Face of a client

As an AmeriCorps VISTA, my work is limited to a very small percentage of direct service.  My main goal is capacity building by doing indirect service.  On a slightly related note, I am devastated to report that the star between “AmeriCorps” and “VISTA” has officially been removed from my job title.   Devastated.  RIP asterisk. 

A couple weeks ago I had a rare chance my office had to help answer our hotline calls due to one of our Foodbanks up in Cleveland hosting a Phone-a-thon and needing extra help.  After three calls from various people (mothers of 5, single man, family of 4) with different needs (no gas for the past 5 months, no income/no food, any help I can give), I answered a call from a woman in Franklin County.

When I picked up the phone I could tell she was crying.  Every time you pick up a hotline call it’s a little scary, because the person on the other end of the line is in so much trouble that they have exhausted all personal resources and called a hotline for any help they can get.  So this woman that I was connected with, through her choked up voice, started explaining to me that she lived in a mobile home park and she owned her home, but she had to pay lot rent.  She had an eviction notice on her door because she couldn’t pay her lot rent and couldn’t gather money fast enough.  She would be out on the street in two days if she didn’t pay.  My program helps people apply for benefits like food assistance, which she was already on, so I couldn’t offer her much from our resource pool for housing.   We partner with many organizations that do offer housing assistance among other things we can’t help with, but this woman had put the effort in and sought out help at these organizations, but to no avail.  The organizations she visited can’t help with lot rent, even though this was the cause of her eviction.   This situation would be a major cause of stress for anyone, but this woman spilled the rest of her complications to add on to the impending eviction.  She has depression, anxiety, and is bi-polar.  She doesn’t have enough money to pay for her medicine, so she is quite literally fighting through life every single day.  The effort to make it out of bed and to do what she needs to do is crushing, she explained.  She also was told by her doctor that her front and wisdom teeth need pulled because they are diseased and poisoning her body, slowly killing her.  Among other health problems for herself and not being able to afford ANY care, her daughter is in jail.   I was on the phone with her for 20 minutes, just lending an ear to listen, knowing the entire time I couldn’t really do anything to help.  By the end all I could give her was the number for information referral, the number of a free clinic, and the address of a homeless shelter.  It was very strange hanging up the phone with a woman who I was pretty sure in two days’ time would be standing outside her home, surrounded by her evicted belongings, barraged by mental illness with nowhere to turn. 

This was a difficult but humbling day.  It was weird window into the most burdened population.  We talk about them, we read about them, we do studies on them, we even see them.  But to have this window straight into someone’s life, a 20 minute picture of everything they are facing, and then to carry around this story is a whole different situation.  It sticks with you, and ultimately empowers.  If I ever need motivation to keep doing capacity building, to keep developing programs and making partnerships and solidifying program infrastructure, I can easily recall those 20 minutes as a call to action and a raison d'être for my position.

On my toes

If you thought the title might allude to me revealing news that I am a practicing en pointe ballerina, you will be (only slightly) disappointed.   I could have also titled this post something like “playing it by ear,” but that might make you think I am a budding musician (which, in reality I am.  Hello new guitar!) and it would also be a second cliché reference using a body part to describe the fact that in my job I “fly by the seat of my pants.”  Oops, there I go again.

I remember interviewing for this job and asking my (future) supervisor what a typical day looked like.  He couldn’t give me an answer, rather promising each day was very different.  Now that I’ve been in this position for over 5 months, I have discovered three types of a “typical day.”  They are as follows:  a) Sitting in front of my computer emailing and calling people, including various breaks to stare out the window at interesting activity down on the street.  b) Training all day.  Training is draining, so once I’ve spent 6 hours in front of a room of people yapping at them and guiding them through the software, I’m spent.  c) Traveling to meetings.   This could also be interspersed with option a (staring at computer).  Traveling to meetings could be similar to what I did this morning, which entailed me driving a mile down the road from my apartment and sharing a cup of coffee and great conversation with a fellow VISTA.  It could also be driving over an hour to an outlying county (remember, I serve 15 of them) for a 20 minute meeting.  Where perhaps the person I am meeting with tells me my program is essentially worthless.  And I thank them for their time and drive back. 

The last point is a great anecdote affirming my supervisor’s explanation way back in April when I applied.  Despite there being three basic types of days, each situation is different and challenging.   Even with each cookie cutter training, I have different counselors who have different learning styles, a different sense of humor (laugh at my corny jokes people!  Come on!), and different opinions about public benefits and government programs.    

My favorite days, surprisingly, are the days I have nothing officially planned and I can sit at my desk and work.   This days are always different, always challenging, and always keep me moving, which is very important for this job.  Communication is constantly and quickly moving, and if I don’t stay up to date with emails and phone calls the entire network  could fall behind.   My desk days also give me the ability to not only react but act, or take proactive action by strategizing and preparing for goals and projects. 

This post grew increasingly boring as it went on, but our internet is down so I can’t check my email.   See?  Crazy!  On my toes!