Always just one pay away...
I came across this website last night while I was working a midnight shift.
Left me speechless (but then again, there was no one to talk to...other than myself).
My intentions are, I think, honorable. I work in a youth shelter. Fairly new to this job. A very emotional job, as well.
Always wondering...Does anything we do (shelter workers) really make a difference?
As we follow policies and procedure, government-mandated guidelines, are we doing something useful, purposeful...or are we just spinning our wheels?
Sometimes it's hard to go home - to my furnished home with food in the cupboards - and not feel like I'm "too privileged."
Because I do have a warm place to go. I do have the luxury of opening the cupboards and debating about what to cook.
At times, that can make me feel like a hypocrite.
But I console myself with the thought that I'm merely one pay away from being homeless myself.
I am 52 years old. Worked all my life, and dammit...I've worked hard. But this is the Canadian way, I think. Always one pay away from being homeless. It's like living on a hamster wheel. I dare not stop running, dare not get tired or weak, dare not take sick days...because if the wheel stops, even briefly, my daughter and I will be next in line at the food kitchen.
And then when I manage to keep the wheel spinning non-stop, and I know I'm going to get paid so I can live in my home and open my cupboards and debate about what to eat...I feel guilty all over again.
Because...really. Who am I to be privileged? Housed? Fed? Clothed?
What makes me more "entitled" than the people who walk through the doors of the shelter???
welcome to the site. working in the system can be tricky at the best of times, balancing the mandate, the rules and what you know in your heart and head to be the right thing to do for the people you are working with/for (referred to as clients in the system) is a juggling act for sure.
Good people are needed in these positions, people that recognize their privilege and don't take it for granted. having a place, and working with people who may not does not make you a hypocrite in my opinion. not everyone wants a house, but everyone should have access to safe housing and should have access to basic needs (clothing, food, etc.). Use your position to fight for that right for others.
Be the worker that sees the person, and that person's gifts (their talents, skills, those things that make them special and important) if you can see the person outside of the 'issues' or system identified 'problems' then you can build professional relationships that will be impactful. What is important to remember is that you will rarely know the impact you are having on others, and this can be true for any relationship you have in life.
Stay true to yourself, don't get wrapped up in the system and the red tape that can come with working within it. Put people first, listen with interest and an open heart, be prepared to have your 'clients' teach you how to be a better worker, be constantly open to learning, be honest, realize that you will not always be right and acknowledge when you are wrong.
You will learn how to manipulate the system to best serve those you are working with. I think you are just the type of person that should be working where you are. Best of luck to you, hope to hear more from you on the site.
I see that you are from Grand Prairie. That must be Grand Prairie, Alberta.
While i was on the street in Montreal, my best buddy, "Scoop" was also from Grand Prairie. Scoop and i worked on the Old Brewery Mission bus together, serving soup and coffee to the homeless on St.Catherine street, during the cold winter nights.
Scoop left Grand Prairie in 1987. The last time i saw him was at Xmas time 2004.
Scoop and i were buddies for 15 years. Today Mr. Himer would be 49 years old.
I appreciate you doing the work you do.
> Always wondering...Does anything we do (shelter workers) really make a difference?
Yes. I've only been to a shelter once. I was in a city I hadn't been to before, didn't know anyone to stay with right away, I could not afford to stay at a hotel, and it was getting colder every night. I needed to keep warm that night. I went to the downtown shelter. The shelter workers helped me out for the night by providing me with a warm room and a bed for the night.
> As we follow policies and procedure, government-mandated guidelines, are we doing something useful, purposeful...or are we just spinning our wheels?
Could you be more specific about the policies and procedure, government-mandated guidelines that you follow? I am surprised that in a nearby city, using the mandate and dictate of the mayor's office, the taxpayers pay low-paid security staff to "discourage" people who have nowhere to go, to leave the area, to keep moving. We have nowhere else to go. I hear in Victoria, BC, that people's basic belongings like a sleeping bag, food, and backpacks are taken away by so-called "authorities." Given the responsibility that you, and others in your position carry, I would be asking questions, perhaps a lot of questions.
> Because...really. Who am I to be privileged? Housed? Fed? Clothed?
Is it really a "privilege" to house, feed and clothe yourself? To me, these are, for the most part, basic necessities of life. You deserve basic human rights that are guaranteed in the Canadian Constitution regardless of whether one works and regardless of whether one receives an income.
> What makes me more "entitled" than the people who walk through the doors of the shelter???
Do you love what you are doing? Do you love "spending" your time doing what you do? Who am I to exchange a meager earned income for my freedom?
hell yes you do really make a diffrence in every guest's eye's when they arrive at the doorsteps of a home that will open its doors to them. Even when i write a letter like this I am still cautious of the termamology I use because i as a former shelter worker learned that the shelter provides more then just a bed when I started treating the people who accessed them as human being who deserved to be treated as equals. There should never be an us and them when it comes to dealing with the homeless. The empression that we make on the guest of our work has a huge impact on all invovled in the caring for these people. When we start this type of a relationship then we improve the chances of the individual's success in the long run.It is the first impact on how we greet the person that does make or break the chances of chances of the individual's success which validate's our success.
To determine in numbers if we have been a success is almost impossible; because there is no dollar figures attached on one's value of life; nor is there a set time frame.
To validate your fears of losing your job yes there is always the chance that you will end up homeless. This is the same fear factor in any job. We must take control of this fear and not let it run our lives because it does have an impact on our productivity and the end results can be just as detremental on not only you and your family but also the new relationship with the guest at your work site.
I don't know if fate has sent you here. I hope you continue to monitor and publish some of the homeless events in your community. Whether community is in your immediate family- neighborhood, work etc...Welcome to Homelessnation