I help people with psychosis off the streets. Sometimes, their minds won't let them leave

"Diane is one of many people I try to help each day who are caught between homelessness and serious mental illness. After a career in journalism covering war and poverty, I entered seminary and trained as a chaplain at New York's Bellevue Hospital. I now serve as a mental health chaplain and clinical director at Broadway Community in Manhattan. We're a small interfaith non-profit that runs a 19-bed shelter and a bustling soup kitchen in the basement of Broadway Presbyterian church."

"As I've told you, she says, the prophecy apartment is on 40th and Amsterdam. I remind her again that the intersection of 40th Street and Amsterdam Avenue does not exist in New York City. I suggest, gently, that this might still be worth seeing. Maybe just give it a look? I say. We're seated close together in my tiny airless office in the basement of a church, a space so small it once served as a clothing closet."

"Diane starts doing the thing where her eyes shift an inch above my head to address the voices and spirits that follow her throughout her days. This morning it's Celine Dion, who reliably serves as the harbinger of any news that will jeopardize Diane's fulfillment of the prophecy, which she has chased across seven states and seven shelter systems. She begins to shout so forcefully the veins pop in her neck."

A mental health chaplain working at a nonprofit shelter in Manhattan describes the challenges of assisting homeless clients with serious mental illness. The chaplain recounts attempting to help Diane, a client who has cycled through seven shelter systems across multiple states, secure housing. Diane rejects suitable apartments because she believes a prophecy directs her to a specific nonexistent intersection in New York City. She experiences auditory hallucinations involving celebrities like Celine Dion and Billy Joel. The chaplain, trained in both journalism and seminary, works at Broadway Community, an interfaith nonprofit operating a 19-bed shelter and soup kitchen. The work requires balancing clinical understanding with spiritual care while supporting vulnerable individuals caught between homelessness and serious mental illness.

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