LVC Fundraiser

We jumped in Lake Michigan!

Here are photos. Thank you SO much for your donations!

where we jumped

(note ian’s face…hehe)

Changes at LPCS

Hello all!

Since I last wrote things have definitely changed around LPCS. Needless to say, it has been a long week and I am utterly exhausted. Monday, about mid-day, my coworker Dayna came into my office and sat down. She looked upset or annoyed, so I assumed she had told another guest that they needed to do something and they were mad, so she was just informing me about it. But then Dayna said this, “Just so you don’t get blindsided by it, I just got laid off.” To which I said, “WHAT?”

Here at LPCS we have recently been seeing problems with fundraising. This is both in private donations and in grant money, but we are not on track to meet our fiscal year goals in terms of the budget. So the board voted last week to cut a case management position. We only had 5 salaried staff (+2 interns, +2 volunteers, and one other unpaid worker), so they cut 20% of the costs for salaries. Their idea was to make a large cut now, in order to only have to make one round of cuts. Basically, December is a make or break month though, and we will see based on that if more cuts are needed. The Saturday program’s fate also remains unknown, more details when that is officially settled.

So Dayna’s last day was Tuesday and we’ve been scrambling to make the transition since. Here are how things change:

• we know longer have an employment case manager
• everyone becomes a general case manager, this means: Laura’s case load is temporarily up to 26, but will be down to 18 once we are further into the transition; Michelle and Emily (interns) will each have 5 guests; I become a half case manager, taking 7 guests on my caseload.
• I have less time to devote the community client appointments. Since our numbers are down for this inovlement, it seems as though that will be ok. The Saturday program’s fate remains up in the air.
• I will now share the role of doing new guest orientation with the interns
• I no longer do the shopping for the shelter, that is now done by Fernando! In summary, my role as the interim housing manager now drops to less than half of my job. (I still maintain all of the paperwork around intake though.)
• I will now start teaching a class or two for the guests of the shelter (likely an employment track class)
• Laura now does all job training/job readiness program referrals
• Emily and Michelle now teach more classes
• Heather now does less grant writing than hoped for, and helps more with volunteer coordination, recruitment and community relations. Suzanne now does less of the volunteer stuff, coordinates our GIVE (guests in volunteer experience) program, and manages the monthly activity calendar.
• Betsy now tracks the employment outcomes.
• Betsy, Erin, and Heather now all work 1/2-1 day from home to increase their efficiency on the grant writing work.

So in summary, Dayna’s work is mostly getting picked up. We will be trying our best to maintain the same level of services, but we realize this will likely drop off. However, it is being viewed as just a 1/2 step back, as just one year ago we were operating on the above system (with 1 1/2 case managers like it will be now with Laura and I). So it’s been done and we hope this will help us recover.

Basically it’s just proof that hard economic times don’t spare any sector. Unfortunately, I find it hard to watch in this sector, as we are trying to provide services to those who already need them the most. Now we will probably see increased demands for these services as well, but with less money in the budget, we will be unable to do as much as we want.

The week has been difficult for me as I have tried to process this. Having Dayna leave is stupid. None of us wanted it (especially Dayna) and it just stinks on a lot of levels. Watching a coworker get laid off is hard, and watching the guests get nervous about the changes around here is hard too. Plus, all of our stress levels just skyrocketed! One guest said to me this week “I just thought we were already at the minimum for the number of staff.” Well….apparently not.

On the other hand, I am excited about my new role. I am happy to be more involved. I now will have a deeper role in the lives of the guests here and I’m excited to learn everything. Although I felt like my job before was important, it now sort of feels more important, since I will be able to see the results of my actions a little bit more by working with guests in the shelter. I think my job will get a lot busier, especially as I transition and learn how to be a case manager in the process.

