Updates

I wanted to use this blog as an update of what’s been going on around St. Vincent’s. Again as always there have been a lot of changes going on at St. Vincent’s. In the last month a new computer class was launch with the help of Derrick and one of the interns at the Men’s center by the name of Mike. There is a huge need for many of our clients to have computer skills. They are at a disadvantage when applying to jobs because they lack the necessary knowledge of operating a computer. So we tried to level the playing field a little by starting a computer class. Many of the clients really enjoy it and have been coming back day after day. Mike has been able to show people how to access email, run Word and other programs, and I believe he has showed a few people how to write resumes using the computer. It’s been a big help to the clients and it’s great to see how much Mike enjoys it as well. He’s been able to use his skills to help people out.

I would also like to say that I sat in on a special works committee meeting yesterday and we talked about trying to find way to get people involved in these programs. These are great opportunities for both Vincentians and drop in volunteers to help run programs like these. Knowledge about computers, dietary and heath needs of clients, and even money management and life skills are all things that volunteers can help out with. It really is a great thing when not only can a client learn skills from a volunteer but a volunteer is able to know that they provided a lot of good help, and maybe learned a few things themselves.

Speaking of volunteers I thought I would also mention that Chris who was the volunteer coordinator at St. Vincent’s is no longer working here. After a year’s time he decided to move to another organization in San Francisco. Where I’m sure he will do well with his large inventory of creative ideas.

We also had a homeless court this month here at St. Vincent’s which went really well. There were a total of 20 cases that were seen by the judge with 10 of them coming from St. Vincent de Paul. All the clients had an opportunity to have their cases dismissed provided that they showed significant progress. I got a chance to sit in on homeless court this month and it is a nerve racking time both for the clients and myself as I watch them take the stand. I know that the majority of them have taken long hard strides to better themselves and I have tried my best to present that to the court. So in a way I feel like we are both taking the stand. But because of our combined efforts they are able to put the past behind them, and what a relief it is for them.

In the dining room and kitchen Thanksgiving was a huge undertaking for both the volunteers and students in the Kitchen of Champions program. They prepared something on the order of 70 turkeys with equal sized portions of stuffing, gravy, vegetables, and pie. When it was all said and done 800 people were given Thanksgiving dinner. Quite an accomplishment. A lot of people worked a lot of hours to have that run smoothly, also lot of people spent their holiday here at St. Vincent’s preparing the meal. So thank you to all of them.

Going along with Thanksgiving the Christmas give away is coming up. We are expecting to give gifts, clothes for kids and gift certificates to 300 families this year. We are asking for donations because every little bit helps. And to people who have already donated we thank you it makes the jobs of the people working here a lot easier when there are plenty of donations and it makes a lot of families holidays brighter.

The winter shelter has also opened up this month with 100 beds for people in West Oakland. There are 14 organizations in Oakland and Berkeley that do intakes for the winter shelter so a lot of people are served in a wide area. St. Vincent de Paul has the largest allotment of beds for Oakland. It is a good program that helps a lot of people get off the streets for the winter and actually Steve the old manager of the men’s center at St. Vincent’s is the one running the winter shelter. It’s nice that I get a chance to meet up with Steve once again, since he was a big part of my coming out here, and the clients get a chance to see him again.

This blog is a little choppy but I wanted to give everyone a quick rundown of what’s been going on here at the downtown campus for the last month. This is a place of moving and shaking and nothing ever quite stays the same, but that’s what makes it interesting here. That’s it for now. Mike

Inspiring Chaos (it's not what you think)

I’ve been at St. Vincent de Paul for three months now. Those three months have flown by for me. I think that it is the busyness of my schedule that keeps me unaware of the time throughout the day. My day is not measured in hours but measured in the number of people I meet. Very rarely do I come across a day saying “I wish this day wasn’t taking so long” in fact it usually just the opposite, I wish I had more time. Between the number of programs we offer here and the shear volume of clients we serve it keeps the days short. The only other job I’ve had that experience in was at a summer camp I used to work at with 15 college employees and 90 teenage kids. The same whirlwind atmosphere of 50 kids playing dodge ball is surprisingly similar to the in and out of hundreds of faces a day at St. Vincent’s. It’s an organized chaos. Sometimes it’s hekka confusing (see Oakland is rubbing off on me), when trying to keep track of Ms. Jones homeless court application, planning an outreach meeting, getting cookies for the kids in the visitation center, and trying to eat lunch. But there is a quote that my roommate Julia told me, (*brownie points*) that says that “confusion is a state of grace”. Never have I seen that more true then at St. Vincent’s.
One striking example of this grace that seems to be present at St. Vincent’s showed itself today. The public defender was doing intakes for homeless court here at St. Vincent’s. There were about 20 clients or so waiting to see her, and it took about 10 minutes to see each person. So the people towards the end of the list ended up waiting for about 2 hours, and for anyone who hasn’t been into the community center at St. Vincent’s there are no coffee tables with magazines on them. The only thing to keep people occupied is talking to the person next to them or people watching at the front door. So it was a long wait. As the people were finishing up seeing the public defender I had to run off and meet with another client. I asked one of my co-workers to watch the list and call off the names of the people who still hadn’t seen the public defender. To make a long story short one of my clients was missed in the fray of whirlwind activity in the community center and ended up missing out on his meeting with the public defender. I was in a panic because this guy had been waiting for so long for his meeting and missed it. I wanted to make sure he “had his day in court”. I told him he missed the meeting and all he said to me was “OK. No problem. I’ll try for next month.” I was floored and humbled.
See I pride myself on my patience. Being the oldest of 5 and having worked with kids for the last 6 summers I have developed a very patient personality. But it definitely gets tested from time to time and with the busyness that was going on today I was definitely reaching my limit. But this one act of calm collected patience, by a man who is 19 by the way, made my day go from chaotic and confused to absolutely positive that God is present here. Thank you Yosseph. If you spend enough time here you will see what I’m talking about its all around you just have to notice it. And it’s not always perfect here by any means but those times when you catch the Devine at work, are worth all those trivial matters that might be annoying you during the day. That’s it for this entry.

Mike