A Fine Line

The Homeless Court is an excellent program. It is one of the few parts of my job in which I am able to witness the tangible results of my efforts. To give a brief description: Homeless Court is essentially a program that allows low or no-income individuals to clear any outstanding misdemeanors off of their records so that they are able to obtain employment and move forward with their lives. (While taking a little bit of pressure off of our backlogged court system).

It is a real court complete with a judge, public defender, and prosecutor—but without the courthouse. In an effort to reach out to its clients, the homeless court is held every two months in a local social service facility like St. Vincent de Paul, Berkeley Food and Housing, and the First United Methodist Church in Hayward. The idea behind this is to make the legal system a little bit more approachable to someone who has probably had some negative experiences with the law in the past.

Rather than getting into the virtues of the program and the ways in which our current legal system makes it illegal to be homeless, I would like to talk a little bit about my role in the program and refer my readers to (last year’s JV) Joe Adams’ entry on Homeless Court: http://svdp-alameda-volunteer.blogspot.com/2006/03/i-have-utter-privilege-of-running.html

As a case manager, I help my clients to convince the court that expunging their fines and legal charges will allow my clients to regain employment and move on with their lives. The court outlines ten categories, or “benchmarks of progress,” such as housing, substance abuse, and employment. As they fill out their paperwork and write their personal statements, my clients are essentially jumping through hoops to show that they are ready to move forward with their lives.

To many readers who are accustomed to deadlines and personal responsibilities, this may seem like a small commitment in exchange for freedom from hundreds of dollars of fines and a clean legal record. For someone who how has been living on the streets, having the organization needed to complete the process can be a little bit more challenging. One issue that I constantly ask myself is 'how far should I go in helping my clients to complete the process?'

Quite frequently, my clients are held back from a court date because they are missing some part of their paperwork. These technicalities become very frustrating when small details ultimately hold people back from cleaning their records and regaining their licenses for employment. When I learned that there would be a second homeless court this month, I managed to squeeze in twelve extra clients who had been held back from the original October court for such technicalities. With these types of cases, I have decided that a few extra phone calls and reminders are warranted, for it is my responsibility to inform my clients of what documents they need to bring to me in order to complete their files.

And then I have those clients who consistently miss their public defender meetings and court dates. I spoke with a man last week who has a very strong case, but can’t seem to make it to his meetings. He too is waiting to have his misdemeanors and fines expunged so that he can regain his license and begin working full time. He asked me to arrange a special meeting just for him—something that I knew the public defender would not be willing to do—and with good reason. This is an example of a situation where I need to step back and let my client take responsibility for flaking out. The purpose of homeless court is to help those who are actively working toward personal progress, which includes fulfilling their commitments. So in this man’s case, all I can do is hold his file to be submitted for the next court, and hope that he is organized enough to make it to the next meeting.

This is a point that Steve brings up on a weekly basis. We can help those who are in need, but when we do something that someone is capable of doing themselves, we are really doing them a disservice. It all goes back to empowerment.

Good News

Well… I’ve had some good news this week. Last Friday I learned that we will be squeezing in a second Homeless Court for the month of October. This will be a special court to address cases involving driving violations. At 9:00 am I found out that I needed to have their cases compiled and submitted by noon that day—a perfect example of how my job can suddenly become very busy yet incredibly rewarding.

Many of the clients who made it into this second batch had been held back from the original October court date because of small technicalities in their paperwork. Some of them had been counting on having their misdemeanors expunged so that they could regain employment—a few of them even had driving jobs lined up for when they regained their licenses. When they learned that they would not be able to make it, they were crushed. Being able to call these individuals up and tell them that they did have a chance to have their misdemeanors expunged by the end of this month was the highlight of my week.

In other news… for the past few months I have been looking for some positive artwork to be displayed on the St. Vincent de Paul campus. Thanks to our Friday afternoon art program, we have built up quite a portfolio. However, I had not come across anything that really struck me as appropriate artwork for large scale reproduction and display.

This Wednesday I received a phone call from a man named Leon Kennedy, who has been attending my Friday afternoon art program. Leon is a community artist who lives in Oakland. He has build up somewhat of a local reputation for his very powerful and deeply spiritual folk art based upon his own urban life. Leon brought in two images from his collection that he thought would be great outdoor murals. I looked at his prints and I was blown away.

So things are really moving now. We are currently researching ways to reproduce Leon’s paintings to be displayed at St. Vincent’s. I really think that his images have the power to inspire people, and I am very excited to see how his talent will be put to use in the months to come.

Fridays @ 1:30

The best way to truly impact other people is to do what you love.

This was one of the pieces of advice that Steve had for me when I began working at the men’s center. To many people, this might sound like one of those floaty idealistic sayings—one of those vague statements that don’t really apply to real life. Well, I can say that Steve was right:

I have had a passion for the visual arts since I was a child, particularly the two dimensional type—paintings and drawings. When I was in college, I pursued a minor in art history. I’ve even looked into graduate programs in the subject.

Even though I am very busy here at St. Vincent’s, I have a great deal of freedom in the particular projects that I choose to pick up. Back when I went through the JVC interview process for this placement, I saw an opportunity to further explore my interest in art history. So I started a Friday afternoon art program.

I would describe it as art history used as art therapy. Each week, I check a few books out of the library on particular artists that I think will resonate with the men who come to the program. I talk a little bit about the artists and their approaches and philosophies. The great thing about art history is that there is no shortage of eccentric characters. (many of whom would probably fit right in at the men’s center) Some of these artists (ie. Jean-Michel Basquiat), lived through the same urban poverty that many of the clients at St. Vincent’s have.

After a few meetings, I gained an idea of how each of the men approached their art. I began to select the artists based upon the artistic styles that the each person brought to the table. I have found that when I bring books in for specific individuals—or in other words show interest in their personal work—they are much more likely to come to meetings regularly and feel confident participating. Over the weeks, I noticed that some of the men who insisted that they could not draw were willing to sit down and try. As it turns out, some of these fellows could draw very well and they had just given it up a long time ago.

I have been working with one man who told me that he has not drawn in over twenty five years. Since he began coming to our Friday meetings, he has been drawing every day. Last week he told me that he had begun to look for housing again so that he would have a place to work with oils, which was his strongest interest as a child. Even though I take everything that I hear with a grain of salt, I do consider this to be positive feedback.

The best way that I can explain the responses that I received is with Steve’s earlier statement. When we think of our favorite high school teachers or college professors, they are almost always people who were passionate about what they taught. Sincere enthusiasm is contagious…