Connecting With The Homeless by Matt Pauluzzi

Waking up the morning of April 24, a Friday, was somewhat a difficult process. The clock read 7:00 A.M. and I was so tired to the point that I did not want to open my eyes. When I finally realized a few seconds after turning off the alarm the reason I set my alarm so early for a Friday, a shot of anxiety shot up my body. Project Homeless Connect took place this morning and this event consisted of volunteer work I had never done before. I’d participated in many different volunteering for the homeless programs in the past, as I had attended Catholic school since I was a boy, but had never done something this direct before. At Project Homeless Connect, I was paired up with a homeless individual and spent the day with him. I knew from the moment I woke up that I had a responsibility to ensure my client had the chance to at least try and receive every service he wanted to receive that day. I don’t know about how another person would feel about that in my shoes, but to me that creates a good amount of anxiety in my system.

Nonetheless, I popped out of bed, got ready for the day, and made my way over to the Ritchie Center on the DU campus. Upon walking into the Ritchie Center, I noticed the early crowds of homeless clients and yellow shirted volunteers already had crowded the hallways. Remembering what I was told on checking-in at the north side of the Ritchie Center, I made my way, walking briskly, to the north doors. My body seemed to bend over with the large sigh I emitted after seeing the extremely long line going all the way from the bottom of the north stairs into the building about 50 feet. I signed in downstairs and took my place in line nonetheless, but was greeted by a few friendly faces, which made the first few minutes go by pretty quickly. The reason I only mention the first few minutes is, once I reached the north doors, someone called out asking for a yellow shirt to take a client who had no volunteer. He looked directly at me and my initial thoughts were, “well, it sure beats waiting in this line!” I accepted his offer and am extremely happy to this day I did, as I met a good guy because of it.

We’ll call my client Greg, as I would like to keep his identity private. Greg was an African-American Army veteran of 68 years old, probably around 6’3”. We made our way through the sea of yellow shirts (there were a lot of homeless clients around as well, but when you’re looking at a crowd as a whole, it sure seemed like the Yellow Sea) and during that I got to know a little bit about Greg for the first time. He talked little and sometimes his voice was a bit difficult to understand, but he always had something to smile about. I learned right at this discussion how much I was going to enjoy hanging out with Greg that day. He knew what he wanted, he got to the point, and he was willing to work hard for it. Greg had been living with friends for the past few years and hadn’t been able to get a place of his own. He worked a part-time job delivering for a company, a company he mentioned later was T-Mobile, the popular phone company. He enjoyed working a paying job, but needed to get a better one, one that allowed him more work hours and one that hopefully paid a little more than his current job at the time.

This related back to a fact I had known previously before volunteering at Project Homeless Connect, the sad fact that a large percent of homeless are hard-working and work a paying job, but still cannot afford housing just for themselves, alone. The fact is 44% of homeless people work at least part-time (SAMHSA). I felt happy and relieved that luckily Greg at least had a good group of friends who had been lending their house to him to stay in for the past few years. Nonetheless, it made me wonder how Greg could take advantage of the housing he had been given. If Greg could have obtained a full-time paying job and saved the majority of that money, he could have made a great future for himself. Georgia Wettlaufer’s client's situation was similar to Greg's in that he “[was] able to save money as well because he [was] staying with a friend and just paying for food” (Wettlaufer). Her client already had the job Greg was looking for; a job that paid $10 an hour and thus she had similar feelings that “if he were to save up some money then he could definitely build a life for himself” (Wettlaufer). This situation Greg found himself in confirmed a lot about what I had read in Barbara Ehrenreich’s study of low-wage jobs in the truth of how difficult succeeding in America (self-sufficiency) really can be off of low-wage jobs. Nonetheless, in past volunteering experiences I had found a lot of the homeless I worked with to be unwilling to work hard and unwilling to do something different in their lives to change their situation. I was glad to find and bond with an individual who was willing to work hard and make a difference in his life that changed my views on the homeless population.

Unfortunately, Greg and I did not hear what we wanted to hear at the job fair. After introducing ourselves to each other at the north side of the Ritchie Center, we moved down to the lower, south side of the Ritchie Center to grab the services Greg named most important to himself: a better job, housing, and clothing. Greg was excited to try to get a new job to improve his income so I decided it would be best to check out the job fair first. We pushed our way through the crowds as we made our way over to the job fair line. As we waited in line for the next five minutes, I noticed my writing professor, Geoffrey Bateman, who introduced me to Project Homeless Connect and told Greg a little bit about who he was and why I initially came here today. However, when I looked up at Greg, I noticed he wasn’t paying much attention, but rather seemed quite eager to find out what the job fair had to offer him; this made me smile. To our disappointment, and my frustration, however, we found Greg had to register beforehand to get into this job fair. I felt that made the entire service quite private and not useful; it actually irritated me a bit. Here I stood excited to hopefully give Greg something he needed and something that would help him better his attempt in doing something with his life and he apparently was not informed of this pre-registration. Apparently we were not the only ones who felt not good enough and shocked by the job fair, as Suzanne Allbright’s client’s “friend mentioned that the job fair was not useful at all. They required a recommendation or referral in order for them to assist anyone, and this man had everything besides a referral” (Allbright).

This actually drew back on my experiences with research for my literature review on the effects of transitional shelters on the homeless. At a point in the review, I mentioned research on barriers against re-entry to self-sufficiency. As Matthew Marr states in his research, barriers such as homeless discrimination, lack of employment options, low wages, or lack of public benefits change the outcomes of transitional housing’s impact on the homeless and their future lives (Marr). Barriers seem to be a good explanation for what had happened at the job fair station, of just how difficult and frankly stupid some barriers can be to pass; in this case, Greg just had difficulty obtaining a full-time job. However, things brightened up when I brought up Greg could most likely grab some goodies at the clothing station and the veterans station. Sure enough, Greg obtained a shirt to his liking and potential affordable housing provided by the veterans station as he was an Army veteran. I received a gesture of approval from Greg and it made me feel a little bit better about what had happened at the job fair.