And on another hand, I am TERRIFIED. I know that I have done case management, as that is what I do with our community clients. But I dont’ feel like I know enough now to help someone in the shelter. I don’t know about job training programs. I know nothing about mental health. And I know very little about physical health resources. So it will be a learning process. But as the week goes on I have gotten more confident. It’s just a bit scary, when you finally feel settled in (after almost 4 months!) and now the role has changed. However, I don’t think it will take 4 months to settle in this time, but just an increased effort to learn things. And confidence, as Ian has reminded me. Betsy did tell me that she thought I could continue in the field of social work, so I just need to remember that my bosses are also confident in my abilities (and that I will learn and adapt in this role!). So that is my current goal.

Anyway, back to work, but that is the week update.

Also, just to warn you, we have to do staff fundraising the next month, so I already apologize for that. But as you can see, donations are vital to our survival!

Oh and last thing, I am jumping in Lake Michigan tomorrow for fundraising for LVC. I raised $240 thanks to your wonderful donations. I will be sending all of you pictures, and probably wishing I was on a beach in FL instead!

House Photos

We had a community night last week and decided to take a little mini house photo shoot. Only minor injuries were sustained (my heel, you’ll know which picture), so we thought it was pretty successful.

(ouch)

heather even has the head tilt down. so impressed.

A Few Thanksgiving Photos!

On the way to Sojo!

catching the Western bus!

near Sojo

all of us in the kitchen = crowded!

all 9 of us at dinner!

Here is a photo gallery of Thanksgiving pictures! You should be able to click on them to open them to view them in their full size!

Thanksgiving in Chicago

Happy Thanksgiving! Or, one day late.

Life in Chicago has continued to be spectacular. It looks like it’s been a while since I’ve updated, so I figured I would! I am currently at work, but it’s an LPCS holiday, so it’s just me hanging out with the guests today! And I didn’t even have to get up at 5:30 like normal, I got to sleep in until 6:30!

Let’s see. There isn’t too much to report, but a few cool or at least thoughtful things have happened lately.

One thing that has been troubling me lately at work has been the balance between being professional at work and providing what my clients feel like they need. One client this week came in pretty distressed and got pretty upset with me that he felt like he had to share all sorts of personal information, but I wouldn’t share any. I’ve tried with him to not be so closed off, to share a bit about life. But it’s hard. I mean I am not supposed to act as a friend, but as a professional trying to help. But where’s the line? He is right, he sits there and dishes out all of his personal information and I sit on the other side of the desk unable to say a lot. Of course, I understand the reasons. I think maintaining a professional relationship is really important in this field, but it’s hard. I’m trying to be compassionate to my clients and help them the best I can and I feel like building trust is a huge part of the job. At times it seems like disclosing things about me would be helpful in that, but it’s like I have my hands tied – I can’t. So that’s one thing I’ve been struggling with…but I think that is just how it goes.

A sad thought is that yesterday I was reading the paper and discovered one of the other Northside Chicago shelters will be closing its doors. Government funding has been cut and rent has doubled, so they can’t afford to keep their Warming Center open. It houses 65 men a night (which was already not enough). Someone tell me, what are we going to do for these men??? The link to the story is below. Check it out.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-shelter-closing-27-nov27,0,3122977.story

Another story about giving/need around the holidays: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-thanksgiving-charities-27-nov27,0,2261876.story

So there’s that too.  Which is a little bit of good news where things can be looking a bit rough for winter!

Let’s see. Last weekend I visited MN! It was really good. Lots of fun to see Kate, Tanner, Marissa, Andrea, Pat, Emily, Matt and everyone else again. Thanks for having me and hanging out with me. It was awesome. It was actually difficult for me, because Olaf has obviously moved on. My class wasn’t there. I didn’t have a room, I didn’t go hang out with people upstairs in Ytterboe like I used to…it was weird. I am thankful for St. Olaf and all of the many wonderful things, people, and opportunities provided and discovered there, but it hit me that that particular chunk of life really is over. It was a sad realization in one way, but a good realization in the other. That chapter can fully close now and I realized how I am feeling more settled in Chicago. Granted there are still some things I wish I had in Chicago that I am working on, but it was a really nice feeling to realize how much I wanted to be back home with my housemates, Ian, etc. And I still have MO, that will always be home, even as I potentially move again next year!

