My Son Joseph, Please Pray

Those of you who have been following my blog for awhile know that I have a son who is homeless.  There are many contributing factors to this such as;
1- He is mentally ill (severely so) & yet he is very docile and gentle
2- He is an alcoholic
3- He was doing well in a group home for several years, on medication, seeing a therapist and even went to a trade school....then California cut their budget and he was deemed fit to be on his own and they kicked him to the curb, without medications and someone to ensure he took them....he has been lost in the cracks!

He has been almost beat to death over his dog which is the only thing he really takes care of.  He will go hungry and without booze to ensure his dog eats, has his shots and is taken care of.  That dog loves him.

We have tried over the years to have him sober up, placed him in facilities to dry him out and get him help, but each time he walks out the doors and goes right back to the streets.  His brother tells me he came to him one day stone sober and stayed over night...after they had dinner Joseph decided to just stay up and watch tv. Several hours later there was a knock on the door. Joseph had taken a blanket and was curled up on a neighbors door step sleeping.

Yesterday, I received a message that he was taken to ICU in pretty rough shape.  Seems he was sleeping in an alley, the police were looking for someone, ran across him, he has a bench warrant for not showing up in court for being homeless (vagrancy) and somewhere between his uncle picking up his dog and them taking him to jail, he would up I am surmising going into DT's, placed in 4 points and taken to ICU.

I just spoke to the nurse and told her they need to get social services involved again. They need to get him back into a group home (he has a friend who lives in the country who has taken his dog in) and he needs to be mandated by a judge to stay there.

We can only do so much.  His brother, his aunts, uncles and myself have all tried to get him to get help.  If he doesn't, we know sooner now than later we will probably receive a call that he has died.  I have lost one son, I do not want to lose another.

However, if any of you know anything about mental illness, than you know, we cannot make them get help.  All we can do is talk to them. All we can do is pray for them and cry because we lost that child who is so precious.

A few years ago I spoke to a local police officer and he told me my son was the most polite, well dressed homeless person in town and people actually take him in once in awhile and feed him.  There was once an older man who took him in every night and his dog, fed him and gave him a place to sleep. Why?  Because the mans mother took people in during the Holocaust and taught him that is what you do.

I am asking for prayers for my son Joseph, prayers for social services and prayers for his family that live in the area that they can reach him. I just talked to him and when he mentioned he has to get out to get his dog, I told him, if he doesn't stay in and get the help he needs, his dog won't have him, he cut me off.

Please, just pray how God leads you!