Greg and I continued on to see what else we could find around, as we had made great time with the other stations; we got in lines quickly and got to the front of the lines in good time. As Greg and I continued to move along through the crowds of people, we passed by the Birth Certificate/ID sign. Greg immediately turned to me and exclaimed in a neutral, but excited voice how much he would like to go over there. He then went on to explain his story of how his driver’s license has been expired for around a year and how he had wanted to get it renewed. Greg didn’t have the capability over the year, for whatever reasons unexplainable to me, maybe it was the money, the transportation, or just lack of time, to renew his driver’s license; he now sought the chance to do what he had not been able to do in the past. We went over to the black drapes with the large paper sign reading “Birth Certificate/ID” and then, with smiles on both of our faces ready to accomplish another thing that day, glanced left as we had noticed other people. I wonder what it must have been like to be someone else in the line looking at us as our big smiles turned to frowns and signs of frustration when we slowly followed the long line all the way to the back.

We both laughed to some extent as we first took our place in line, as everything we had done so far that day had been so quick, so easy, and successful; except for the job fair, of course. I swear, and I believe I speak for Greg as well in this, that line felt like it took years off of my life at some points. Greg, like myself, can be quiet at many different times. There would be times where the both of us would be sitting in line staring at different parts of the room, just hoping the line would move faster. It’s the kind of quiet and sense of impatience where my legs start to feel weak and I have to start moving around in small circles to pass time. I don’t know how much Greg felt about that, as he seemed pretty content just standing in one place staring at the black curtains without a thing to worry about. To break the quiet every now and then, I would ask him questions about different aspects of his life he had pointed out earlier to me. It was in this long, time-consuming line that Greg and I really got to know each other. For the first time Greg asked me about my background and if I was from around here (him obviously not remembering the comment I made about my writing professor in the job fair line) and I listened as well as he opened up some funny stories about trips to California with friends and his encounter with the California Highway Patrol holding an expired license. I also learned another good reason he had for obtaining his license, that being he rides along in the delivery truck during work rather than driving it himself as he has no valid license. A valid license gives him the opportunity to maybe drive his own shifts.

That line also brought the most laughs Greg and I had shared all day. The ID line required the client to have obtained a voucher from a desk on the opposite end of the room, however, the voucher desk told Greg he had to find out what the DMV required of him before he could obtain a voucher. So, Greg and I waited in line until we moved halfway up, only to be told he needed a voucher, which turned out he needed to get back in the ID line to find out what he needed. Once we reached the lady at the front of the line, she told Greg what he needed and then told him to go obtain a check paying for his DMV examination at the voucher. Every time we were redirected Greg and I seemed to laugh under our breaths to ourselves and walk with big sarcastic smiles to the next line. After Greg obtained that check, he decided it was time for him to take his leave. As we reached the north end of the Ritchie Center, Greg turned to me, shook my hand, and said, “Thank you very much, I appreciate it.” This made the largest impact on me out of everything that entire day, the fact that I made such a large impact on someone enough to make him say something like that. Greg taught me a lot that day and introduced me to a different side of homeless that I’ve never seen before. Similarly, Suzanne Allbright has a view that Project Homeless Connect “was shocking. It just goes to show that whatever you think homelessness is, you're wrong” (Allbright). Every time I have volunteered at some type of homeless organization, my experience turned out different. This experience just seemed to reinforce the research Barbara Ehrenreich conducted on the reality of low-wage workers in the United States. It was sad how great of a person Greg was and how hard-working he was yet he still could not get the best out of that perseverance. Greg has some advantages to his situation with the help of his friends and I look forward to him taking advantage of it to make himself a better life; he certainly has the effort for it.


Works Cited

Allbright, Suzanne, "Field Notes from Project Homeless Connect." Weblog entry. Civic Engagement Blog for WRIT 1133-01, Spring 2009. 24 April 2009. 4 May 2009. Web.

Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2001.

Marr, Matthew. "Escaping homelessness in Los Angeles: a qualitative comparative analysis of barriers and strategies shaping housing outcomes of transitional shelter users." Conference Papers -- American Sociological Association; 2005 Annual Meeting, Philadelphia 1 (2005). 15 April 2009. Web.

SAMHSA. "Homelessness - Provision of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services." SAMSA's National Mental Health Information Center. March 2003. 4 May 2009. Web.

Wettlaufer, Georgia, "Field Notes from Project Homeless Connect." Weblog entry. Civic Engagement Blog for WRIT 1133-01, Spring 2009. 24 April 2009. 4 May 2009. Web.

Friends Found in Unusual Places: Project Homeless Connect By Bandy Gomar

On April 24, 2009 I found myself in a sea of yellow shirts, all of which said “Project Homeless Connect.” Today was the day we finally got to work with homeless folk and see if perhaps any of the services provided could help them better their lives. We had done so much research, reading and writing on the subject of homelessness that I couldn’t wait for this event. However, I was still very doubtful; nervous to see if I’d even get along with my client. I had no idea that my client and I would find so many things in common even with our very different upbringings. I wouldn’t have ever guessed that not only would I have a good day, but that I would also make a very interesting friend along the way.

After being in the incredibly long line of volunteers for about five minutes, the man that was in charge of pairing people up called out, asking for any Spanish speakers. I raised my hand so he directed me towards a woman that stood by the front door. I introduced myself as we made our way into the building. Soon enough I found out that my client (whom we’ll call Erin) was not a Spanish speaker, but since we were already inside the building and she seemed like a very nice lady, I decided to stick with her.

