Blueprint to End Homelessness...?

So, my field placement is a part of a community where we have a "blueprint to end homelessness". You have no idea how difficult it is to actually implement. People become homeless everyday. As we talk about eliminating the word "shelter" from our vocabulary, I wonder what individuals and families are going to do when they need a place to stay and we have shelter for them. Yes, we want to help people establish more sustainable living situations, but it is not an easy fix. What can be done to empower people and decrease homelessness without taking away the services? I believe that part of this coalition to end homelessness is the desire to stop the cycle of poverty that we see in our communities. We want to truly help, not rescue people in their crises. "Rescuing" helps short-term, but does not take into consideration what other factors are ultimately impacting the situation. Long-term sustainability is key. While offering a financial amount to prevent eviction is needed, it may not always keep the consumer from falling back into that same dilemma again.

Where is the Love?

As social workers we talk a great deal about helping people. However, we all can also say that each of us has encountered at least one angry consumer when we told them we could not help them with their specific need. While it is important to abide by your agency's stipulations, I believe it can be easy to push people away when their situation does not match up properly with what you offer. Where is the love in that? Sometimes we feel burnt out with all of the people with crises flying at us. Deep down we want to help, but taking that extra step to advocate for a need that we don't advertize can be challenging. I ask myself at times like these if I am looking at that person as another intake form or a real, struggling individual. Is my empathy forced or transparent? Looking at social services in general, are we truly putting ourselves out there to serve people? Or are pushing our own agenda? Is it structured to be accessible to those in need? Where is the love?

Chronic Homelessness

This week I met with a consumer who has been homeless for many years. He comes to our agency continually seeking assistance for moving in to a home, bus tokens, etc. It was difficult for me working with this man as I wasn't sure if he was telling me the truth about his situation, or even if he was completely "with it" cognitively. He talked about how his money and ID kept getting stolen, and he could not provide any sort of documentation about income even though he talked about it. He gets angry very quickly, even if you are simply reflecting feelings with him and trying to summarize what he is asking. I learned very rapidly that I needed to directly address what he was asking for and not focus so much on empathizing like we typically do.

Once I closed the counseling session with this individual, I took a step back and realized that I had never really believed that anyone could be chronically homeless. It's not a pretty idea! I would rather prefer to think that the services in place help to eliminate that kind of lifestyle. Unfortunately, it is a painful reality. Many people are unable to secure a sustainable living environment due to mental, physical, or financial reasons. What can be done to help these people?

What's Going On?

It breaks my heart that an 18 year old would be pregnant and looking for shelter. I talked to a girl in this situation on the phone today who sounded so unsure of what she needed to do. I can just imagine the thoughts going through her head. "How did this happen? What am I going to do? What's going on?" No matter what age you are, having a housing crisis is stressful and overwhelming. Just the same, I have an extra burden for those 21 and younger as life is just beginning for them. They're still learning how to live and what they value. It doesn't seem fair.

But, is life really fair? Is it supposed to be?

What's the End Goal?

Today I had a discussion with my supervisor about ethics and social justice. We have heard talk about how we should "work ourselves out of a job" as social workers, and wonder if we really take that seriously as professionals. For instance, homelessness is a huge issue that is yet to be resolved. Are we truly trying to help consumers get out of that situation, or are we using a blanket solution approach?
Looking at the various funding and qualifying stipulations agencies I have to work with, it seems that a great deal of power for these human service needs is in the hands of legislators. An issue with this is that there are varying opinions and definitions of what social justice is. Different political parties will have opposing views of what policy should look like as well. In advocating for our issues, are we being effective? Are we listening to what others are saying? REALLY listening?
It is also interesting to consider how consumers' personal motivation, sense of responsibility, etc. plays a part in how effective our service to them is. Even if the perfect solution to homelessness (or whatever else the issue may be) is found and implemented, the end result is largely dependent on their attitude and actions.

I need empathy too!

I love working with people. I really do. But sometimes it's just too much. As the saying goes; when it rains, it pours. This weekend I found that I was up to my ears in listening to the problems of those around me and didn't know where to turn to get some empathy for my own stresses. Where's the social worker for the social workers?
My internship is great at doing empathy with consumers. They also stress the importance of us processing with one another so that we don't hold on to frustrating/straining situations. The hard thing is what to do when we need to process personal life stresses. Especially when you seem to be the one that your friends turn to when they need a listening ear! Hopefully it's a two-way street with at least one of those friends... and how much of your personal life is professionally appropriate to share with co-workers/supervisors?

Youth and Values

Lately I have been impacted by encounters I've had working with women facing homelessness/eviction. It breaks my heart to see girls 18-21 with at least one child and not enough support to live successfully. I am so glad to see that those women know that they can seek assistance for housing from my agency, but sometimes it is very hard for me to relate to them and their situations. There are times I wonder what their family situations were as they were growing up that influenced the decisions they made. What do they value? What did their family value?
It really hit me hard this week when I was working with a girl whose situation doesn't fit our funding requirements. I had to tell her that we couldn't help her and tried to brainstorm other options with her. I think I made her cry. Why is it like this?