STREET TEAM BUILDING TRUST

Psychiatric nurse joins Father Joe’s Villages outreach group to try to reach homeless who need mental help

He’s known as the Chicken Man, a lighthearted fixture along San Diego’s waterfront who amuses passers-by with goofy puns and a collection of rubber chickens arranged in silly poses.

“It’s about smiles, you know?” said Scott Vicki, 40, who wears a chicken suit for his performances at Roucco Park.

His audience usually responds with small tips and departs smiling. They are unaware of the pain behind the act.

“My wife passed two years ago tomorrow,” Vicki said, growing somber.

He came to San Diego from Virginia to scatter her ashes in Ocean Beach, one of her favorite places, and he never left. Among other health issues, Vicki said he has post-traumatic stress disorder from his wife’s death, but his anxiety has prevented him from seeking psychiatric help.

But earlier this year, psychiatric help found him.

Father Joe’s Villages launched a street medicine team in 2019, and in December the nonprofit added psychiatric mental health nurse Michele Padilla.

“About 90 percent of my patients have some sort of trauma,” she said. “Definitely co-occurring disorders, because they self-medicate because of something that’s happened, or maybe they are depressed.

“Being homeless is traumatic,” she continued. “Having to sleep with one eye open at all times. You don’t know if your stuff is going to be stolen, if you’re going to be stabbed in the middle of the night. Now they’re not sleeping, and it can lead to hopelessness and depression.”

Padilla began working at Father Joe’s Villages medical clinic in July and said she was eager to join the street team. She goes out with them for a half day every Monday and sees three to five people on a regular basis.

Deacon Jim Vargas, president and CEO of Father Joe’s Villages, said the new effort was launched because the street medicine team saw a need.

“About a third of the population out there has some level of mental health challenges, and our outreach team has seen that since 2019,” he said. “And these are individuals who won’t access medicine in a traditional brick-and-mortar way.”

Padilla’s partner is outreach worker Michelle Lefever, who builds trust with people on the street and recognizes who may need mental health help. She came to know Vicki, who after a while realized he could benefit from talking to someone about his issues.

He has had sessions for about a month and a half with Padilla, who has prescribed medication that Vicki said is helping.

“I have less night terrors,” he said. “PTSD is down, the bipolar is more level.”

Beyond the medication, Vicki said he appreciates the one-on-one sessions with Padilla.

“Having somebody else who cares about me, who comes out once a week,” he said, his voice trailing off.

Padilla’s first outing in the field came last year when People Assisting the Homeless reached out to the Father Joe’s Villages clinic for help

SANDY HUFFAKER FOR THE U-T Michele Padilla, a psychiatric mental health nurse who is part of the Father Joe's Villages street team, talks to one of her patients, who is homeless, near Balboa Park recently. “Being homeless is traumatic,” she said.