St. Francis House Week IV

Project reflection, how do I even begin? Well, to begin, this is the end of my fourth week and it has flown by incredibly fast. I feel like a completely different resource for the homeless than I was four weeks ago, because now I can actually help people with services! It sounds really silly, but it was so embarrassing to sit in front of clients and not know anything. Not only have I grown up as a person, but I now see them differently too. I can spot the chronically homeless and know just a little bit better between who wants to improve their lives and who doesn't.

As far as the St. Francis, well, it's changed too. The residents here are almost completely different from who were here when I first arrived, and we've even lost a staff member, but gained a bright new case manager. Even Ms. Renee has warmed up to me, which is a feat in and of itself. I am now greeted by clients sitting outside who look forward to being helped with their cases, and even though waking up at six am isn't easy, it's always worth it when I hear "Good morning Miss Amber!" as I walk up our path. And on food box days, when I load an entire building cart full of cans and bread and meats and fruit and whatever else we have, the look on my clients' faces at the amount of food they're receiving is just breathtaking. I can't imagine having to swallow the pride and accept that, for one reason or another, your children don't have enough food to eat, or that you and your wife might need to leave the house that's been in your family lineage for decades. Our clients are more brave and courageous than anyone I've ever met; could you imagine having to beg?

So, I always seem to go off on a tangent, but essentially this project has broken barriers I had in my mind in the way I look at people, and I'm not just talking about the homeless. I'm talking about drug addicts, women who have been raped or beaten, men who leave their wives, and even people who willingly drop everything to become homeless. Not that I necessarily judged these people, but we all have a certain way we're taught to see the world, and in working at the St. Francis House my ways of looking at almost everyone have been completely shattered. In short, I feel that I have transcended the majority of our population; like I now, more than ever before, eat, sleep and breathe social service.