Last week I did not have very much help from volunteers. Since most of the schools are still on break we have been low on students looking for class credit and since the holidays are over there are not too many people looking to do volunteer work. So last week i was on my own with shower duty. Although Friday morning i had a nice break when Arnold (one of the guests) came in, picked up the shower spray, and told me to put him to work. He was feeling antsy that morning and just needed something to do. I was grateful for the help! It also gave me some time to chat with him. He has been coming around the center for a while but i have not had a chance to talk with him yet. While he helped me with showers I asked him about where he is from, his family, work, and such. He has 14 kids, grand kids, and great grand kids--most of them all over the country. We talked about how much he likes visiting them. I asked him why he did not live with any of them and he said that he did not want to have to change his life, he is an independent man and is proud of it, living with family would mean he would have to change the way he lives. He said he has been in New Orleans all his life, including during Katrina. I asked him where he was in the city during the storm and he said he was in jail. He told me about how they were up to their necks in filthy water, locked in their cells, until the guards finally let them up to the second floor. Then a boat came to take them to the bridge where most of the people left in the city where headed. He talked about how a lot of the stories we heard on the news about how horribly people were treated when they got to the bridge were true, especially the inmates. I was so grateful that he wanted to answer my questions and tell me about his experiences. At first glance Arnold is very intimidating man but i saw a different side to him on Friday.
Today Arnold came up to me to say goodbye... He told Anne and i that he was turning himself in tomorrow for parole violation which will mean he would probably be in jail for about 3 years. I think outside the Harry Tompson Center Arnold has a hard life and is involved in way more than i will ever know, but at the center he is my friend. He trusts me and it felt good to know that Anne and I were two people he wanted to say goodbye to before he went back to jail.
Sometimes you don't know who values your friend ship and how much you mean to them :)
Monday, January 23, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Guests
Yesterday a video camera team came into the Harry Tomson Center to film the day to day activities for an advertising campaign. They were mostly filming the guests chatting, shaving, and asking Anne and i for socks and such, but a few of the guests were also interviewed. Later in the day the camera crew cornered Anne and i for individual interviews as well. For those of you who know how red my ears can get sometimes, it was a good thing i had my hair down that day! I am not a huge fan of being in front of a camera like that, but i didn't know that until the camera man turned on the camera and i had to start answering questions. I stumbled a lot and could not get my thoughts out. I love to chat but not when the camera/person doesn't say anything back! But there was one question that i really liked. He asked me why we call the guests a the Harry Tompson Center 'guests' and not 'clients.' I thought for a minute, then decided that guests are people you want to bring into your home and clients are people you work for; we see the Harry Tompson Center as a home or safe place for people who may not have anywhere else to go. I thought that was a pretty good answer! Then the camera man told me to say it again.... but start with, "I use the word guests instead of clients because..." and of course when i said it again it didn't come out the same way, haha. Anne and i both decided that in front of the camera is not where we want to be but that we hope there was something said at some point in the interview that will work for the movie. The questions that we were asked made for good conversation between the two of us after, though. Maybe if there had been a hidden camera in the laundry room when we were talking about our interviews afterwards there would have been some usable stuff said :)
Either way, if we made it in the movie or not, ill put the link up on my blog to let you all see someone of my clients and learn a little more about this place and the people i have come to love so much!
Either way, if we made it in the movie or not, ill put the link up on my blog to let you all see someone of my clients and learn a little more about this place and the people i have come to love so much!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Week in Texas and so much more
This past week all of the JV's in the south were sent to a retreat site in Leakey TX. My community drove about 9 hours on Tuesday to get to San Antonio where we stayed the night at one of the JV houses along with a bunch of other JVs who had traveled a long ways. Then in the morning we explored San Antonio for a bit and headed to Leakey TX in the afternoon. Leakey is out in the middle of no where Texas and the camp site is at the bottom of this ravine. The only way to get to the camp site is to drive through a river.... Yes through the river. The water was not too deep but rather like a hug puddle, but it was still pretty funny cruising through the river. The retreat site was beautiful. There were some nice hiking trails, a perfect sunrise watching spot, the stars were brighter than i have seen them in a long time, and the weather stayed relatively nice.
The retreat was centered around Social Justice: the history of, the meaning of, and the ways we work towards it. It was a three day long lecture which was a little on the long side, especially for students who have not sat in on a classroom lecture in at least 7 months. But the information that the Jesuit speaker was presenting was fascinating.
