The 2016 Shari Prestemon Social Justice Interns have graciously agreed to share their experiences with all of us. From time to time, we’ll be posting ‘journal entries’ from Sharell Shippen and Sheryl Garcia. Below is one of these entries.
“Every day we have the opportunity to be someone to somebody.”
-Kenny Washington
During my second week at Back Bay I fielded a call from a woman who was asking for help with rental assistance. She, like many people, had fallen on hard times and was facing an uncertain future and feeling powerless and at the mercy of others. Upon hearing that we did not offer the type of service she need she became slightly agitated and asked “well, what do you do?”
For a moment I didn’t have an answer for her and she took my silence as an opportunity to express to me her frustrations about all of the “hoops” she had to go through in order to get help. When she was finished I apologized for her frustrations and stated that no organization or system was perfect but reassured her that Back Bay was doing all it could in order to serve the community.
This time in a much calmer voice she vented to me that she was tired and scared because she felt she had exhausted all possibilities. As I listened to this mother of three, it dawned on me that no matter how many people are helped by the Mission and organizations like it, there would always be others: people who didn’t call in soon enough or didn’t have the right documentation, those who fell outside of the income requirements. With so many people in need, it would be easy to get bogged down and focus on those you couldn’t help.
Yet somehow the staff here at Back Bay manages to show up every day with smiles on their faces, ready to help in any way they can. They are not deterred by the fact that they can’t help everybody but they rejoice in knowing that they have made life better for somebody. The work they do makes a difference and leads to lives well lived. Each person that makes contact with Back Bay Mission can walk away changed because of the way this team treats them, with dignity, understanding and respect.
