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.