Sustainability?

Hi everyone!

My name is Sandra Holt, and I am a part-time member serving with Every Woman’s Place/Webster House Youth Services in Muskegon. I want to start out by saying that this year has been a real eye-opener! I decided to apply for this position after interning with this agency last summer. It has been a great way for me to develop in skills in other areas (previous experience was working with delinquent youth and adult victims of domestic violence/sexual assault) and help address this social injustice. I am very proud of the accomplishments I’ve made this year, and more importantly, the people that I’ve helped. It has solidified my notion that I want a career in the social work field, and I’ll be attending a social work graduate program in the fall.

At this agency, Tenant Based Rental Assistance helps assist homeless families and youth with long-term rental assistance. By providing funding for apartments, we hope to set up clients for successful, sustainable housing after the program phases out. While in theory, this program makes a lot of sense (and with some clients it definitely plays out well), I’ve noticed a lot of our clients haven’t been able to sustain housing once rental assistance was over. This is disheartening because we work hard to try and motivate them for their own benefit, but sometimes clients can’t find jobs or just aren’t interested in making the extra effort. This isn’t always the case… We have clients who flourish and really make strides during their time in programming. We  provide casework services and attempt to link them with other services in the community, but I guess I am wondering if any of you have had similar experiences with clients, essentially, falling apart and becoming homeless again? We try to teach them life skills and set them up for success by being a support system and resource guide, but it doesn’t always work out. Anyone have any thoughts or insight on this?

-Sandra Holt

Walking Wikipedia

Hi everyone! My name is Corey Saylor. I am serving my AmeriCorps service with the Macomb County Rotating Emergency Shelter Team (MCREST). Like most of you, I can't believe that our service is almost over for the year. I am happy that AmeriCorps survived the budget cuts and will proudly be serving another year starting in October. I hope that many of you will as well!

As I look back at the time I have served with AmeriCorps and MCREST I get overwhelmed by how much I have learned in such a short time. I feel like I am a walking Wikipedia for the agencies and their roles in Macomb County.

Serving the homeless cause has proven to be such a rewarding task. I have met so many beautiful people in the last nine months. I have been truly blessed. The perseverance of not only the clients but of the case managers that do everything they can for them is something I truly admire and strive for.

AmeriCorps has opened up so many doors for me. It has given me the opportunity to give my future career a test run. I am glad to say that my choice to become a social worker is a permanent one! AmeriCorps has also allowed me to network with those in Macomb County and at times those in Wayne and St. Clair County. Let us not forget that serving as an AmeriCorps member looks pretty wicked on a resume! I believe this will be very beneficial when I seek employment in the social work field.

Although I am very proud of my service and I look forward to next year, I fear that history will repeat itself. We were all on edge for a few months when the government was making budget cuts. We all know our service has a positive impact on the communities we live in. I am glad the government made the right decision to keep AmeriCorps going; for how long is the question. Also, I fear the snail like pace grants are accepted and approved at. MCREST has not had sufficient housing assistant funds since January 1st. How are we to end homelessness or prevent future homelessness without the tools necessary to do so?

During my service this year I have learned a few valuable lessons; do not back down, voice your opinion, and there is always, always a loop hole in the system. The most important lesson I have learned is education is the key. Every volunteer I have encountered at MCREST has a light bulb go off during their service and they get it. They understand that the people MCREST help truly have no one and no place to go. The clients I have encountered are unaware of all the resources available to them. Many believe DHS is the first and last stop. When I signed up for AmeriCorps I did not expect to become a teacher of the homeless epidemic, but I am glad I am able to do so. I encourage all of you to educate those you encounter about the agency you serve at, AmeriCorps and homelessness in general.

I wish you all a great summer and look forward to serving with you in the future.

Eye Opening Experience

Hi! My name is Chennelle Dismond and I am an Americorps Member serving at Metro Community Development in Flint, MI. I have been afforded the opportunity to serve in such an awesome organization addressing the housing needs of the community in a dynamic manner, surrounded by individuals who truly care about each and every client that walks through the door. The programs housed in this agency signify that “Partnering to Build Strong, Vibrant Communities” is not just the opening phrase in Metro’s Vision & Mission statement, but it is a sentiment that is woven into the very fabric of the agency and as a whole.
Before coming to serve at Metro as an Americorps Member, I had my own ideas about what homelessness looked like and what some of the causes could possibly be, however I never could have imagined many of the cases and/or causes that I have encountered over the past 7 months. Moms and their children living in cars, parks, or even abandoned buildings getting up going to school and work each day, not knowing where they would end up that night or how about the senior citizen taking care of a handicapped elderly sibling forced to decide on medication or paying the heat bill in the middle of a Michigan winter? Many of the faces of homelessness looked like me, to my amazement. To see an individual all made up, dressed in office attire, and revving to go; all the while sadness and wonderment locked behind their eyes and a cloak of pride to hide it all as the face of homelessness, left me in complete awe. I could have never imagined the many stories and faces of homelessness in our community and those abroad, that simply don't fit the bill of what homelessness used to be or what many still seem to think.
The upside to this is that there are agencies partnering and initiatives put in place to eradicate this seemingly growing epidemic. I am so very fortunate to have the opportunity to serve my fellow man and community in the capacity which I have. The services offered to every client that comes through our doors are not just tangible windows of opportunity, but also access to mental tools for success, by way of information. The consistent encouragement to attend every and any training and outreach that is pertinent to the success of the population we are working with is one of the many focuses of the agency where I am serving. Sometimes just the passing on of a little information can knock down barriers of most any size and/or origin. I have always been taught that "Knowledge is Power" and I know for a matter of fact that it truly is. Assisting clients in need of emergency services and linking them with the available community resources has been one of the most rewarding elements in my service. To see the sheer relief in a mother's face that her pending eviction has been thwarted and her babies' home is safe, or to receive a bear hug from an entire family because now they get to have heat in their home, or even to meet an expectant mom who's been couch surfing for over a year and be able to tell her that we can help get you into a home and also help you to stay there are just a the tip of the iceberg of rewarding experiences I can now claim in my life. These individuals and their circumstances, amongst many others I've met along the way, have not only "Opened My Eyes" in a new way to the world around me, but have begun to reshape my views on service, community, outreach and resources. I believe that because of my service as an Americorps Member serving in such an agency as Metro Community Development I am not only becoming a much better more informed person, but a far more effective and productive one in my community as well and for those reasons and this opportunity I am and shall always be grateful to Americorps and Metro Community Development.