The Week in Review

6.5.2007

There has been so much going on at SVdP recently that I decided to write a general update for this week’s entry.

A couple of weeks ago, I took on the new project of setting up a free voicemail service for our clients. This is a part of Steve’s goal of helping our homeless clients to establish a “virtual address” using the resources we have here. Individuals are already able to receive mail at the Champion Guidance Center, make local daytime phone calls, and they have access to free email services through our computer lab.

We hope this voicemail system will help remove another hurdle from their track to employment. It will allow individuals to avoid the discrimination that they so often face when employers realize that they are homeless. It also raises some interesting issues. I need to make sure that the message prompts are discreet. The machine can’t say “Thank you for calling the SVdP homeless drop-in center voicemail system.” I hope to have this running within the next few weeks, and I think it will become very popular.

Next…

I am excited to say that we have hired two new interns in the Visitation Center. Its going to be wonderful having the extra help, as it seems as though there is never enough staff to accomplish all we would like to do. Even more importantly, I think that this represents a shift in culture at the women’s center. What is wonderful about the intern position is that it breaks down the division between staff and client. In fact, former clients are often considered for these positions. By distributing responsibility, we are encouraging self sufficiency and forward momentum. Rather than simply providing our clients with goods and services, we are slowly forming a community—a support network.

Next…

My homeless court caseload has continued to grow at an almost overwhelming rate. The court is now held every month, as opposed to every two months. This is great for my clients, who only have to wait half as long to clear up outstanding warrants or remove charges that are getting in the way of employment. Last month, I submitted a total of 25 cases in a one month period. When I began working at SVdP, I was submitting eight cases every two months. So, homeless court has certainly grown to consume much larger chunk of my day.

In the ten months that I have been here, I began to notice some subtle shifts in the direction the program is going. This month, I was surprised to see that some of my best documented cases were not accepted. After speaking with the homeless court coordinator, I learned that these clients were declared ineligible on the basis of too much stability. This has never happened before. Although these individuals were extremely low income, the court felt they were able to pay their legal fines. The reviewers decided, these fines were not preventing them from making personal progress and they were not eligible to receive these expungement services. This is something else that I need to be aware of as I am preparing cases and accepting new clients. It is also a sign that word of this program is spreading outside of the homeless population that we serve directly.

Next…

The help desk (free clothing store) is looking great. Thanks to some regular volunteer help, it is more organized than it has ever been. I am very grateful for the help that we have received. It is always a challenge to find reliable volunteers to work the desk. After hours of sorting through donated clothing, some of our volunteers figure, “these things are being given out for free…I worked here all day. Hey, I deserve to take a couple bags home with me.” Sometimes our volunteers are really in need of these goods. What we are really seeing here is a blurring of the lines between client, volunteer, and staff.

In many ways, it is a sign we are living out our motto: “a hand up, not a hand out.” At the same time, supporting former clients by promoting them to volunteer and even intern positions brings in a whole new set of issues. As Steve says, our interns are going to make mistakes. It is inevitable. But this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t support them through this process.

I plan to address this intern/volunteer culture and the issue of “entitlement” in some of my upcoming entries.