3/04/2006

 

A Little Idle Talk of This and That*

Was going to take a day off and not post today...oh, what the heck, maybe just a little one...

First, many thanks to all those who take the time to read and comment. I know you could be spending time doing things of much greater personal import, but your words of encouragement and ideas are vastly appreciated. Special thanks to david for the resume advice, and marv for suggesting a course of action I hadn't thought of before. Special thanks also go out to my overseas correspondents (and mooncactusmonalisa, hang in there; I'm sure the American embassy will be able to help you in some fashion.)

I've discovered something that more homeless people need to know: the people that simply snarl "get a job!" at them, or looks down their nose at them are counterbalanced by thousands of people who genuinely care, and pull for them.

The doves are about half finished with the nest. When I looked out the window yesterday while getting ready for work, I saw that the disorganized clump of twigs Papa Dove supplied has been shaped into a neat semicircle. Both of the doves were gone; I guess to take their afternoon "stroll". Haven't checked on them yet this morning.

Many of my colleagues at work stll don't know yet that I'm homeless**. That's actually good; work is one the routines I mentioned in a previous post that keeps me rooted, so I don;t want to be reminded of my situation each time I go in.It's a bit of an irony; I spend an average of 15 hours a week helping sell items to enhance and decorate other people's homes, while not having a permanent one of my own. Go figure.

With the help of the in-house social worker, we're coming up with a strategy to secure stable jobs and housing. I might have to adjust my attitude and stop trying to be GIHN's fastest graduate, but ensure that once graduated, we stay graduated. The success rate is 75%; I plan to be one of them.

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*Sancho Panza's song in the stage version of Man of La Mancha. The movie's pretty good, too.

**Actually, a commenter either here or on digg.com mentioned that we actually have a home, albeit temporary, so his suggestion was to use the term "temporarily displaced" instead. I kind of like that; it fits.

Comments:
Would you consider re-locating? (To the north - it's cold, but maybe there are jobs here.)
 
there is a song you should here, its called Dr. MArtin Luther King, jr: sunday on Savannah by Nina Simone. I think it a good song, maybe it will make you feel better. The blues always done that for me.
 
Michael wrote: "I know you could be spending time doing things of much greater personal import, but your words of encouragement and ideas are vastly appreciated."

To which I reply:
Reading your posts today was of great personal import to me. I live in the state with the highest unemployment in the country, the Rust Belt capital. I live on the other side of the state, where things are supposed to be better. They are not.

I live in the "mission district", currently being refurbished and re-marketed as the "Arts & Entertainment" district. There is a dug-in-heels resistance to pushing the homeless and working poor out of this small area. I support that resistance.

This neighborhood is perceived by the rest of the city and suburbs as "scary", "dangerous" and unattractive because of the vagrant population. How wrong they are! The population here has the exact same social structure as the rest of the city. But I digress...

Your story restored some of my resolve. I am a couple years older than you and a first time college student. My Internship is at Heartside Ministry Computer Lab. I am the program developer for education and employment opportunities targeting the homeless and working poor.

Lately I have questioned my own efficacy in this role. Reading your posts reminded me that what I do to fund my college education has nothing to do with me, it has everything to do with helping those who have even less than the room and half bath I have.

Thank you for having the moral courage to reveal yourself and tell your story. G*d Bless
WBF 8)
aka Walksbyfaith
del.icio.us/wbf link-back to you.
 
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