I was very nervous about talking to Erin at first. I simply had no idea what to say. However, according to most articles this is a common emotion when you are first put into this sort of situation, “Some students can do little else than smile, utter a greeting, and then remain silent” (Ostrow, 369). This quotes illustrates exactly what I did when Erin and I started walking towards the tables. I was confused about what I was supposed to say. Whether I should start asking her questions right away or if I should perhaps tell her my life story so she would feel more comfortable around me.
However, as we took a seat, I realized that getting her information wouldn’t be a problem. As soon as we sat down she asked me, “Alright, what do you need to know?” She was an open book within the first five minutes upon meeting her. To the question of what were some of the reasons that she became homeless in the first place she quickly and blatantly responded, “mental problems, crack addiction, and domestic violence.” I was a bit shocked at her response, but I was also pleasantly surprised that she was so honest with me from the very beginning. In addition, she had responded with a smile on her face, which told me she wasn’t ashamed. It was this sincere response that made me realize that we were going to get along just fine.

Throughout the day the issue that stroke me as the most important was the fact that although my client and I were completely different, we could always find some common ground. For example, on our way to seek some legal advice we came across a place were our clients could get some clothes. Erin immediately got excited. Now, I’m not a girly girl, and neither were she, but the excitement of pampering herself seemed very familiar to me. Apparently, my client wasn’t the only one thrilled for those clothes, another volunteered also had a similar findings with her client, “She was super excited about getting some relatively nice clothes because she thought it could help her with her job interview,”(Vandahl). This shows that even the simple fact of having a nice shirt can really help someone that is in this sort of circumstances. While looking for clothes with Erin, it also showed me that, for women at least, the act of pampering oneself through clothes is universal.

Another subject that made me realize that we weren’t so different after all was the way she viewed her family. As we sat next to a lawyer, because Erin had suggested that she might need some legal advice, I listened to her very engaging story. She described to the lawyer how she wanted to get some visitation rights for her grandchildren. She explained that since her son had gone to jail, she hadn’t been able to spend time with her grandchildren because her daughter-in-law doesn’t permit it. I came to understand how important seeing her family was to her, and how this was another thing we had in common. Sure, I might not have a son in jail, or have a crazy daughter-in-law that throws stuff at me when I attempt to see family members, but the importance of having a family was the same for the both of us.

After the lawyer we visited was unable to give her any useful information, we decided to take a break outside. She searched her bag and at the bottom found her cigarette pack, although she only had two cigarettes left, she offered me one. Despite the fact that I don’t smoke, I found it very sweet that she offered. We sat on the bench and talked. Our conversation didn’t seem like one in between a volunteer and a client, rather a conversation in between friends. She asked me about my life and I asked her about hers. I felt so comfortable talking to this woman that an hour before had just been a stranger.

As we were sharing laughs and such, a man came outside to smoke a cigarettes, thus I discovered we shared another thing in common. Erin blatantly stared at this man. She curiously looked at him for about a minute and then looked back and me and said “Maybe if he had more hair and lost that beer belly…” I couldn’t help myself and I started laughing harder than I had in a very long time. Over the next fifteen minutes or so we bonded over the conversation of how hard to understand guys are. As a research article points out, “becoming engaged in conversation -often by “landing” a topic of mutual interest- alters student’s relations with the guests,” (Ostrow, 369). For Erin, and myself we found that this common topic was boys. A classmate of mine writes about the common topic he had with his client, “ Phil and I bonded when the talk turned to crappy jobs we both had… we both shared the mutual sentiment that warehouse jobs suck solely due to ambient outside temperatures” (Timko-Maderia). Having such topics, such as boys or jobs, things that are common, really makes the bonding experience much easier to come across. It showed me that although I might be completely different from Erin, we still shared things in common.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon the book “Ragged Dick and Struggling Upward” came to my mind. I couldn’t help to think that the bond in between Dick and Frank was very similar to the one that Erin and I had formed. I, like Frank had been really privileged with my life thus far. While Erin reminded me a lot of Dick; she might not have the best living situations and the easiest life, but she keeps her chin up and is grateful for what she does have. The relationship that Frank and Dick formed in a short amount of time seemed very earnest, such was the relationship that Erin and I made in just a couple hours.

Time rolled around so fast, that I was shocked when she told me that she had to go catch her bus. Saying goodbye to her was bittersweet. I was so thankful that I had gotten to spend time with this wonderful lady, and that we were able to share all those great conversations and laughter together. On the other hand, I didn’t want to say goodbye to her just yet. I knew that I might not ever see Erin again but I didn’t want to ask her for her phone number or anything like that, because I feel as though that would have been a little weird. As we were wrapping up our conversation she said to me “I think you should really consider working as a mental health psychologist, we need more people like you, people that actually care and are not just working for the paycheck.” This really had an impact on me. First off because it made me realize that perhaps a lot of the people that work in mental institutions are really only there for the money, which is really sad to take into account. However, it also left an impression on me because it was one of the biggest compliments I’ve received. To have someone like this woman, after only spending a couple hours with me, tell me that I’m someone that “actually cares” was really impacting. I gave her a hug, which I gathered she wasn’t expecting, because she seemed to smile at the thought, and then she was off on the bus.

Although I started the day as a nervous wreck, when homeless project connect ended I felt very satisfied. It was incredible to see how no matter the differences between two people, that there is always a common ground to be shared. For Erin and myself this common ground was clothing, family and boys. Fairly usual topics, but topics with which we could enjoy our time together. Erin showed me that although unexpected, you can find friends anywhere you go. That homeless folk are regular people that have simply had some rough times. People that after only a couple hours of being around, can really change your outlook on life.


Bibliography

Alger, Horatio. Ragged Dick and Struggling Upward. Penguin Books: New York, 1985.

