Who would have known that finding a job in the social services field would be so hard!

I miss my clients!! I miss that place so much! Would do anything to go back. I may just volunteer there. Hmmmm!

happened to me today! I headed back to the shelter today because a few of the interns and I wanted to have a lunch date. I was sad on Friday because I never got o see my favorite client. He hadn’t shown up that day and I did not get a chance to tell him ‘see you later’. I made sure I told the director and a few interns to make sure to give him my message. He received it. =)

Let me just start off by saying that when I walked into the shelter, I automatically saw Jerry sitting there sleeping. I couldn’t help but smile. Jerry is about 79-80 years old and he walks sooooooooooooo slow! I love it! Haha. He’s just always so friendly and happy. He’s been homeless for 10 years and if I could I would bring him home. He is so sweet and I just adore him! As soon as he woke up, I ran over to him and just saw the biggest smile on his face. He told me he was hoping I would come back because he had heard my message and missed me already. He told me he wasn’t there on Friday because he went to church.

He hadn’t been there in years and told me how everyone thought he had died. He said while sitting through the service, a woman placed her hand on his shoulder and dropped $5 on his lap. She told him to have a cup of coffee on her. Later that same day he was given a shoutout by the congregation because they were so happy that he was alive. That Sunday when he went back to church for Easter, he was given a $25 American Express Card. He was so excited. It was so cute! 

Seeing him just breaks my heart. I never got the courage to ask him why he became homeless. After all it’s been 10 years. Jerry always went out of his way just to say hello to me. I will definitely miss him. Just the fact that I made his day by going back to see him really warmed my heart. He definitely made my day. 

3 days and I already miss everyone like CRAZY! I am so excited because the Tuesday group of interns are all going out for lunch tomorrow. After, I’m heading up to my new dream school with another intern so she can register for classes. I’m so excited to see everyone again! I definitely am going to pass by throughout the summer. I have a love like no other for those people. I started this internship not believing that I would grow to have an attachment to my clients. How could you not? They are the greatest people in the world. 

were the words I said to everyone. It felt like those long walks out the door as I walked out of the shelter for the last time. I know I’m being dramatic but that place really earned a special place in my heart. The experience opened my eyes to reality. Homelessness is not a choice…for the most part. Everyone who is homeless is not a bum, or lazy, or useless. They are just going through a rough patch in their life. Unmotivated? Maybe. At times. But hey, what would you do in this type of situation? I came across people who are working hard to get back on their feet. Who only need some more time. I’ve worked with people who are eager to have a place to call their own. It’s little things like that, that we take for granted. 

I’m not sugarcoating homelessness. They are the bum, lazy, unmotivated types. The ones who want to cheat the system. The ones that want the easy way out. The ones who don’t care if they were to die tonight or sleep on the street. There are people out there who just want everything handed to them on a silver platter.

What did I learn from this experience? That hard work does pay off. That motivation is key. Leave the judging for a judge. I have hopes for all my clients. They’ll make it. Our shelter has done everything we can to provide them with a step into the right direction. 

My supervisor said ” I’m in denial”. She has never experienced such a motivated, hard working group of interns. I loved every minute of this experience and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. 

It’s one thing to love something and other to be passionate about it. 

Tomorrow is my last day at the shelter. I am so sad. Had to start saying my goodbyes today. Hands down the greatest experience of my life! I have never met such a dynamic, diverse, amazing, kind, loving, grateful group of people ever in my whole 20 years of existence! I’m definitely going to miss it and can’t wait to go back on Tuesday to have lunch with some of the other interns. 

Last week interning at the shelter. 

I have mixed feelings about this. I can finally enjoy a day off, but I’m sure I will miss all the people I met like crazy. I’ll miss the staff but most importantly I’ll miss my clients. The people who I fought for. I really enjoyed this experience and so sad that this is the end. I’m not going to dwell these last 3 days but enjoy what I have left.

This time next week, I’ll wake up to Dawn nagging about things no one can understand, Donald crying, and Jackie bugging for supplies that were just given to her the day before. No more dreadful intakes on lazy Tuesdays or dreading about writing our case notes. No more stressing about lack of time. No more Francisco giving us dirty looks because he didn’t like what we told him. No more George. Most importantly no more Fred. Fred, man oh man Fred was a character! He’s always so funny. OH! No more Mr. Pharrel. Omg. My favorite client ever. The cutest old man ever! I love him! <3 

Oh CCCDC you were great. 

I was so overwhelmed with work and school that I didn’t really get a chance to tell the 3 of you who actually read this, all the things that happened. 

First, I have very exciting news. For those of you who keep up, you may remember one of my clients named George. If not, he was the man that came to the shelter for an intake and scared me when he became very suicidal. That same day we was admitted to a local hospital where he remained there for 3 weeks. Well, the other day I walk into the shelter and who do I see? GEORGE! I was so happy! I quickly went up to him and sadly he couldn’t remember who I was. I then quickly explained that I was the girl who did his intake. He followed with two apologies. One for not remembering me and the other for causing  me so much trouble. I reassured him it was okay that he didn’t remember me and that he caused me no trouble at all. I laughed and said I was scared that he hated me after everything that occurred. He told me “no, I feel so much better and met great people along the line.” I was happier than anyone could imagine. I felt for that guy. 

Next came Aaron. 20 year old kid with an incredible story. Aaron suffers from bipolar disorder. After his parents got a divorce, he began to rebel. He couldn’t deal with how everything hit him at once. After causing so much trouble, Aaron was sent off to home for trouble teens. There, he got kicked out for a conflict that escalated between him and his caseworker. After that, Aaron lived with a woman who was practically like his mother. Due to financial circumstances Aaron could no longer stay with her. It broke my heart to watch her say goodbye to Aaron. I continued to work with him and knew there was so much that he was afraid to tell me. He told me even though he’s 20 years old, he’s still in high school and his main goals are to graduate and attend a trade school or out of state university. I told him that I too am 20 and if he needed help or wanted to talk to someone his own age that he shouldn’t be hesitant to ask. I could see it in his face that he was scared, and alone. I hope he doesn’t get involved with the wrong crowd at the shelter. He was warned that because of his past history he only has ONE chance to get his life together. 

hours left at the shelter. 180 hours flew by!…well sort of. Kind of a bittersweet feeling. I’m glad to finally be able to enjoy my afternoons off but then I’m sad because it was such an amazing experience! I’m definitely going to miss most of the staff, interns and of course my clients. It’s going to be weird waking up and not taking the drive down to the shelter.