Another wonderful thing that has happened lately – Thanksgiving! I wasn’t sure how the day would go, as it was my first Thanksgiving away from home (after 22 straight years of being in MO!). However, it was delightful. It was a bit strange not having the same routine, not celebrating Christmas with my mom’s side of the family and having a million children running around. But I did get to talk to them and hear about singing barbie dolls, hulk hands, and Isaac kangaroo. So I got the cuteness via phone. But I did still have an amazing day. I slept in (until 9! that’s 3.5 hours of sleeping in!), watched the parade (Chicago and Macy’s) and then cooked. So much cooking. But it was fun. And the results were awesome. Heather and I then ventured over to Sojo (another LVC house) for our Thanksgiving dinner! We first went to Humboldt Park, watched the ducks slide on the ice, and played the box game (oh how I miss frisbee!). Then we ventured back for more cooking and hanging out and eventually a wonderful dinner, full of thanks and so many toasts (and so much eye contact hehe). So in honor of that, some things I am thankful for (big and small).

• public transit: without you, how would I get around. and on that note, google maps, cta trip planner, and the cta bus tracker: you minimize my wait time in the cold!
• the internet: it allows me to keep in contact with so many people, but on thanksgiving I was especially thankful that I could talk to Brad through it, as we haven’t chatted any other way than text/email since September. so thanks internet, for letting me talk to my closest friends (another shout out to gmail chat, which allows me to talk to Jo and friends like I am there! hooray video chat!)
• LPCS: the work this organization does is incredible. seriously. I hear so much good feedback from guests and clients I am so thankful to get to work here!
• LPCS guests: Thanks for being so gracious and wonderful to me. I felt welcomed from day one. And this is your home, not mine, so thanks for that.
• My housemates: I am glad we aren’t just housemates, but we can be friends too. SO THANKFUL. Without you all, this year would not be so incredible.
• LVC: for a job. a community. a great year of service!
• Family: Even though I wasn’t home this Thanksgiving, I’m thankful I have somewhere to go. Too often I work with people who have no family or poor family relations, and I am so glad to have a loving family I can always go home to!
• Ian: I think you are cool.
• Jo, Kate, Tanner, Brad and all of my other friends: Thanks for being my BFFs. Cheesy, I know, but for real, your support from a distance rocks my world.
• Food, shelter, security, health, access to resources, an education, and so many more things like that. These are invaluable things that I have been given and I am so privileged to have that.
• Days off work. They’re just fun every once in a while.
• and lots more…

But for now…I must go wash dishes. The guest who was supposed to do them, is not at our shelter any more. Bummer.

Ah well. It’s a beautiful day after all.

Oh! And soon I will post photos from our house photo shoot. They are pretty awesome and include things/emotions like: surprise, superheros, jumping (and into a couch), overly sappy cuteness, and lots more.

Halloween, Obama, and LVC Retreat!

So…lots has happened since I last posted, and most of the excitement has little to do with work. But it is exciting. So there’s that. Here’s a few thoughts. My advance apologies for it not being that exciting, as I’ve now told these stories a few times between the time they happened and when I stopped neglecting this blog. So I’m going to copy and paste and do all of that good stuff. So here’s an update on life.

1) This year for Halloween I opted to participate. It was a good choice. I dressed up as Waldo, yes “Where’s Waldo?” Waldo. It was sweet. And people understood who I was, so it was cool that people were “finding” me all night.

2) My fall league frisbee team won the league tournament! With no help from me on tournament day, but I did play 3 weekends, so I sort of helped…a little.