Ostrow, James M. “Self-Consciousness and Social Position: On College Students Changing their Minds about the Homeless.” Qualitative Sociology 18 (1995): 357-375.

Timko-Maderia, Patrick. “Field Notes from Project Homeless Connect.”
Civic Engagement Blog for WRIT 1133-01, Spring 2009. 24 Apr. 2009. 5 May 2009 .

Vandahl, Michael. “Field Notes from Project Homeless Connect.”
Civic Engagement Blog for WRIT 1133-01, Spring 2009. 24 Apr. 2009. 5 May
2009 < http://writ113301spring2009.blogspot.com/2009/04/field-notes-from project-homeless.html>.

A Worthwhile Day of Project Homeless Connect 7 by Hewen Cao

Based on the introduction from website of Project Homeless Connect “Project Homeless Connect is a one-day event that serves as a one-stop shop, connecting homeless individuals to needed services, including but not limited to: basic healthcare, legal services and Homeless Court, IDs, birth certificates, food-stamp benefits, and information about employment opportunities and shelter openings.” On the day of April 24th I spent a wonderful day with the homeless people. This year is the seventh Project Homeless Connect at University of Denver. I never pay attention to the homeless people nor talk to a homeless client so closely until I did face to face this time.

After checking in with the volunteers at the front desk, my friends and I got ready to serve the homeless people who had come to DU, and waited in a long line. Volunteers, who showed up at the University of Denver, they had different kinds of jobs in different positions, such as handing out brochures, helping volunteers to check in, handing out breads to clients, preparing food for both volunteers and clients, guiding to different areas, and so on. Most volunteers were current students from DU, and I met two old ladies who work in a small company in Denver. While waiting, I observed that nearly every homeless person was dressed decently, and they were polite to volunteers. The journalist from the FOX also came here to report and to interview staff. I could not identify they were homeless people if they were in the streets, since they acted politely and dressed nattily. After nearly 20 minutes’ wait, it was my turn to serve the client. In my first sight, this homeless person was pretty optimistic, and he walked with an old lady. This old lady smiled to me and shook hands with me politely. Later through the conversation, I knew that this old lady is this man’s mother, and they just saw the flyer of PHC7 the day before the project began. The client I served was a Hispanic American, born in Denver Colorado in 1977. Because of one officers’ mistake that he considered another volunteer who would serve that old lady as homeless people, the officers called another volunteer to serve. As a result, I with another volunteer served this man together.

At the beginning, we asked this man to fill some forms of PHC7. Based on the forms, I got to know that his name is Robert(his name has been changed for the personal privacy), and came here to get a Colorado ID, Colorado Indigent Care, apply jobs, get information about housing, and get a Social Security. There were lots of tables set in the lobby of Ritchie Center, and every table was occupied by clients and volunteers. There was one group of people sitting next to me. They talked a lot, and the volunteer asked the situation of the client’s past. On completing the forms, we firstly went to basket field to get the Colorado ID. Most services were offered in this basketball field, so large numbers of people gathered here. Actually, the longest queue was outside the temporary office of Colorado ID. Fortunately, we had two volunteers serving this client, so we made a decision that my partner stayed in the line and waited and I would lead Robert to solve other problems. This time I deeply realized the incredible power of team work.

Then Robert and I went to Social Security office which was just next to Colorado ID. Although there was also a line to wait, it was much shorter than that of Colorado ID. When we were waiting, I and Robert had a conversation. “Have you ever been to other states in the US?” I asked. He told me that he had been to California, Nevada, and Las Vegas for hunting jobs; however, he was rejected by every employer. I was really shocked and I asked him why he was rejected. The answer was very simple, “They didn’t tell me any reason.” The interviews happened not only outside of the building but also inside the building. Coincidentally, Robert told me that he knew the woman who was being interviewed. Then he told me that his wife and that woman used to hang out in the past, and that woman sold used cars with her husband. One day, they came to Robert’s house to borrow money without telling reason. Robert mentioned that he and his wife were poor and did not have enough money for themselves, so they denied lending money to the couple. Robert kept telling me that the couple called the police and told the police that Robert and his wife stole their car, which really surprised me. When I looked into his eyes, I was expected to see animosity from his eyes; conversely, his eyes were quite calm, no hates, and no angers. I thought the conversation was enough for a man, and felt sorry about that. He just replied, “Life is crazy.” Then he told me his impression of China from the news and TV, asked me the situation in China. In my view, Robert was really a brave man. I looked at that woman, and could not imagine she could do such a crazy thing. He also told me that he married for 8 years, and he and his wife went to many other cities to live a better life. Unfortunately, they could not get a better life. After returning to Denver from their last trip, both he and his wife decided to live with their own family, so they divorced. Yes, as he said life is crazy, you could not understand why some people’s fates are so miserable. Several minutes later, he began to talk to the workers in Social Security. We stayed for no more than 10 seconds, he was asked to show Colorado ID which was lost by him. Consequently, we had to go and get information about employment.

On arriving at the desks of employment, we were greeted by a smiling old lady. Robert was asked to fill a form about his job experience and background. I noticed that he had 3 jobs before, and every job was about hard labor. The most important thing is that he did not receive any education after he graduated from high school, which influenced his life directly I think. I realized one important issue, that is, education plays a very critical role for individuals as it influences one’s future, the economy consideration status, and society. Education level can affect one’s future. After meeting with Robert, it was my first time to understand the meaning of “a bird of passage”, through his eyes; I knew he would like to hard work to keep these once he owns. Robert defined his “American Dream” as a stable house, a stable job, and a stable life. The reason why he did not continue his further education was that he did not have enough money to find an affordable college nor had good grades in his high school. As a result, he had to start to hunt for a job immediately after he graduated from high school. As I narrated above, all his jobs he had worked for in the past are only hard labors. However, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, “the homeless population in America is only expanding, predicts 1.35 million U.S. children are without a home each day in the United States.” (Kacey, 2007, How to help the homeless) which means there will be a lot of poor educated groups of people in our society. First, they are not able to work for high level diploma job. Second, they only qualify to work for hard labors, once the company begins to lay off employees; these people are the first groups to cut off. As Ehrenreich (2001) describes the situation of the poor working class citizens in United States, these people are the hardest workers and the easiest to lose their jobs. Consequently, one who is not well educated would be the most likely to have a period of hardship.

