up a position as an intern at the Food Pantry. The internship pays a small stipend, as well as offering free room and board at a house owned by the church across the street as part of the stipend. However, Greg could not utilize the housing benefit until he could prove to the counselors that he was responsible enough to stay on track with his sobriety. [[Accept internship position]] at the Riverwest Food Pantry [[live on the streets]] [[Move back to Iowa to live with his parents]]

Greg decided that he would rather live on the streets. He never thought he would ever be one of those people standing on the side of highway ramps begging for change, but here he was. During the day Greg would panhandle for money, usually getting about $15 a day which would be enough to feed him. Greg remembered suggestions of the Riverwest Food Pantry and would go there Tuesdays and Saturdays to allow him to try to save up a little of his panhandling money. Unfortunately old habits die hard and the reality of sleeping in a parking garage on a piece of cardboard turned him back to the bottle. He would lie up at night, drunk, sketching architecture designs on his cardboard mat with a pencil he found wondering to himself how he had gotten into this position. He would laugh sadly to himself realizing the irony of his sketches of complex, beautiful homes and buildings being displayed on the only "home" he had. After about 1 month of living like this Greg was arrested for panhandling and loitering and ended up back in jail. When his parents got wind of this they drove all the way to Milwaukee from Iowa and posted his bail and he was forced to either [[Move back to Iowa to live with his parents]] or [[Continue living on the streets]], sleeping at homeless shelters like the Milwaukee Rescue Mission

Greg decided he had done enough for the day and that he deserved a drink. When he got back home he decided to buy a pint of vodka with what little money he had left to his name. He knows he has a problem but is afraid of what will happen if he stops drinking so he decides to keep the drinking at a minimum until he can focus more on his sobriety. Unfortunately drinking the minimum turned into drinking the whole pint that night and Peter woke up to find Greg drunk and late for work. Peter had finally had enough and asked Greg to leave. [[live on the streets]] [[Move back to Iowa to live with his parents]] [[Research about rehab facilities in Milwaukee]]

Greg has now moved into his very own apartment once again for the first time since getting evicted almost a year ago. He is still working on his sobriety and seeing his counselor once a week as well as working his internship job at the Riverwest Food Pantry with full-time hours. Greg is finally once again eligable for financial aid and is looking towards the future and going back to school to finish the last two semesters of his architecture degree. However, a few months after moving in he got an unexpected call from his mother saying that his father has been diagnosed with liver disease and is not doing well. Greg has a decision to make: [[Move back to Iowa]] to take care of his mother and sick father [[Go back to UWM]] to finish his degree

Greg made the decision to move back to Iowa to take care of his mother and his ill father. He was a little disappointed to break the momentum he was building in Milwaukee with his job and the prospect of going back to school, but in the end school can wait. Family comes first. Two months after returning to Iowa, Greg's father sadly succumbed to his illness. However, now that he was back in Iowa he started searching for an alcohol dependence counselor to continue helping him. He came across a rehab facility that could both help him AND employ him full time as a faculty member. Greg now devotes his life to helping others that are in the same situation he was in not all that long ago. Sometimes Greg wonders if maybe he was never meant to become an architect. Maybe this is what he was meant to do all along, and maybe the struggles that he went through were just a way to prepare him to help those in need that don't have anywhere else to turn. Greg remains in regular contact with his old friends at the halfway house as well as the Riverwest Food Pantry and even visits Milwaukee at least once a year to see them and thank them for everything they had done for him. [[Start]]

Greg decided against moving back to Iowa because he felt that it would be a big blow to the momentum he had been building in his life in Milwaukee and it could also possibly be a big blow to his sobriety as well. Greg's father died, sadly, about two months after the call from his mother, but when she called to break the news she told him that she felt that he made the right choice and that she is very proud of him for changing his life around and being the successful man she had always hoped he would be. Greg graduated a year later with honors from UWM with a degree in architecture. He found his dream job working for an architectural design company in Madison, WI, but continues to live in Milwaukee. He left his internship at the Riverwest Food Pantry but still volunteers at least once a week, remembering how much they helped him when he was in need and thinking of all the young (or not so young) men and women out there struggling the way he did. [[Start]]

Greg moved into the house that the Food Pantry offered him to stay at free of cost as a benefit to accepting an internship position. It was an incredible sense of freedom having his own room and keys to a house that he lives in. Being an intern is no small task though, he must be organize and supervise volunteer hours on Wednesday and Friday mornings in which donated food and clothing are sorted and stored to be handed out when the Pantry is open to the public twice a week, Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings. When the pantry is open to the public he must make sure all the volunteers know their jobs for the day and make sure that everything goes smoothly. He was incredibly grateful for the job and genuinely loved doing it, but he did have other aspirations which couldnt quite be fulfilled while he was working that hard for such little pay. After about a year of interning for the Riverwest Food Pantry and saving up his stipend money, he decided to take a job working in one of the UWM dorms and got a small studio apartment so that he could [[go back to school]] to finish his architecture degree.

