Towards the end of January I first set foot on the grounds of a non-profit, religiously affiliated mission, and was greeted by a supportive and friendly staff.  Knowing that this organization had a religious affiliation, I was skeptical.  I had the feeling that the staff would try to force faith onto me and it’s clients.  However, the religious aspect of the organization was minimal, and it was clear that its main mission was to give the local homeless population a pathway to recovery.

I use the term “pathway” because that is really what the organization seeks to create.  This is not a day and day homeless shelter, in which anyone can use the services and sleep inside the congregation.  There is a fairly lengthy intake that each client must go through before he starts receiving the services.  In addition to a background check (primarily making sure that the client does not have a record of any sexual crimes) he must work with a case manager to create a set of goals or benchmarks.   As the case managers have told me, “We need to see something from them that shows us they want to improve.”  After hearing this, I was concerned that they might have overly harsh policies towards their clients.  These goals might include finding employment, getting proper identification to apply for social benefits, or getting in touch with family to find permanent and sustainable housing.  This organization has many success stories.  However, there is a 70 person cap, and the shelter cannot take in everyone.  What they do especially well is give advise to those who they cannot shelter.  They keep good ties with other nearby non-profit organizations that provide similar services.

Two case managers deal with all the clients.  This is my main critique of the organization as a whole.  I found them to be understaffed.  Of course, they likely do not have the funds to hire more, but I could see that the two of them often times suffered from burnout.  There are typically around 70 clients that are enrolled in the shelter’s programs.  Along with regular clients are resident volunteers, who receive full access to all the shelter’s services in exchange for volunteer work on the grounds (primarily janitorial services).  I found that the resident volunteers played an important role in the dynamics of the organization.  They were able to provide guidance for the other clients, because they have all lived on the streets before, but are sheltered and nourished.  These resident volunteers were very welcoming to me and were supportive of my internship.

Some of the regular clients were approachable, and others were not.  Some were quiet, and others could talk for hours.  Most of the clients I interacted with hated to be labeled “homeless.”  The felt that it ruined their identity to be labeled that way.  Labeling people, however, is part of normal human cognition.  We always tend to categorize people into groups, and because of that we negatively stigmatize people.  Its amazing how by simply hearing these client’s stories, the “homeless” tag that these clients had on them didn’t exist.  This first hand personalization is why I value my time spent at this organization.