3) Work has been awesome. My guests missed me when I was gone! So that made me feel like I am at least a well enough liked staff member. I also recently had my fall evaluation, which was all positive. Always great to know your boss thinks you are doing well! Oh, and we had a staff outing. Playing whirlyball. Think bumber cars meets a short lacrosse stick, meets a wiffle ball, meets a sort of goal like a basketball goal. Yeah, it’s a funny sport (does that count as a sport…???)…but it was awesome. My coworkers and their significant others all (well almost all) came and it was a lot of fun. It was cool to meet the people that are important to them as well! We also recently had a very successful fundraiser so that is great. And as the holiday season draws near, if you are looking to buy something from Amazon, ask me how you can help LPCS!

4) LVC Retreat. Ok, so this is actually the most recent thing, but the last thing is going to be pretty exciting. But LVC retreat was far better than expected. We were in the middle of nowhere, at Andi’s beloved Sugar Creek Bible Camp. It was a beautiful place though. I greatly enjoyed the 24/7 time with the housemates who I love very dearly. For real, I am so thankful that I live with these 4 lovely women. We may not always see eye to eye. But we generally do. And we really like each other. And I am sooo thrilled to already have such good friends in such a short amount of time. Moving away from the mushy stuff, we also did a great two day anti-racism training. Unfortunately I find myself at a loss for the words to really explain it. I mean, a lot of that is inner reflection or reflection in conversation anyway. But it was good. I was afraid I would come out of it just feeling guilty and hopeless after two days of having to acknowledge my “white privilege”. Instead, I come out quite thankful, fully aware I can’t do anything about the color of my skin, but that I can help change the racist perceptions of others. Race is a made up thing, and we can make it go away. If you want to know more, ask me sometime, as I feel I will be better at explaining this all in person rather than on here. The thoughts aren’t coming out quite like I had hoped.

5) PRESIDENT ELECT OBAMA. My hopes were met on Tuesday, November 4th, when this country finally didn’t fail me. So originally I didn’t have tickets to this, but saw on facebook that Jackson did. After talking to him more, I discovered that Jackson AND Denise had gotten tickets (these tickets went in the first couple of hours!)….so I was able to convince Jackson to take me with him. Then, on election day I got an email at 4:30 saying I had gotten a ticket, even though I was wait listed so I was pretty excited about that. One of my roomates did as well. So Jackson, Denise, Ian, Nora, Katie, Jess, Alison, and I headed to Grant Park. It was pretty much insane down there, I don’t think I’ve been around so many people before in one space that wasn’t a stadium or something. There were 70,000 people in the ticketed area, but they estimated about 240,000 were down around the park that night. We waited in line FOREVER, but eventually got in (after OH, PA, and FL had all been called for Obama). We were nowhere near the stage (which is not surprising since there were so many people), but we got to see a huge tv screen that showed CNN as they reported stuff. The crowd was pretty awesome too, really diverse in both age and race, it was pretty cool (though it sounds cheesy) to see so many people excited about Obama! Then it was actually pretty quick after they called VA (everyone was insanely excited) and then we were all shocked when CNN called it just as polls closed in CA at 10! We couldn’t believe it…until they showed John McCain’s concession speech (a really well done speech, I was impressed by him, much more so than I have been in the last few months). Then they did the most awesome sound check ever – I know that sounds lame, but it was “sound check, sound check for the future President of the United States” and everyone went crazy. It was pretty surreal. Personally I have never felt so attached to a candidate in my life (enough so I made calls for him the previous Sunday – I only got one “go to hell” though!), so I was escatic to hear that. We then had to wait until 11 to hear Barack, as you probably saw on tv. We saw a pretty cool video, then the national anthem, the pledge, and a prayer, followed by more music and FINALLY Barack. We left after his speech and even then it all was amazing. I mean the crowd was so excited, but there were no problems. People were even polite during McCain’s speech. Leaving though was another great site, the streets were filled with thousands of people all of whom were dancing, shouting, and celebrating, it was just so powerful. I think one of those powerful moments though honestly came later, when walking to work the next day two African American women at my shelter cheered “Obama!” when they saw me the next morning and had the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen on their faces. Also, my city coordinator for LVC told us the story of how she felt when she was watching (she is also African American) and how she just sat and cried saying “my children can be president too”. It was pretty unbelievable, and something I definitely cannot comprehend, since the President has always looked like me. But that message was pretty awesome.