During the second day we broke into small groups to discuss the structural problems that cause the issues we deal with every day at our jobs. First we identified the issues that our clients face. My group decided that the major issues we see our homeless clients facing are mental illness and addiction problems. At the time, i went along with it, but after taking some time to think about what i have seen over these past few months i realized that, yes, mental illness and addiction problems are major issues that my clients face but more so they are outcomes to bigger problems in our society and the American culture. From what i have seen most of the mental illness that my guests struggle with has been a result of PTSD, from wars, natural disasters, family problems, or a range of other intense situations. Jerome, for example, sits everyday and picks at his hands because they are pealing in an unhealthy way. He does not always make much sense when he talks but if you listen close you can pick up a word or two here and there that describes the water he sat in and the disease on his skill after the storm: the storm being Katrina and the water he sat in being the place he must have been stuck (for who knows how long) waiting to be rescued. Christopher is in his own world 24/7. You can talk to him and have a conversation just fine but when he is alone and talking to himself you can see a scene play over and over in his head. He talks, yells, and gestures as he plays the scene in his mind then all of a sudden his goes still, holds his hand in a fake gun position to his head, yells 'BANG' and then the scene starts over again. There are clearly very specific traumas effecting Jerome, Christopher, and other guests.
Addiction struggles are also a major issue that i see on a daily basis. A lot of people use drugs and alcohol to 'get out of the world' that they are in, or to have a little fun, or what have you. But from what i have seen most of the addiction problems have become a result of other problems with our society. Maybe a lack of family values or strong role models. No good examples to fallow. Or way out of poverty when you grew up in it. A lot of my guests do not understand the idea of saving or having a savings. When their SSI checks come in at the first of the month we tend to not see them until the end of the month, when the check has run out. Why do they not think to the future? I understand the feeling of buying something for oneself, to treat yourself to something special, but there is always a thought in the back of my mind that tells me to save some of what i earn. That idea of saving does not occur to a lot of my guests and i think it is a result of the way they were raised.
The other structural problems that i see stem from American society/culture. The dehumanizing way that society treats homeless people. We like to help others but only when it is convenient. Donations are given but only during holidays. Family support is there but family has its limits. Job training is available but no one wants to hire a homeless person. City's are kept 'clean' by a sweeping out of cape sites where large populations of homeless people have gathered. Natural disasters destroy homes and lives because we do not always act fast enough. And so much more.
The third day of the retreat was all about how working for social justice effects us, as the people working for change. Father Fred described the feelings of anger verses guilt when working for people who have nothing or are struggling. For example there have been many times when i give someone a pair of socks because they ask me and seem to genuinely need them. Then i find out the next day, when i do their laundry, that they actually have plenty of socks. It makes me angry that someone would be so selfish and that anger is expressed when the next person asks me for sock and i say no. There is no reason to take that anger out on the next person but its hard not to when you feel betrayed. Then there is the guilt that hits the bottom of your stomach when you see someone sitting on the side of the road with a cardboard sign. You think, "Do i give them money? or not? And what will they do with it?" It is anger turned into guilt. To help find a balance with these feelings Fr. Fred gave us three steps to think about. One: I am Loved as I am! Two: you should always give yourself time for morning and grieving. And three: Love everyone Freely (not driven by guilt or anger). Its not the end of the world if i give out too many socks, it just means there are more happy feet, but remember to keep in mind all of the people who go without. If i do not have money to give the person on the side of the road then there are other things i can give them, simple things, like a smile, friendly greeting or kind words.
One cannot solve the in-justice by charity alone or advocacy alone but rather a partnership of both. This year i am doing charity work, band aid relief, short term solution finding, or basic needs help. I am meeting fascinating people, listening to stories, learning names, and seeing faces. These faces are who i will remember when i work for social justice and advocacy later in life. There is a balance of both charity and advocacy that goes into the work that i want to do for the rest of my life. It can really be applied to any population i work with in the future or any person i meet.
Well i think that was enough thought for the moment haha. Clearly i am motivated by and slightly crazy with all that is in my head. And i love it all!
Love you!
The retreat was centered around Social Justice: the history of, the meaning of, and the ways we work towards it. It was a three day long lecture which was a little on the long side, especially for students who have not sat in on a classroom lecture in at least 7 months. But the information that the Jesuit speaker was presenting was fascinating.
