Today I'd like to tell you about a man named Oliver. While filming at a shelter in what most people think of as a pretty bad neighborhood, we met Oliver. He is a very large man in height and girth, a potentially intimidating presence if you were to see him walking toward you, say, in a dark alley. Oliver doesn't like dark alleys, though, and once he speaks I can't see how anyone would want to do anything other than give him a big hug.
Oliver saw our camera and walked up to us enthusiastically, asking if we were making a movie. When I explained that yes, we were making a movie about real life, Oliver promptly began to tell us about his. I couldn't ask for a more open interview subject. On that particular day, Oliver was focused on his physical health. He'd just gotten out of the hospital after having major surgery. He told us about a fight he'd had not long ago where someone attacked him and stabbed him repeatedly. He says that the other man was probably on "that meth" and didn't know what he was doing. Oliver had never seen the man before. He didn't seem terribly angry over his situation, and before long it became clear that in addition to being a very nice man, Oliver also had some cognitive impairments. He has been told he gets disability because he is schizophrenic but he doesn't know what that means. When asked if he's on medicine, he said he takes pills for cholesterol but no one ever told him there were pills for schizophrenia.
I asked Oliver how he came to be in this situation, homeless and spending his days as a shelter. He told me that his disability had been cut off while he was in jail. He hasn't renewed it yet because he has trouble reading and no one has helped him fill out the paperwork. Oliver has a long history in the criminal justice system, he first went to the California Youth Authority (prison for juveniles) when he was a teenager. He says he was charged with stealing from a store. Oliver freely admits to the misdeeds of his past. He is one of over 30 children by his father and has always shown respect by being obedient. As a youngster, he was in a gang because that's what was around in his neighborhood, everyone listened to the people in gangs.
When Oliver was 19, out of CYA and following the rules he'd learned, he got shot in the head. He proudly showed his scars to the camera and told us how it happened. He was walking down the street one day, apparently looking very similar to a 30 something year old hardened criminal, when the police began to yell at him. Oliver got confused and didn't know what to do, the next thing he knew he was in the hospital. Oliver has continued to be stuck in a revolving door of jail and homelessness since then.
The most disturbing thing to me about Oliver's story is not that someone with limited understanding of consequences continuously goes to jail, or that he is denied his disability money because he has trouble reading the forms, or even that a doctor diagnosed him with a debilitating but treatable mental illness and didn't even take the time to explain what that means let alone prescribe medications. The worst of all of this is that Oliver has been back to jail numerous times but never committed a new crime. He keeps getting violated on probation because he misses court dates. Oliver has trouble remembering numbers and days. And with all of the assessments and diagnosing that happens in jail, no one ever thought to say "this guy needs help more than a cell".
Oliver is a prime example of how the system drops people in inescapable situations and then abandons them. Oliver says that what he learned in jail is that you have to follow the rules and be good. He doesn't realize that following the rules that judges and corrections officers have given him aren't doing him any good. The only drug Oliver ever did was weed and he doesn't even do that anymore because at some point someone told him that drugs make people sick. By living a life in institutions, Oliver was taught to trust most the people who leave him homeless. He isn't in a gang anymore, he doesn't steal, but he does sleep outside. At least if he stole he might have food, if he were in a gang there might be someone to look after him. When asked if there was something that could have been done to help him when he was young, Oliver told us it just would've been good if his mother had lived longer, expressing no anger or appreciation for the severity of the treatment he's received.
Keep checking the video tab for clips of Oliver and other interesting people!
Oliver saw our camera and walked up to us enthusiastically, asking if we were making a movie. When I explained that yes, we were making a movie about real life, Oliver promptly began to tell us about his. I couldn't ask for a more open interview subject. On that particular day, Oliver was focused on his physical health. He'd just gotten out of the hospital after having major surgery. He told us about a fight he'd had not long ago where someone attacked him and stabbed him repeatedly. He says that the other man was probably on "that meth" and didn't know what he was doing. Oliver had never seen the man before. He didn't seem terribly angry over his situation, and before long it became clear that in addition to being a very nice man, Oliver also had some cognitive impairments. He has been told he gets disability because he is schizophrenic but he doesn't know what that means. When asked if he's on medicine, he said he takes pills for cholesterol but no one ever told him there were pills for schizophrenia.
I asked Oliver how he came to be in this situation, homeless and spending his days as a shelter. He told me that his disability had been cut off while he was in jail. He hasn't renewed it yet because he has trouble reading and no one has helped him fill out the paperwork. Oliver has a long history in the criminal justice system, he first went to the California Youth Authority (prison for juveniles) when he was a teenager. He says he was charged with stealing from a store. Oliver freely admits to the misdeeds of his past. He is one of over 30 children by his father and has always shown respect by being obedient. As a youngster, he was in a gang because that's what was around in his neighborhood, everyone listened to the people in gangs.
When Oliver was 19, out of CYA and following the rules he'd learned, he got shot in the head. He proudly showed his scars to the camera and told us how it happened. He was walking down the street one day, apparently looking very similar to a 30 something year old hardened criminal, when the police began to yell at him. Oliver got confused and didn't know what to do, the next thing he knew he was in the hospital. Oliver has continued to be stuck in a revolving door of jail and homelessness since then.
The most disturbing thing to me about Oliver's story is not that someone with limited understanding of consequences continuously goes to jail, or that he is denied his disability money because he has trouble reading the forms, or even that a doctor diagnosed him with a debilitating but treatable mental illness and didn't even take the time to explain what that means let alone prescribe medications. The worst of all of this is that Oliver has been back to jail numerous times but never committed a new crime. He keeps getting violated on probation because he misses court dates. Oliver has trouble remembering numbers and days. And with all of the assessments and diagnosing that happens in jail, no one ever thought to say "this guy needs help more than a cell".
Oliver is a prime example of how the system drops people in inescapable situations and then abandons them. Oliver says that what he learned in jail is that you have to follow the rules and be good. He doesn't realize that following the rules that judges and corrections officers have given him aren't doing him any good. The only drug Oliver ever did was weed and he doesn't even do that anymore because at some point someone told him that drugs make people sick. By living a life in institutions, Oliver was taught to trust most the people who leave him homeless. He isn't in a gang anymore, he doesn't steal, but he does sleep outside. At least if he stole he might have food, if he were in a gang there might be someone to look after him. When asked if there was something that could have been done to help him when he was young, Oliver told us it just would've been good if his mother had lived longer, expressing no anger or appreciation for the severity of the treatment he's received.
Keep checking the video tab for clips of Oliver and other interesting people!
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