After Robert completed the form, the officer saved his information and told him that he could learn how to write a resume for employment and how to use computer software in the next zone. When I asked him if he would go there to learn these staff, he shook his head without thinking. This action made me know the reason why he was lack of education.

Then I led him to get the health insurance. It was not a long queue, but it moved slowly. While waiting, he told me that his mum signed his name for hair cut. He smiled, “I will take a photo for my ID. I already have a black eye, and I don’t want other people have bad impression on me, so I’ll cut my hair to look better.” I just guessed his black eye was caused because of being beat by somebody else, but he always kept smiling and saying thank you to me. I really could not see any self-abasement from him, and strongly felt the dignity from him.

As my partner was still in the line and far away from the office of Colorado ID, I led Robert to ask for the housing back to the lobby of Ritchie Center. This time I followed him, and he just browsed those desks and did not say anything. Later he told me that he knew those shelters and negative aspects of those houses. Since we were all starving and there were few people having lunch, we had lunch together. During the lunch time, he told me that he and his mum lived in his friend’s home, and he really desired a job to have incomes. Every time, Robert and his mum met, I could see the love from their eyes. His mum took away some socks for him, and he brought ice water for his mum. Additionally, he said that he knew some people today, and most of them did not receive much education like him. Even though they look politely and kind, in fact, they did bad things before. I did not ask him about the bad things for details, but I could guess what they were. After finishing our lunch, we came back to the basketball field to find my partner. As they had Robert’s record in the computer system, it did not last long to get a new ID card. A society’s stable can affect people’s normal lives in this society or community. For common citizens, they would like to stay away from a bad society, such as high rates of crimes, bad traffic zones, and town centre downtown areas. Also no one would be happy to see their kids grow up with drug addicts, drug dealers, bad neighbors or homeless. They prefer to live in a society such as, good school zones, low rates of crimes, and nice-view suburbs. This is just common views for majority of citizens in our society. At this point, parents and children are not happy to see the homeless around their houses. As one of the scholar argues “blame the victim” for their unfortunates and offer the “false generosity of paternalism” (Lozano, 1997, P. 7) through acts of kindness that do little to raise individuals out of poverty and despair. They described themselves as “victims who have few rights or privileges and who are often perceived as lazy, violent, or addicted and as having a greater desire to remain on the streets than to escape homeless.” (Lozano, 1997, P. 7) In the real world, we always tell our friends to leave the homeless people alone, and not even look at them more when we meet homeless people in the streets, and this is a very common phenomenon in our society. It’s not what we misunderstand about the homelessness or homeless people, it is just something deeply in our minds and this kind of impression will not easily change for a long period. Accordingly, the homeless people experienced “the lack of respect for their human dignity, apathy, indifference, callousness, service-connected labeling, degrading comments, and put downs.” (Lozano, 1997, P.7)

When we finished visiting every area Robert wanted, we three had to say goodbye to each other. Robert kept saying thank you to me and my partner. His mum was still waiting for him. Finally, my partner thanked me for leading Robert for a long time. I had to say it was a really great team work. On the way back to my dorm, I kept thinking about the reason why those people become homeless. America has the largest and best economy in the world, “the United States of America is such a powerful country that an outsider could never fathom seeing a homeless person in the country that is supposed to fulfill dreams.” (Kacey, 2007, How to help the homeless) all the hard workers lead to success of economy growth of United States. I never realize the country of United States is facing a serious homeless problem until I come to this country. The statistics provided by Bureau of Labors, “the unemployment rate is 8.5% in March, 2009.” (U.S. Department of Labor, Apr. 2009, Issues in labor statistics) shows that we could not ignore this issue. What we can tell from this statics is, many people are laid off, and this covers white collars and blue collars, and most of them are blue collars. Most of blue collars are not well educated, and it is because of economy crisis. Many people who had been fired or laid off just because of the economy crisis since the last year. Un-educated or low-educated people are the first group to be laid off or fired. For these who have been laid off or fired, if they cannot find another job shortly, they may start to taste another living style. This could be one of the top reasons for new homeless people this year.

Overall, I had a very exciting day to work with a homeless person, it is my first time to talk to a homeless person so closely, and I cannot forget this day for ever. There is no denying that education is an important element for the society and individuals. Firstly, we ought to try our best to complete our college academy. Secondly, we need to work hard and if we could get a further education then just go for it. It is easy to say that “life is in our hands” but it is hard to know and command our destiny.


References

Lozano, S. (1997). Homeless veterans: Perspectives on social services use. Social Work, Vol. 42, Issue 1. Retrieved 05/01/2009 from database.

Kacey, A. (2007). How to help the homeless. Associated Continent.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/153457/how_to_help_the_homeless.html

U.S. Department of Labor, and U.S. Bureau of labor statistics. Issues in labor statistics.
April, 2009. http://www.dol.gov/

The Seventh Project Homeless Connect. PHC Denver http://www.du.edu/homelessness/about/index.html

Hard Woking Homeless by Allison Bostic

Can you imagine have a job, or maybe even two, and still not being able to support yourself? Can you imagine being by yourself, trying to raise a family, and moving from shelter to shelter? Well, many people do. Many people who suffer from homelessness get to this point from working at a low-wage job. Many of these jobs require extremely hard work, yet barely pay their employees. Also, after being put in these situations, they tend to lose important documents that they will need. After volunteering at Project Homeless Connect, I was able to see so many people who had jobs, but were still homeless or almost there.