During the second day we broke into small groups to discuss the structural problems that cause the issues we deal with every day at our jobs. First we identified the issues that our clients face. My group decided that the major issues we see our homeless clients facing are mental illness and addiction problems. At the time, i went along with it, but after taking some time to think about what i have seen over these past few months i realized that, yes, mental illness and addiction problems are major issues that my clients face but more so they are outcomes to bigger problems in our society and the American culture. From what i have seen most of the mental illness that my guests struggle with has been a result of PTSD, from wars, natural disasters, family problems, or a range of other intense situations. Jerome, for example, sits everyday and picks at his hands because they are pealing in an unhealthy way. He does not always make much sense when he talks but if you listen close you can pick up a word or two here and there that describes the water he sat in and the disease on his skill after the storm: the storm being Katrina and the water he sat in being the place he must have been stuck (for who knows how long) waiting to be rescued. Christopher is in his own world 24/7. You can talk to him and have a conversation just fine but when he is alone and talking to himself you can see a scene play over and over in his head. He talks, yells, and gestures as he plays the scene in his mind then all of a sudden his goes still, holds his hand in a fake gun position to his head, yells 'BANG' and then the scene starts over again. There are clearly very specific traumas effecting Jerome, Christopher, and other guests.
Addiction struggles are also a major issue that i see on a daily basis. A lot of people use drugs and alcohol to 'get out of the world' that they are in, or to have a little fun, or what have you. But from what i have seen most of the addiction problems have become a result of other problems with our society. Maybe a lack of family values or strong role models. No good examples to fallow. Or way out of poverty when you grew up in it. A lot of my guests do not understand the idea of saving or having a savings. When their SSI checks come in at the first of the month we tend to not see them until the end of the month, when the check has run out. Why do they not think to the future? I understand the feeling of buying something for oneself, to treat yourself to something special, but there is always a thought in the back of my mind that tells me to save some of what i earn. That idea of saving does not occur to a lot of my guests and i think it is a result of the way they were raised.
The other structural problems that i see stem from American society/culture. The dehumanizing way that society treats homeless people. We like to help others but only when it is convenient. Donations are given but only during holidays. Family support is there but family has its limits. Job training is available but no one wants to hire a homeless person. City's are kept 'clean' by a sweeping out of cape sites where large populations of homeless people have gathered. Natural disasters destroy homes and lives because we do not always act fast enough. And so much more.
The third day of the retreat was all about how working for social justice effects us, as the people working for change. Father Fred described the feelings of anger verses guilt when working for people who have nothing or are struggling. For example there have been many times when i give someone a pair of socks because they ask me and seem to genuinely need them. Then i find out the next day, when i do their laundry, that they actually have plenty of socks. It makes me angry that someone would be so selfish and that anger is expressed when the next person asks me for sock and i say no. There is no reason to take that anger out on the next person but its hard not to when you feel betrayed. Then there is the guilt that hits the bottom of your stomach when you see someone sitting on the side of the road with a cardboard sign. You think, "Do i give them money? or not? And what will they do with it?" It is anger turned into guilt. To help find a balance with these feelings Fr. Fred gave us three steps to think about. One: I am Loved as I am! Two: you should always give yourself time for morning and grieving. And three: Love everyone Freely (not driven by guilt or anger). Its not the end of the world if i give out too many socks, it just means there are more happy feet, but remember to keep in mind all of the people who go without. If i do not have money to give the person on the side of the road then there are other things i can give them, simple things, like a smile, friendly greeting or kind words.
One cannot solve the in-justice by charity alone or advocacy alone but rather a partnership of both. This year i am doing charity work, band aid relief, short term solution finding, or basic needs help. I am meeting fascinating people, listening to stories, learning names, and seeing faces. These faces are who i will remember when i work for social justice and advocacy later in life. There is a balance of both charity and advocacy that goes into the work that i want to do for the rest of my life. It can really be applied to any population i work with in the future or any person i meet.
Well i think that was enough thought for the moment haha. Clearly i am motivated by and slightly crazy with all that is in my head. And i love it all!
Love you!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Birthday(s)!
I have never celebrated my birthday so many times! When you have so many homes you end up having multiple birthdays so that you can celebrate with everyone. At home i kicked some butt at bowling with the family (but not really, im not that good, more like the family kicked my butt). We all went out for the traditional family dinner and when i got home there was a delicious 4 layer chocolate cake waiting for me :) Props to Jenny and Dad.