Greg hated the fact that he was homeless and helpless, but he was still so determined not to move back in with his parents in Iowa. At this time it was well into winter, and the bitter chills of Wisconsin started to get too dangerous for him to be sleeping outside or in parking garages. One of his few options for shelter was the Milwaukee Rescue Misson near Downtown Milwaukee, which was a very long walk from RiverWest where he was currently surviving on food from the Food Pantry. Molly, the intern in charge of running the Food Pantry who had come to know him over time, had managed to work something out with St. Casimir church which runs the Food Pantry. They would allow Greg to sleep in the church basement only until the weather started to get warm again, and on the condition that he volunteers to sort food every Wednesday and Friday and work handing out goods and serving food when the store hours are open on Tuesdays and Saturdays. [[Go to the Mission]] to stay the night and receive a hot dinner [[Sleep in the church]]

Greg felt that he would be too much of a burden for St. Casimir to have him sleeping in the basement of the church and decided that he would rather try to maintain some sense of independence by making the long walk to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. It was getting to be around dinner time and he didn't want to miss out on the meal that comes with staying at the shelter, so he quickly gathered the coats and blankets he had received at the Food Pantry and layered them on himself for the long walk. On his way he stopped at a convenient store and paid $2.56 for a 40 oz beer with the quarters and dimes and pennies he had left from panhandling earlier that day and made sure to get a brown paper bag to carry it in so he wouldn't get picked up for drinking in public. It was only 3 degrees, snowing and windy, but the beer seemed to warm him. When he arrived at the Mission there was a long line of ragged and worn out looking people stretching from the front door all the way to the sidewalk. Looking around, wondering if he looked as hopeless as all those other people, he filed into the back of the line. After an hour of slowly shuffling forward in line he finally reached the sign-in desk through the front door. A man with a clipboard got halfway through asking him his name and age before his eyes fell on the paper wrapped bottle in Greg's hand and told him that they do not accept people into the Mission if they are drunk or have been drinking. Greg is forced to make the long walk all the way back to [[Sleep in the church]]

Greg helped with whatever he could as Molly finished cleaning up after the day's church event. When they were finished she led him down the hallway in the basement to a room where they sort and store donated clothing. She laid out a thin mattress and gave him a pillow and blanket that he could use, and then showed him where the bathroom was and wished him goodnight saying that she would be back at 8 AM the next morning to prepare for Tuesday's Pantry hours. The next morning Greg makes good on his conditions and helps Molly and the other Pantry volunteers prepare and serve food to those in need. When they are finished, all the volunteers sit around a table and have a meal together. Making these friends and having a meal with them like a family made Greg feel somewhat human again and even made him a little homesick for his parents. Greg now has the choice again of whether to stay at the Food Pantry, or try again at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. [[Food Pantry]] [[Milwaukee Mission]]

Greg decided that he wanted to take advantage of the incredible oppurtunity and kindness offered to him by Molly and the Riverwest Food Pantry at St. Casimir church. He no longer panhandled on the streets for money because he got all the food he needed at the Food Pantry and through the care and support of his newfound friends he was able to stop drinking and maintained his sobriety for three months and running. At this point the bitter cold weather turning to early spring and warmer temperatures, and however much they love Greg and consider him family, they cannot just continue to allow him to live at the church. Molly approached him one day after volunteer hours and told him that he had one month to find accomodations before the church would have to ask him to leave. However, she also told him that she and the Food Pantry organizers were willing to offer him an internship position at the Pantry which would pay a reasonable monthly stipend, it would allow him to continue receiving food assistance, as well as free room and board at a house owned by St. Casimir across the street which was part of the stipend that comes with being a Food Pantry intern. Molly said that if he did choose not to take the position, she would be happy to allow him to stay at her house until he finds an apartment he can afford. Accept the internship position and [[Move into the Food Pantry housing]] or Apply for full time jobs and [[move in with Molly]] until Greg can get his own apartment

