My name is Michael Shank. For the last year and three months, I have been an AmeriCorps member with Michigan’s Campaign to End Homelessness AmeriCorps’ Program. During this time, I have served as a Homeless Prevention Assistant with the Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency. Here are my reflections…
(1) There is an overwhelming amount of need presenting to agencies and organizations with limited resources. Everyday, my voicemail fills up. I answer a call, only to hang-up and find that I have received three new calls. Always the calls are from people facing eviction and homelessness. Daily, I attempt to give I&R and to develop Crisis Plans for people facings dire situations. Daily, I process files and transfer them to already overloaded case managers, who are working with limited program openings and limited funds. There are never enough hours in the day, and always someone’s need goes unmet. The voicemail indicator light on my voicemail is flashing when I leave the office at night and when I return in the morning.
It is not only the agency I serve with that is experiencing such overwhelming amounts of need, but also many of the agencies that we are partnered with. What then can we do when the system is seemingly so overwhelmed? We need to coordinate better with the faith community. We need volunteers, though we do not have the space for them. We need better community awareness of the state of poverty and homelessness in our own community. We need more community members/organizations to step up and take responsibility for the needs of our own community and our own neighbors.
(2) While clients coming to my agency often present as homeless, at risk for homelessness, or facing eviction, generally these presenting needs are associated with more foundational needs such as lack of employment, lack of transportation, lack of affordable housing, and more often than not, the lack of community. While we have financial and case management services for homelessness and eviction needs, we are not able to provide employment, transportation, or community. Yet these needs are fundamental and interconnected. Without employment, there is usually no income to purchase or sustain transportation. Without transportation it is difficult to find and sustain employment. Similarly, without transportation it is difficult to find and sustain community, and without community, it is difficult to have a support network and safety net in order to pursue and sustain either transportation or employment. Without affordable housing, a person is in a continued state of crisis, whether acute, or chronic, when transportation, employment, and community will be in a continued state of jeopardy.
What are possible solutions? Possible solutions for the lack of transportation might be vehicle donations, public transportation, car pool initiatives, and more financial services for transportation needs. Possible solutions for lack of community might be the development of a community center(s), or better awareness of community centers already present, such as the Friendship Center for seniors and the Petoskey Club for special needs. Possible solutions for the lack of income and employment might be the development of a farmer’s markets, craft markets, small business entrepreneurship classes, living on less classes, and etc. What of the possible solutions for affordable housing? Do we need more income based housing, more housing vouchers, and etc? Yes, but how will we pay for these? Who will pay for them? Can the faith community, individuals, and organizations purchase housing to be used as low-income housing? Can people start opening up their spare bedrooms, basements, garage apartments, as low-income options? What of utilizing larger homes as shared homes or boarding houses? Have we explored all these options?
What is so overwhelming is knowing that there are possible solutions to fighting homelessness and poverty, and then looking at the stack of files on my desk, the number of calls that need returned, or the length of my to do list, and I ask in desperation, “Where is the time to make a difference?”
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Homelessness in Detroit- My experience so far...
My time spent at Neighborhood Service Organization (NSO) in Detroit, has been interesting to say the least. I never know exactly what to except when I come in for a day at the office, and I think I like it that way.
I am a member of the AmeriCorps program Michigan Campaign to End Homelessness, and was placed in Detroit, the city that is without a doubt ground zero for the quest to end homelessness in the United States. While Detroit is in the process of revitalizing, it is also consumed by more problems than I can comprehend. Sometimes, hope is hard to find. When I have a bad day, it’s difficult to shake my mood. Driving through the streets of Detroit on your way home does very little to lift your spirits.
I was told when I started at my placement that there are 1,500 shelter beds for about 20,000 homeless in Detroit. That statistic still haunts me. At home, when I go outside to get the mail, or bring out of the trash, I can’t help but think of the tens of thousands of individuals that are enduring the bitter cold of a Michigan winter. I quickly go back into the warmth of my house. But many cannot.
I keep my sanity in this city and this placement, by interacting with people. My clients, my co-workers, my co-worker’s clients, my friends, the landlords that I keep in touch with- these people are what keep me sane.
I have learned over and over again while being here, that I am not here to save people. I am here to listen, to learn, and to give help. But the help that I give can only go so far. I give clients informed options about how to live their lives- I provide suggestions- I help them apply for health insurance- I listen to what stresses them- I help find places for them to live- but I do not save them. Ultimately, it is on them. It is their life to live, not mine.
I am learning how simultaneously frustrating, and rewarding, the field of social work can be. I’m learning that when I want something done, I need to stand up for myself and ask the question- go directly to the source, not hope someone will provide it for me. I’m learning to be more autonomous. Which I hope is a good thing.
I think for any human service field you work in, you are greeted by the same universal truth. People are people. Yes, the people that I work with are different than I am. Most have severe mental illnesses and disabilities. In some ways, there is an "us" and "them" mentality. But, they are people. And so they are also the same as me.
They don’t want to live on the streets anymore. They’re tired of being tired. They want a place to sleep and an apartment on their own. Most of them want to kick their habits. They don’t want to get hustled or mistreated by friends. They don’t want to hurt anymore. People, are people.
I often struggle with the difference that I am making here. I moved to Detroit with an incredibly idealistic mindset. I was here to change the world. Now I realize that changing the world takes time. And that it's less about the big things, and more about the smalll.