So here are three photos from that:

Alison, Nora, Katie, Jess, Ian, me, Jackson, and Denise

This was the view from where we were!

Obama (zoomed in)!

Hrm…those don’t seem to be working. If not….there’s still this link: Check out the rest at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049111&l=e6087&id=40400820. I have more, but it’s a good selection

october update

Continuing with the list style format, thoughts and reflections on another few weeks of life:

-    Fall colors, fall weather are my favorite
-    The great feeling that stems from the compliments of a coworker: that at your young age (I’m the baby of the workers at LPCS) you do a good job. Thus feeling like for real, I might be settling in and actually know what I am doing.
-    At the same time, encountering the difficulties of the job. We have a 72 hour policy of holding stuff for people who leave the shelter (with wiggle room, pending communication with us) for any reason. We recently held stuff for longer for a man who stayed with us because he no-showed one night and we were concerned that it was because of health issues. In that case, we didn’t want to throw out his stuff if he couldn’t communicate with us. But emails bounced back and numerous phone calls were made without a return call and on Friday I, with the wonderful help of Fernando, had to clear out his stuff. This means trashing most of it, except for important papers and salvageable clothing. It was awful. Not only did it take forever – over an hour and a half – but it was a difficult situation mentally. I mean, I was throwing out the possessions of a homeless man battling some pretty big health issues. For all I know, I could be throwing out most of his stuff, but he knew our policy and we just honestly absolutely have no space to hold it. But how could this be right? In my head I played the situation of one day, when he returned to the shelter and confronted me about throwing out his stuff. What do I say? “I’m sorry” hardly cuts it… His absence is hard, we have no idea what happened to him, so on the one hand we are worried and sad that he has left. But on the other hand, the vacancy in the shelter means I can tell one more person yes. As the weather gets colder, I know how much that “yes” means to people. It means safety…and a step in the direction of getting back on their feet. But when they gain, he has probably lost something (at the least all of this stuff). What’s a girl to think of that?
-    New connections. New relationships. Budding friendships. Remaining close to those who are far away. Missing those who aren’t here with me in Chicago. Looking forward to a visit to Olaf in less than one month.
-    My parents came to visit this weekend, which was wonderful! It was exciting to see them, introduce them to important people in my life in Chicago and show them work. I am always excited to show people exactly what the shelter looks like, so it was great to show them and Ian where I work.
-    Family visits and the changing seasons make me think of how this will be my first Thanksgiving away from home. It’s weird. I’ve always been there, hanging out with all of the cousins, eating way to many desserts and doing Christmas at Thanksgiving. Watching football and just relaxing. Maybe checking out the lighting of the Plaza, but just being home. This year I will be in Chicago, working the day after Thanksgiving and celebrating that day with the other LVCers still here. It should be a good time – but weird! But I look forward to bringing traditions together.

two months.

It’s been an incredibly long time since I’ve posted. My apologies – most of it was due to an internet problem (aka no internet), and partially due to being busier!

I am now officially through 2 months of LVC and almost that much in work. It’s sort of crazy, how this year will fly by. I finally feel almost settled. Although there are plenty of times that I still think, wow, I am not qualified for this, I don’t know how to be a case manager…but mostly I feel ok. It is going to be a continuous learning process, that is for sure.

