Whenever Rebecca Baker is overcome by fear, she remembers a favorite Japanese proverb: “We are fools if we dance or not, so we might as well dance.”
The phrase has rung true so many times throughout her life. Baker, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, danced at Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin concerts. She once played her viola with the San Francisco Youth Symphony.
But she’s also faced overwhelming hardships: deception, heartbreaks, divorce, loss of loved ones, her own health challenges like severe neuropathy and the various ailments that often come with the years. And most recently, it was homelessness, after the mobile home she used her life savings to buy went up in flames.
“The wiring was bad," said Baker. “It burned in 10 minutes. Gone. I collected antiques, my viola, but it went up in a heartbeat.”
Baker actually had a 15-year career as a nonprofit case manager herself helping seniors access many of the same supports she found herself needing. The irony isn’t lost on her.
“You see how these things can happen. I had used all my savings. My Social Security is not enough to even get an apartment,” says Baker. “That’s why I ended up in my car.”
And yet, just as Baker has so often done for others, someone showed up for her in her time of need. She, with her beloved chiweenie Cheeka, moved to the Bybee Lakes Hope Center, a shelter that receives funding from Multnomah County’s Homeless Services Department.
Then, roughly nine months ago, Catalina Cloud arrived at Bybee Lakes to help Baker on her path into a place to live and receive care. Cloud is a senior case manager for the Aging, Disability, and Veterans Services Division’s Homeless Mobile Intake Team (HMIT), which helps elders and people with disabilities who are experiencing homelessness connect to care settings or reconnect to services.
“When I moved into Bybee Lakes, it was really tough,” says Baker. “Do you know how humiliating that was after working all your life? I wanted to give up. But I didn’t.”
The team consists of four case managers and a case manager assistant who work closely with partner agencies, like Bybee Lakes, that make referrals. Case managers like Cloud bring their expertise and services to clients right where they are, building relationships and identifying benefits such as food and medical support that someone might not realize they qualify to receive. For Baker, Cloud was the right person at the right time to help her keep going.
“I don't have enough words to say,” Baker says. “When you meet her, you fall in love with her.”
The kind of genuine relationship Cloud and Baker developed isn’t the exception in HMIT’s work. It’s what makes the team so effective.
“Our professional and compassionate case managers take the time to get to know people beyond their diagnosis and care needs,” said Jody Michaelson, the Homeless Mobile Intake Team manager.
“We discover what is important to our clients both physically and emotionally. This results in stable, long-term placements that serve the whole person.”
This year, the Board of Commissioners approved funding to expand the Homeless Mobile Intake Team’s model of outreach and their tools, which will allow the team to soon serve people experiencing severe and persistent mental illness.
Cloud helped Baker transition to Assumption Village, an assisted living center in North Portland’s St. Johns neighborhood.
“When I visited Rebecca the day she moved to Assumption Village, I looked around and thought, ‘This is it. This is definitely her home,’” Cloud says. “Cheeka greeted me as soon as I stepped in, her sweet puppy’s way of saying, ‘Welcome to our home.’”
While Cloud brought the resources and expertise, she credits Baker for her resilience in the face of hardships.
“Rebecca did not let adversity bring her down. She is a strong, beautiful soul who chose to ask for and accept help from the community when she needed it most.
And as a community, we showed up for her,” Cloud says. “I am in awe of what we can achieve when we coordinate efforts to ensure our most vulnerable residents can thrive.”
Today, Baker is safe and settled.
“I have a clean home and change of sheets. And Cheeka is very good with visitors and seniors,” she says. “I try to walk up the stairs as much as I can. I love the music here. And I make jewelry.”
And above all, she reminds herself not to live in fear, especially knowing there are people, like Cloud, who are ready to help. “You can’t be afraid to dance. You need to dance.”