There are certain skills that I can offer that can help certain clients out, if only a little bit, or for a short amount of time. I can fill out health insurance benefit waivers for people who might have otherwise gone without. I can collect and sort donations from churches and soup kitchens. I can lead support groups that help clients transition from homelessness to housed live. I can get paperwork together so that clients can apply for furniture vouchers. I can call landlords and check out properties and expand the housing base that our organization has. I can capacity build, and create a binder of housing options, so that people can get into safe, decent housing more efficiently.
I find myself filling in the gaps of the organization that I work at. Sometimes that means grunt work. Recently I attended a Continuum of Care meeting and asked the program director where I could be of use. I spent the next five days making maps, so that thousands of volunteers could more effectively count the number of homeless individuals within Detroit city limits. This was not the most fun thing to do. But it was necessary. If I hadn’t done it, there would not have been decent maps for the volunteers to use when they went out to count. And without an accurate head count, our funding would not be reinstated. It’s the little things that count.
That is what I have learned about the social work field since being at my position. A lot of peole fall through the cracks, if there aren’t other people in place to catch them. Everything that you do is important to at least one person, which makes it important. Like I said, people are people.
I am a member of the AmeriCorps program Michigan Campaign to End Homelessness, and was placed in Detroit, the city that is without a doubt ground zero for the quest to end homelessness in the United States. While Detroit is in the process of revitalizing, it is also consumed by more problems than I can comprehend. Sometimes, hope is hard to find. When I have a bad day, it’s difficult to shake my mood. Driving through the streets of Detroit on your way home does very little to lift your spirits.
I was told when I started at my placement that there are 1,500 shelter beds for about 20,000 homeless in Detroit. That statistic still haunts me. At home, when I go outside to get the mail, or bring out of the trash, I can’t help but think of the tens of thousands of individuals that are enduring the bitter cold of a Michigan winter. I quickly go back into the warmth of my house. But many cannot.
I keep my sanity in this city and this placement, by interacting with people. My clients, my co-workers, my co-worker’s clients, my friends, the landlords that I keep in touch with- these people are what keep me sane.
I have learned over and over again while being here, that I am not here to save people. I am here to listen, to learn, and to give help. But the help that I give can only go so far. I give clients informed options about how to live their lives- I provide suggestions- I help them apply for health insurance- I listen to what stresses them- I help find places for them to live- but I do not save them. Ultimately, it is on them. It is their life to live, not mine.
I am learning how simultaneously frustrating, and rewarding, the field of social work can be. I’m learning that when I want something done, I need to stand up for myself and ask the question- go directly to the source, not hope someone will provide it for me. I’m learning to be more autonomous. Which I hope is a good thing.
I think for any human service field you work in, you are greeted by the same universal truth. People are people. Yes, the people that I work with are different than I am. Most have severe mental illnesses and disabilities. In some ways, there is an "us" and "them" mentality. But, they are people. And so they are also the same as me.
They don’t want to live on the streets anymore. They’re tired of being tired. They want a place to sleep and an apartment on their own. Most of them want to kick their habits. They don’t want to get hustled or mistreated by friends. They don’t want to hurt anymore. People, are people.
I often struggle with the difference that I am making here. I moved to Detroit with an incredibly idealistic mindset. I was here to change the world. Now I realize that changing the world takes time. And that it's less about the big things, and more about the smalll.
There are certain skills that I can offer that can help certain clients out, if only a little bit, or for a short amount of time. I can fill out health insurance benefit waivers for people who might have otherwise gone without. I can collect and sort donations from churches and soup kitchens. I can lead support groups that help clients transition from homelessness to housed live. I can get paperwork together so that clients can apply for furniture vouchers. I can call landlords and check out properties and expand the housing base that our organization has. I can capacity build, and create a binder of housing options, so that people can get into safe, decent housing more efficiently.
I find myself filling in the gaps of the organization that I work at. Sometimes that means grunt work. Recently I attended a Continuum of Care meeting and asked the program director where I could be of use. I spent the next five days making maps, so that thousands of volunteers could more effectively count the number of homeless individuals within Detroit city limits. This was not the most fun thing to do. But it was necessary. If I hadn’t done it, there would not have been decent maps for the volunteers to use when they went out to count. And without an accurate head count, our funding would not be reinstated. It’s the little things that count.
That is what I have learned about the social work field since being at my position. A lot of peole fall through the cracks, if there aren’t other people in place to catch them. Everything that you do is important to at least one person, which makes it important. Like I said, people are people.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Hope for the Holidays
My name is Erin Frey, and I am a first year AmeriCorps member at South Oakland Shelter in
The goal of Hope for the Holidays is to provide new unopened gifts to approximately 500 needy children (ages 2 – 17) in the area during the holidays. This event is open to current and former shelter guests and the general public.
For the event we received an abundance of donations that were distributed to all of the families that participated in the event. South Oakland Shelter recruits volunteers to sort donations according to toy type and age, and work during the “shopping” week. Shopping week was held from Monday December 13th – Friday December 17th. We scheduled each family a day and time where they could come and shop for each of their children. After they selected their children’s gifts, we offered to wrap the presents for them.
I helped to bring donations over to the venue where the shopping week was held, and helped numerous families during the shopping week. It was extremely rewarding to be apart of the event. Everyone was so grateful and appreciative. Some parents cried because they had no other means to provide presents for their children. It was a wonderful and successful event that helped many families during a difficult time.
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