The 2017 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 Naiomi Gonzalez and Katy Morton. Below is one of these entries.
An Aha Moment
This week, I had what some might call an “aha” moment. I have spent years volunteering and working in the field of social work, and after a while, it sometimes seems to just become a way of life. I am guilty of getting wrapped up in simply providing services, and forgetting to stop to listen, to observe, to think. As someone working in the field of human services, it is often too easy to lose sight of these things, as we are often too busy trying to help as many people as possible. Not to say that there is anything wrong with trying to help and empower as many people as one possibly can, but sometimes we really and truly lose sight of the fact that each of these people we are helping is an individual with a life outside the doors of the social service agency.
One population that is often overlooked in this aspect seems to be the homeless population. Many refer to them as the “faceless” population or the “invisible” population. But, as Kenney reminded us this week, we are all just one unexpected incident away from being homeless. A tragic death in the family, a lengthy illness, the loss of a job, any of these things could happen to us at any time. So many of us are fortunate enough to have a safety net of family, friends, church family, but just imagine if you didn’t have those people when something unexpected strikes.
Naiomi and I spent a few days this week at the Micah Day Center, working with the homeless population that Back Bay serves, and I can safely say I had quite a few mini “aha” moments that culminated into a much larger one later in the week. This week, we worked mainly with Anne, who works to connect the homeless population in Biloxi and Gulfport to community agencies that seek to empower and work to give them a hand up. Along with Roxanne, Deborah, and Kenney, we spent time meeting with, talking to, and genuinely getting to know many of the guests who utilize the Micah Day Center.
Back Bay, and especially the Micah Day Center, is so focused around empowerment and ensuring that people are given a hand up instead of a hand out, and I can say this is a truly refreshing thing to see in the social work world. At the Micah Day Center, the individuals who utilize the services and facilities are referred to as guests rather than clients, as another form of empowerment. This may seem insignificant to some, but if you are someone who has recently lost everything and may feel ashamed that you have to seek services to survive, being called a guest rather than a client could feel hugely empowering. The word guest also points to the fact that the Micah Day Center is intended to assist and empower people for a time period – which varies person to person depending on their individual needs – but that the end goal is that they will move on to the next step. As we sat and talked with these guests, it became immediately apparent to me that most of them had been actively working to get out of homelessness almost immediately after realizing that they had lost their home. The guests I interviewed for Back Bay’s needs assessments had a wide variety of skills, education, knowledge, and talents, and each one of them told me about the ways they were individually working to get out of homelessness.
As most of you know, this week the Gulf Coast was hit pretty hard with tropical storms. Although there was thankfully minimal damage and injury, there was a fair amount of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, and it went on for countless hours. As we sat in the Micah Day Center, talking with the guests about their lives and interests, it occurred to me that all of these people would have to be outside in the elements for at least part of the storms. Many of the guests had plans to take the bus to the bad weather shelters that open in surrounding areas during storms such as this one, but a few of them told us they would not be able to go because passing a breathalyzer test was requirement to even board the bus to the shelter. Although this is an understandable safeguard put in place by the shelters in an attempt to prevent alcohol-related incidences, I couldn’t help but wonder what it must be like to sit outside through the weather we were seeing outside.
As I sat inside comfortably watching Netflix and drinking tea through the storm, I found myself thinking about the Micah Center Guests who weren’t able to find shelter, as well as those who spent the night in the shelter but had nowhere to go during the day as the storm raged on. I felt twinges of guilt as I thought of them sitting outside while I was warm and dry inside the house, but it also reminded me to continue to be thankful for all the opportunities and supports I have had in my life who have always – and continue to – offered me support and lifted me up when I have fallen down.
Although I’m a chronic worrywart and will likely continue to worry about the guests I have met at the Micah Day Center – especially during bad weather – I am also grateful that Back Bay has helped remind me to always remember to put a face to those who are otherwise seen as faceless and invisible by society. I know we are almost all guilty of seeing homeless people on the street, ignoring them, and continuing on with our walk to work or rush to daily activities, but in the future I invite you to remember that they are individuals and each one has a story, a past, a personality, and a unique skill set and knowledge.
Always remember, that no matter how small or insignificant a person may seem, everybody has a face, a name, and a unique background.