When I arrived at Project Homeless Connect (PHC) I signed in and received my clip board and name tag and then walked to get into a long line of other volunteers. The line seemed never ending with people who were in it for the second time. I was nervously waiting, and when I heard buses stopped coming at 10 I thought that I would never get a client. People were slowly walking up and I was finally in the front of the line at 10:30. As I saw a woman walking up, I was excited to finally get out of the line and help a client. She looked really nice and knew exactly what she wanted. She was in need of getting a new job, and since she had no ID that was one of her main priorities. She was not hungry since she had just eaten with her boyfriend who had to go to work. She came alone even though others that she knew did not think she would actually go. Since she did not want anything to eat or drink at the moment, we stopped walking and filled out the paper work. She read through it faster than I could read it to her aloud, and said the answers and spelt out words that she knew would help. She was very open about filling out the paper work, but once we were inside waiting for the ID she was very quiet. After reading through how other people’s days were, one person reminded me of mine. Bandy Gomar said, “We sat in a table and began filling all the paperwork. My client was more than willing to tell me her life story right then and there, which I found to be very impressive and surprising.” This was also very surprising to me. I thought that the clients would not be as open to giving their information. Trying to start a conversation I asked her about her family. She did not say much about her personal life, or her family so it was a quiet line. We ended up talking to many people around us and she would talk to friends as she saw them pass by.

After waiting in the ID line for over 2 hours, she was finally able to receive an ID. She was so thankful of this. She was excited. She looked like a little kid in a candy store and couldn’t be any more thankful than she was. She was then able to go get a birth certificate, since that was the only other thing that she wanted. Seeing how thankful she was made me think of all the little things that we find easy to receive. By just receiving two little things that most everyday people have, was a huge deal for them. Without an ID a person cannot find a job which can then lead to homelessness.

After talking to different people in the lines and reading what other people said about the day, many people who were receiving help had a job. The issue that I found very important throughout this day was that many homeless people have a job, but yet cannot support themselves. My client did not have a job at the moment because she needed to get an ID, but her boyfriend had a job and tried supporting both of them. He was still unable to afford a place to stay with his job. Also, other clients had jobs and worked full time to be able to try to make something out of them and were still suffering from homelessness. With Avery Denney’s client, “Homeless four times, twice in the past year, Juan is living in a shelter and working seven days a week in order to try and make ends meet.” With her client, he worked all the time just to be able to get food and everything he needs while staying in a shelter. Almost all people who do not suffer with homelessness do not work 7 days a week, instead they usually work 5 days or 40 hours. If homeless people were able to work for a wage that they could live with and have a place to stay, almost all homeless people would not be in this situation.

A moment from this day that stood out to me the most was after my client received her ID. She was so happy and to see how much something so little can do for someone, is something that I will always remember. After my client received all the help that she wanted, she was very happy. The look on her face was priceless. Seeing her looking like a kid in a candy store, showed me how much these little things do mean to some people. Most of the time people don’t realize how much you can help someone with something so small that we don’t really notice. Many of the different things people could do there were usually something so small that most people would not ever think of how much it could really affect someone that is struggling. Seeing my client so happy after two services that you don’t normally think that would help someone tremendously, was a moment that I will never forget.

After doing many readings for a class, one book that helped me the most was Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. Before coming to this class, I always thought of homeless people as lazy and people with substance abuse problems. At home, whenever I saw a homeless person I saw them either drinking alcohol or doing drugs. Also, many signs that they made said that’s what they really want to use the money for. After reading this book, I learned that many homeless people have jobs, but with minimum wage and this economy it is too hard to afford all the necessary everyday things. This book showed different life stories along with the authors. The author went and tried to support herself with low-wage jobs. During this time she was able to work with others in that position and see how it is to live that way. Without seeing homelessness from this point of view, I would have never thought that some people actually suffer homelessness because of their jobs. This really opened my eyes to not judge homeless people because of what I have seen in the past.

At the end of the day at PHC, my client left and was ready to go out and try to better her life. She got an ID so that she could finally get a job. I felt like I was able to help and that it was a successful day. Also, other people thought this day was successful because they were able to get help for their clients. One person who also felt this way was Georgia Wettlaufer. She stated, “Today I walked way with a sense of accomplishment for helping a man move closer to living a more stable life.” After getting my client all the help that she wanted, I felt like it was a successful day and I will always remember it. Many people have never talked to or worked with a homeless person before. “Most of the students have never before have been face-to-face with a homeless person for more than a few seconds” (Ostrow, James 2). If more people were aware of the reasons homeless people suffer, I think that people would be more willing to support them and try to get better wages for lower end jobs. With all the help homeless people can get from others and help with increased wages, homelessness would decrease.

After all this, I believe that if wages were higher, especially for how hard they work, homelessness would slowly go away. It is unfair to pay people so little for putting in so much work to support themselves. If it wasn’t for low-wages, homeless people would be able to afford a place to stay and to support themselves. Throughout this quarter, I have learned a lot about homelessness and it has definitely changed the way I look at the people that suffer with this problem. When we work, we expect to make enough to support ourselves fully, but many people can’t. Going through homelessness it is easy to lose important documents that you need to find a job which also makes it harder for them. This experience opened up my eyes to really appreciate all that I have and I think it’s only fair that they are able to feel the same with what they have. I believe that fixing the job problem, many homeless people would be able to support themselves.

