By Meg Peters
Review Staff Writer
This winter children will build snowmen, adults will battle icy traffic and Bruce Gertz will hunt down returnable bottles and cans.
Gertz, 60, lives in a sleeping bag behind the Kmart plaza near M24 and E. Clarkston Rd. and has roamed Lake Orion for the past 14 years.
Although he hasn’t given much thought to the approaching cold season, local authorities and community members alike have started the worrying for him.
‘I usually just lay on some blankets and wrap up in plastic and sleeping bags, look for bottles and cans that’s about it,? Gertz said. ‘I grew up in Michigan so I kind of know how to handle it.?
In the peak of the arctic chills last winter Oakland County deputies found Gertz wrapped in his garments in a snow bank. It was -23 degrees Fahrenheit.
‘In our minds, anyone who is laying out in a snowbank when it’s -23 out is not making rational decisions,? Oakland County Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant Dan Toth said.
During that frigid arctic cold, deputies took him to the McLaren Hospital emergency room for a 72-hour committal where Gertz was evaluated by a psychologist for mental stability. He was treated for mild frostbite and released after 24 hours, deemed stable.
Prior to an acquaintance getting Gertz into a motel, Gertz was either in the snow or at a local warming shelter’if he was sober.
‘The problem we are encountering with the shelters is they won’t take anybody who has been drinking,? Toth said.
Gertz has been known to purchase alcohol with the small amount of funds he has.
‘What he’s doing is a byproduct of his mental illness and his alcoholism. What makes the problem really difficult is that when you converse with him, he’s literally able to rationalize and tell people ‘I’m ok.? If Bruce Gertz was reaching out for help, none of this would be an issue, but at some point it will end.?
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Department is pushing Gertz through every possible loophole to ensure this doesn’t end badly and will continue to do so Toth assured. ‘It’s a matter of having humanity but doing what’s best for this person.?
Deputies have moved him up and down Lapeer Rd., responding to business owner complaints of trespassing.
He’s been temporarily housed at the Oakland County Jail, adhering to the consequences of his 18 arrests in the past ten years, namely for trespassing, intoxication and disorderly behavior, and littering.
He’s moved through the court system, but without intent to harm himself or others, he is released within a couple of days at the most. He has even camped out on private property bordering Bald Mountain Rd.
‘It’s an issue for us and the poor guy,? a Bald Mountain Rd. resident said. ‘He sits on the corner on his bicycle using the back area behind my house as a bathroom, with his pants half off, where my grandkids pass by. It’s obviously a mental health problem. I think it’s time for the state to step in and provide him with housing, a bath and a bed.?
Here is where the problems arise. Gertz has been referred to the Michigan Department of Human Services for a mental health assessment on more than one occasion, and his case is currently open.
For Gertz to be eligible for many community welfare programs, such as a committal through the Michigan DHS, however, his condition must be prescribed first.
‘Although he may appear to be mentally ill, we would really need a statement from a mental health professional stating so before we can commit him,? Lisa Fischer, program manager of the Adult Protective Services Program for the Oakland County Department of Human Services (DHS), said. ‘The OC DHS has no authority to commit anybody involuntarily.?
Although Fischer was not at liberty to discuss Gertz’s open case, she said if he indeed had a case with the DHS an agent would make contact with Gertz and make referrals accordingly.
‘If he has already been through the mental health system and the psychiatrists have made an assessment that there’s not much wrong with him, there’s not much we can do apart from referring him to other agencies and encouraging him to get help,? she said.
Gertz has been assessed on more than one occasion.
While he has been professionally evaluated by local hospital psychiatrists and undergone committals, he has also been evaluated by Common Ground, one of the first agencies the OC DHS refers individuals to for a mental health assessment.
Common Ground is a 24-hour crisis and mental health hotline that is the beginning point for entry into the Oakland County public mental health services, according to Lenda Jackson, Director of Communications.
Through Common Ground it all starts with a telephone call to the crisis hotline, 800-231-1127.
In Gertz’s case, this might be difficult without a phone, and inconclusive without a current crisis.
‘I’ve been doing this (living outside) for 14 years. I’d rather do this,? Gertz said. ‘I don’t know why. I worked in a lot of machine shops for years and went out on the street because I ran out of work. I got kind of used to doing this. It’s nice, being outdoors just roaming around.?
While it is Common Ground’s expertise to stabilize individual and family crises and direct people to specified agencies, it is not their expertise to place homeless people.
They are not the agency for that but there may be one.
‘I’m sure (being homeless) is a crisis to the individual, and certainly we take every concern that is brought to us very seriously, but we are trying to help people in a crisis right now,? she specified. ‘A person who is having a mental health crisis may be homeless but usually that is not the only problem, and we refer out. We aren’t a place to call if you are homeless.?
Without a professional assessment declaring mental instability, the sheriff’s department is playing a never ending shuffling game, and without interference from the state, Toth said, their game will continue without change.
‘We’re hoping social services steps up because we are really running out of options,? Toth said. ‘It seems there are some big cracks in the system for folks like Bruce, and definitely with the avenues for the police to engage some of the mental health services.?
Debra Hendren, Director of Community Programs and Outreach at the Oakland County Community Housing Network agrees.
‘There’s a group of people that will not pick up the phone and call for assistance. They are the people the system has failed historically,? she said.
These people typically need twice as much engagement, she explained, which the Community Housing Network’an organization dedicated to finding housing for people in need’is equipped to provide help in a different way.
‘Our staff here that answers the phone and head the street outreach programs have been homeless, so when they are talking to a person it’s a much more genuine take,? she said.
Mental health is not a prerequisite to provide these individuals with temporary and long term homes, she said, and the program offers housing assistance right from the get go if the person is receptive.
‘If you stabilize someone with housing first, they may be more receptive for supportive services,? she said. ‘It’s the small, little things that get someone to trust you.?
The organization does much of its outreach through PATH, Project for Assistance and Transition from Homelessness, and is linked to other community organizations such as Common Ground and the Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority.
Once a relationship is developed with the individual through the street outreach programs housing options can be established.
For a situation like Gertz’s, the Community Housing Network can send an outreach agent out to get the conversation started, which Hendren agreed to initiate upon hearing that Bruce Gertz? the man known for resisting any and all help’could be slightly receptive to the idea.
‘Maybe,? he said when asked if he would consider a housing program. ‘I’ve checked a lot of that out and it’s not bad stuff. But it’s so easy doing this.?
For now, it could be a start, Toth said.