I figured i would do something with my community when i got back to Nola, so i planned that we all go out to dinner on Sunday. Little did i know that they had something different in mind. Thursday morning i woke up to a house full of Happy Birthday signs! They were strategically placed in every part of the house that i pass by in the morning. From the bathroom mirror, to the coffee pot, and oatmeal container. No one else is awake when i am in the morning because i leave the earliest, so i was just giggling to myself all morning, as i found the notes and signs haha. I was so distracted that morning that as Anne and i walked to the bus stop i remembered that i was still in my slippers! It was to late to turn back home so i ended up 'slipper day' by accident.
Anne and i raced to the bus stop this morning to just make the 6:50am bus. She was a bit behind me but i figured she would catch up, i didn't think much of it at the time. We got to work and i opened the door to the shower supplies and was met with a bunch of balloons and streamers which Emily had set up in the morning! Anne came up behind me and put a very funny bday hat on my head, which, of course, i was instructed to wear all day. I got lots of bday wishes and nice complements along with some beautiful cards and poems. During lunch Sister Vera led a Happy Birthday Julie song, which made me turn a ridiculous shade of bright red. At the end of the day Don and Emily ushered me into the laundry room where Anne and Sister Mags were waiting with cup cakes to sing me happy birthday (again). Anne had put together a wonderful bday sign that had notes from a bunch of the guests all over it :) She told me later that the poster had fallen out of her backpack in the morning when we were racing to the bus. Stephanie found it later in someones front yard, picked it up and drove it to the center in the middle of the day. I saw Stephanie briefly leaving the center and was confused as to why she did not stop to say hello. But it all made sense later, Stephanie at the center and Anne almost missing the bus, makes for a perfect birthday surprise!
These past few weeks i have felt so loved and cared for! My birthday(s) were amazing and all thanks to the wonderful people around me :)
Lots of Love!
I figured i would do something with my community when i got back to Nola, so i planned that we all go out to dinner on Sunday. Little did i know that they had something different in mind. Thursday morning i woke up to a house full of Happy Birthday signs! They were strategically placed in every part of the house that i pass by in the morning. From the bathroom mirror, to the coffee pot, and oatmeal container. No one else is awake when i am in the morning because i leave the earliest, so i was just giggling to myself all morning, as i found the notes and signs haha. I was so distracted that morning that as Anne and i walked to the bus stop i remembered that i was still in my slippers! It was to late to turn back home so i ended up 'slipper day' by accident.
Anne and i raced to the bus stop this morning to just make the 6:50am bus. She was a bit behind me but i figured she would catch up, i didn't think much of it at the time. We got to work and i opened the door to the shower supplies and was met with a bunch of balloons and streamers which Emily had set up in the morning! Anne came up behind me and put a very funny bday hat on my head, which, of course, i was instructed to wear all day. I got lots of bday wishes and nice complements along with some beautiful cards and poems. During lunch Sister Vera led a Happy Birthday Julie song, which made me turn a ridiculous shade of bright red. At the end of the day Don and Emily ushered me into the laundry room where Anne and Sister Mags were waiting with cup cakes to sing me happy birthday (again). Anne had put together a wonderful bday sign that had notes from a bunch of the guests all over it :) She told me later that the poster had fallen out of her backpack in the morning when we were racing to the bus. Stephanie found it later in someones front yard, picked it up and drove it to the center in the middle of the day. I saw Stephanie briefly leaving the center and was confused as to why she did not stop to say hello. But it all made sense later, Stephanie at the center and Anne almost missing the bus, makes for a perfect birthday surprise!
Lots of Love!
Home was Wonderful
Home was wonderful. I was spoild rotten, stuffed with food (lots of meat), and reminded how lucky i am to have such amazing freinds and family. I did a lot of things that i have not done for a while. Shopping for instance was an adventure that i had not expereinced in NOLA, or at least not very much and not to the same degree that was shopping with mom, dad, and jenny. Starbucks was another luxury that i enjoyed. Having my own room. Not having to cook or clean. Watching TV. Having my computer. Playing with a dog. Riding my beach cruiser (which now has a wonderful cushy, wide, beach cruiser seat). Seeing the Pacific ocean. And such. I have missed these things (and others). Also i have learned to appriciate them so much more. I may not need or crave material objects as much any more but i sure did miss the beach. Man oh Man! It was wonderful being home and it helped me see that i am where i am this year for a reason. I am exactly where i need to be.
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