Work Cited

Denney, Avery. Civic Engagement Blog: Field Notes For Project Homeless Connect. 25 April 2009. 27 April 2009. spot.com/>

Gomar, Bandy. Civic Engagement Blog: Field Notes For Project Homeless Connect. 26 April 2009. 27 April 2009. http://writ113301spring2009.blog spot.com

Ostrow, James M. “Self-Consciousness and Social Position: On College Students Changing their Minds about the Homeless.” Qualitative Sociology 18.3 (1995).

Wettlaufer, Georgia. Civic Engagement Blog: Field Notes For Project Homeless Connect. 24 April 2009. 27 April 2009.

PHC by Zeke Zheng

It was the day that I changed my views about the homeless people. It was the day of Project Homeless Connect. This day I completely changed my views toward the homeless people. I found myself in the same situation as a student in article, “Self-Consciousness and Social Position: On College Students Changing their Minds about the Homeless,” by James Ostrow. According to Ostrow’s founding from a student, “My attitude toward the homeless has made a total turn around. I had no intentions of doing anything else to help the homeless, just to do this for class and that would be the end of it. Now I want to help and will continue to work in a shelter” (Ostrow, 1995, p. 360). The things Ostrow had found from a student are exactly the same way I was thinking about the homeless. Before I started working with the homeless people and issues about the homelessness, I always think all the homeless people are poor, dressed poorly, lazy, drinkers, and drug users. During the Project Homeless Connect, I saw lot of different kind of homeless people and that changed my views about them forever. Some people were dressed professionally, some were dressed like everyone on the street that I saw every day, and some were just dressed in dirty shirt.

I also realized that not every homeless person were homeless from the beginning, it always like something bad happened to them while they were having wonderful life, like the client of Zhi’s. Like Zhi said, “He told me he was the hard-working type of person and he used to have his own business and be rather well off. Though he didn’t show any self-pity of his homelessness when he was talking about his house remodeling company and that he used to be a subcontractor for Safeway, he was really obsessed with the “old glorious days” and hoping to rise again” (“Field Notes from PHC”). I was surprised to know his client used to own a company of himself.

It started with I first opened my eyes in the morning of April 24, the day of Project Homeless Connect. When I woke up, I was getting worry about the event. I got worried because that I don’t know anything about what I suppose to do during the event and my client’s attitudes toward me. After I got ready for the event, I started driving to the school. When I was driving pass the Ritchie Center, I saw lots of volunteers were standing on the stair way outside of the Ritchie Center. That moment, I feel like there are thousands of butterflies inside of my stomach, because I was getting more nervous and worry.

When I got to the Richie Center, I signed in with one of the attendance volunteer and went to get the clip board. Then I got in the line. At that time, I looked at the time and it was around 7:50 am. I was kind of excited and nervous at the same time. Why I was excited was because I was thinking that I had started the event and there was no way to “chicken” out of it, so just do it.

As everybody and I were waiting in the line for the homeless people to coming, everyone, including me, was complaining about why it took so long for these homeless people to arrive. I saw some buses came and some homeless people came down from the buses. Meanwhile, I was relief because the line is finally moving. The interesting thing I saw while I was waiting in the line was that some of the homeless people were well dressed and they dress like regular people on the street. Just as I said earlier, it is the first moment that I changed my views about the homeless people. Also when I saw some elementary kids were offering some snacks to the homeless people, some people were greeting (like I always think of them), they would just accept as many free items as they could. Other people were just ignore these kids and not even thinking about getting free items, they just walked pass them and go straight to the Ritchie Center. That surprised me even more.

As the line got shorter and shorter, I saw to count the homeless people in the line, so I can see who will be the person that I will be guiding today. Finally, it is my turn. I saw three clients in front of me and I was hoping that my client will be a guy, because at that time, I thought if my client was a guy, we can get along better. But the sad part was that my client was a girl. The first impression I got when I saw she was overweight, young, and dressed like a normal school kid. At the same moment, I was thinking if she is homeless, then she is most likely a gangster, so she parents kicked her out. Or she has no parents, so she just playing with the whole event.

Finally, I can start the things, now. I called my client, M.M. When we got into the Ritchie Center, and first, I introduced myself to her and ask her what things she needs or wants to get done. She replied, “I want to get my ID, Birth certificate, food stamp, and social security card.” Then I ask again, “What else you want to get?” She replied, “Nothing that I can think of, now.” So I tell her, “Inside of the Richie Center, there are some medical check outs, haircuts, and massage if we had some time in the middle of the day, we can stop by and check these things out.” After I said that, she was interested in the haircut and the massage. I can tell that by her face when I tell her about the haircut and the massage, she was awakening all of sudden.

After we introduce each other, we walked further inside of the Ritchie Center. We found ourselves a table, and start to fill out the survey forms. From this point on, I can called M.M. and me, “WE,” because I think it is very good idea to make M.M. comfortable and relax. Then we went into the Gates Field House, where all the services that she needs are. When we first walk into Gates Field House, we saw lot of people were walking around the place and getting in lines for different services. First thing on our list was the food stamp. So we look around for the sign of food stamp. When we found it and sit in front of a worker for the department, that guy told us to go talk to the information desk and get an application. So we did what we are told to. We got like a 25 page-application to fill out. The thing I was glad about was that she doesn’t have much working, and expense experiences, so we can skip like 15 pages of the application. And the other good thing was that there was an experienced lady that helped her filled out the application. If wasn’t for that well experienced lady, we would spend at least an hour on the application and another half an hour in the line. So we finished the application in twenty minutes and turn in the application. Now, one of her goals is accomplished.

Next is the ID and Birth Certificate. When we were looking for the spot of the ID and Birth Certificate, we saw a long line of people waiting for their turn to get their ID. So we decided to go to the Social Security Service first. But on our way to the SS, we cut the lines to get vouchers for ID and Birth Certificate by accident. At that time, we don’t know what the line was for and we just walk straight to the worker and ask them what service is it. After we knew the place, we just sat down and started the process of getting a voucher. Getting a voucher doesn’t mean you are done with the process of getting an ID for most of the clients, but it is for my client. We found this out in the last minute of the day, which is the service the project had does not accept first timers.