While it’s been a while, I stil don’t have a ton to say. Life is becoming much more routine. But a few thoughts:

Work has been great lately, but a few frustrations are definitely beginning to surface. For example, the use of please and thank you. I think I may start reminding people, because so often I get told to do something at work by the guests. I mean, I understand I am there to work for them, but seriously, sometimes, when it’s the 17th time you’ve interrupted me, just a thanks would be nice. I mean, I really really love what I am doing, but it can be frustrating at times.

Another frustration surrounds the fear that my hard work will go for nothing. Several clients have already disappeared on me and with others it’s slow progress. Generally, I feel that what I am able to do is appreciated by the community clients, and that it is all worth it. But then there other times, where I get a bit cynical, and think, why should I do this for you? Are you going to make the effort this time? But then I am reminded of the situations people are in…and sometimes maybe people aren’t ready to make the changes. But maybe we are here to set the foundation for that?

Done with frustrations – good things:

My roommates. Um, love them. I have seriously been blessed.

Grinnell College produces great people. Thanks, Grinnell.

My parents visit in a week and a half!

Naps. Apartments. Being 23 (old!). Being out of college (but don’t worry, I still miss it a lot).

My shelter. Some of the new guests at orientation yesterday already declared this “the best shelter [they had] ever been to”. I thought that was awesome. Today I visited another shelter. It is technically an emergency overnight shelter. In that the men have to leave every day. However, they are allowed to stay for a long time (roughly 90 days) and case management, health services, showers, laundry, are provided on some level. However, they sleep 27 in a room with mats on the floor (I can’t imagine there is any walking space then). They get hopefully 1 shower a week. They have to leave during the day – what do you do on rainy days like this? I am impressed and thankful for their hard work. Any homeless services in Chicago are crucial as costs of living continue to rise. But now, I realize how nice our shelter really is. People may complain about a top bunk – but they have a bunk. They have a dresser (bigger than mine!). They have a place to stay, computers to use, daily showers, laundry once a week, incredible case management. They have a lot of things that other places just aren’t able to provide. And I am thrilled to be working for such a wonderful organization. Although, I am finding it harder and harder to accomplish things in just 40 hours a week!

Scary things:

My lack of progress as of late on my future. Grad school apps this weekend, here I come.

I am out for now, I am tired, today has been insanely busy. But there’s a little update on life.

So I haven’t been able to really post in a while, and unfortunately this post will be short and not very informative. I am currently at work and need to run back to getting a few things done before I am off at 3. However, here’s a quick update.

Things at the shelter are continuing along really well. I finally feel like I am settled in and no longer “the new girl”. I even feel like I am capable of helping people sometimes, which is of course the best feeling. I’ve had positive feedback from the guests and my boss as well, so I feel like things are going along well. I am definitely always learning and will continue to do so about the year goes along – about the services I can provide, referrals I can give, how social work really works, about myself, about my clients, and a lot more. I am also about the be the longest serving interim housing (IH) staff as our last IH person who has been here longer than me is heading back to school. So officially, with two new hires since me and one more on the way, I get to be the one who’s been here a while. Ok…still only a month. I love work though, and although I usually don’t look forward to my alarm at 5:30 each morning, I know that I love coming in here. It has definitely already been a pleasure to get to know the staff and guests here.  If you are interested in photos of the shelter at all, check out the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28177255@N03/2629692296/

Other than that life is great here. Not too much to report.

Oh, one more quick plug. If you happen to be buying something from Amazon.com anytime soon, I would love it if you could do me/the shelter a favor. If you go to our website (LPCSonline.org) on the left hand side there will be a link to Amazon.com. All you have to do is click on it and go to Amazon from there (really, nothing else), and a percentage of your purchase will be donated to the shelter! Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

P.S. We don’t have internet at home until September 30th at best. So posts will probably be a bit more infrequent due to that!

Flooding

Please keep my neighborhood in your thoughts! Just across the street from us it has been blocked off all weekend. I didn’t realize it was so bad, but literally is just blocks from us. But don’t worry – we are safe!

http://video.nbc5.com/player/?id=657241