When everything was cleaned up at the Pantry it was around 6:30 PM and Greg once again prepared himself for the long walk to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission from Riverwest. This night he made sure not to drink any alcohol, realizing this would be the first night he hasn't drank in over two years, and as an added bonus it was even a little warmer than it was the night before. When he approached the block that the Mission was on he saw that there was no long line this time. Dishearteningly, when he got closer he realized why, the door to the Mission was closed and locked with a sign saying that anyone wishing to sign into the shelter for the night must be there by 6 PM sharp. No one is admitted after 6:00. Greg must walk back to the [[Food Pantry]] to make sure he gets there before Molly locks up and leaves for the night.

With Spring well underway and Summer approaching, Greg had an idea, and unfortunately this did not include accepting the internship position at the Riverwest Food Pantry, but he still had his sights set high. He moved in with Molly but both of them knew it would only be for a short time, because Greg had applied for and was hired to be an RA at the Riverview dorms at UWM for the upcoming Fall and Spring semesters. Not only will he have room and board taken care of, but he will also receive a monthly stipend and he will finally be able to go back to school and finish his architecture degree and graduate that next Spring. He figured it would be a good way to pay back to the community by helping kids that are away from home for the first time make good choices and hopefully not end up the way he did just about 5 months earlier. [[Go to school]]

Greg's year back in school went phenomenally. He loved his job as an RA at Riverview dorms, he made a lot of new friends that were a much better influence on him than some of his former ones, and he got straight A grades in all of his classes during the two semesters. Utilizing some of the healthcare resources that UWM offers it's students he was even able to meet with a councelor regularly to support him and help him maintain his sobriety. In Spring he graduated with honors with his architecture degree and had even already accepted his dream job as an architectural designer with a Milwaukee-based company. Greg's parents even travelled from Iowa to Milwaukee to be at his graduation ceremony, their first time seeing each other since Greg had moved over 3 years ago. While he is very busy with his new career, Greg still finds time to volunteer at the Riverwest Food Pantry at least once a week to see old friends, help the community, and thank them for the enormous change in his life that they were largely responsible for. [[Start]]

Greg gratefully accepted the internship position at the Riverwest Food Pantry. The work was long and tiring, but the idea that he was helping people that are in tough situations like he had been made the work worth it. He was building up momentum in his life for the first time in a very long time, he was staying sober, he had made so many dear friends since working at the pantry, and with the aspect of eventually being allowed to move into the Food Pantry housing he had something to work towards. Finally after 3 long months in the halfway house, his counselor proudly told Greg one morning that, after that week, it was going to be up to him whether he wanted to stay at the halfway house or move out. [[Stay at the halfway house]] [[Move into the Food Pantry housing]] [[Move into a new apartment on his own]]

Greg's year back in school went phenomenally. He got straight A grades in all of his classes during the two semesters. Utilizing some of the healthcare resources that UWM offers it's students he was even able to meet with a councelor regularly to support him and help him maintain his sobriety. In Spring he graduated with honors with his architecture degree and had even already accepted his dream job as an architectural designer with a Milwaukee-based company. Greg's parents even travelled from Iowa to Milwaukee to be at his graduation ceremony, their first time seeing each other since Greg had moved over 3 years ago. While he is very busy with his new career, Greg still finds time to volunteer at the Riverwest Food Pantry at least once a week to see old friends, help the community, and thank them for the enormous change in his life that they were largely responsible for. [[Start]]

Greg was now feeling on top of the world. He has been able to maintain his sobriety for 6 months now, and he is loving his internship job at the Riverwest Food Pantry. He has made so many loving and caring friends both at the halfway house and the Food Pantry, many of them almost feel like family. However, he was starting to have the feeling that in order to move forward in his life, he must move on from his past and leave the halfway house and the Food Pantry. After researching on the computer for a bit, he realized that he was eligible to go back to UWM in the Fall to finsish up those last two semesters of his architecture degree. Two weeks before he was set to move out of the halfway house and into an apartment of his own, he got a call from his mother. She told him, through muffled sobs, that his father had been diagnosed with liver disease and that he would not last much longer. Greg may have been estranged from his parents, but he does love them after all and would like to see them, especially considering everything he had been through up to this point and that he had not seen them since he moved to Milwaukee over 3 years ago. Greg now has a choice to make: [[Move back to Iowa]] [[Go back to UWM]]