We were so happy that we don’t need to be in the line of getting a voucher, so we kind of ran toward the line of Social Security Cards. When we got there, we waited in the line for like ten minutes. While in the line, I saw some other clients didn’t have their Social Security issues done, because they don’t have an ID or picture ID of any kind. My client was getting worry about whether or not if she could get the service by asking me. She got worried because all she had was an ID from her shelter. I told her just tried it out and ask the worker. When it was her turn, she asks the worker is she can have got a Social Security Card by just using the ID from the shelter. When the worker said yes and help her fill out the form, my client looked and smiled at me. I was relief when the worker said yes also.

It was around noon, and it was lunch time, so we went to get our lunch. Lunch was disappointing. All the hot food event offer for lunch was the spaghetti. During the lunch time, M.M. told me about their shelter’s policy to eat. The thing she told me was like the things I found in the qualitative research article about shelter foods, “Children expressed dissatisfaction with shelter mealtimes, as dinner was offered too early, leaving some hungry at bedtime, and the foods served often lacked variety or were of poor quality” (Richards & Smith, 2007, p. 1580) and “In our study, shelter rules further restricted the selection of foods and dictated household shopping behaviors, in that only ‘‘junk food’’ was allowed in their rooms. This overconsumption of junk food may be, in part, contributing to the high rates of overweight seen among these children” (Richards & Smith, 2007, p. 1580). She also told me that everyone in the shelter need to do chores everyday in order to eat. Even if they want to eat, they still need to do chores, because the policy stated everyone needs to do chores, if you stay on the shelter proper or eat food in the shelter. So on the day of Project Homeless Connect, she doesn’t need to do the chores in the morning, because she was not in the shelter. Still, she needs to do the chores before the dinner time, so she can eat the dinner on the day of PHC. And she complained about shelter offer dinner to early, which is around 6:30 pm. When I hear this, I thought 6:30 pm is not early. I think she said that is because they go to bed late every night. She also said that her friends often went out to get food at night. The things she was telling me was exactly the same from the article, this surprised me. When I was reading the articles for the qualitative paper, I thought the researchers were just over exaggerating the issue of shelter. From that point on, I realized how real the world is to these homeless people. The world (shelters) just treats these homeless people like “free workers.”

Back to the event, our next stop is the massage. When M.M. saw other people were getting the massage, she literally jumped into the line and waited in the line. As we waited in the line, we realized we had waited in the line for a half hour for her turn. And the massage took half an hour also. As I see the line for the ID was getting shorter, I decided to jump into the line. So, while M.M. was getting her massage done, I was in the line for the ID. This way we can get the things done quicker. As I was waiting in the line, I figure out the line is almost not moving at all. I wanted to get out of the line to do something else with her, but as more and more people are getting in the line and the line is getting longer and longer, so I decided to stay in the line.

While I was waiting in the line, I saw some interesting scenes in the place. Some volunteers were handing out women socks. The hair stylist came. Different kinds of homeless people, some were well-dressed, some were dirty looking, and some were family members or close friends. And the most interesting thing I saw was homeless people’ friendships among each other, like what Bandy said about her client, “My client was there with one of her friends, and they didn’t want to be separated, so the other volunteer and I decided to stick together with these two ladies” (“Field Notes from PHC”). And other is Zhi’ client’s situation, “He told me that he could easily get himself out of homelessness by moving in with his mother or a sibling or a relative as he got “518 relatives here in Colorado”. He used to support a family of 11 people and still run a good budget by stripping walls for Safeway” (“Field Notes from PHC”). His client had 518 relatives, thinking about it, it sound like over exaggerated, but still he believe he had lot of relatives.

As the day was going to be over, I was still in the line for the ID with M.M. The most memorable thing of the day happened. As we were waiting in the line to get the ID, a volunteer carrying a box of women’s socks was approaching and handing it out. M.M. refused to get any at first, same thing she did few times before with the other volunteers who were handing out the socks. At first the volunteer was acting very nice and keep asking M.M. to get some, because of the generous of the volunteer; M.M. accepted the offer. Then it happened. M.M didn’t know how many pairs she should took, but she had saw other people had took unlimited pairs of socks with the other volunteers, so M.M. decided to took three pairs. The moment comes, the volunteer’s face turned and almost exploded when she saw my client took three pairs, the volunteer nearly yelled “put those down!” But the volunteer hold the voice and just said, “Please limited it to two, PLEASE.” So my client put down the socks and didn’t take any. I feel like I knew how she was feeling and feel sorry for my client. There is heartbreaking moment also. As we were the next person to be in the line to get the ID, my client’s bus to go back to her place was long gone, because by then it was 1:45 pm and she still wanted to be in the line to get the ID and use the ID to find jobs. When finally was her turn, she walked into the booth happily. After twenty seconds or so, she came out with a sad face on, because the service for the ID they offer in the Project Homeless Connect was only to these people who had had ID before and they don’t accept first timers. At the time, it was so upsetting, because we had waited in the line for nearly two hours and all she got was “Sorry” from the service provider.

Good thing my client was an easy-going person, she just laugh it out after a while. After I saw my client laugh, I feel even more sorry for her, for not able to help her getting an ID and waited in the line for two hours for nothing. I would blame the organizer ID service for part of this, because they didn’t provide any information about the ID service. And blame myself for not knowing anything with each service that had provided by the Project Homeless Connect. If I could learn more information about each service that the Project Homeless Connect provided, I think I could help my client better and faster and we don’t need to stay in the line for two hours for nothing.

In conclusion, I learned a great deal from M.M. and I changed my views toward M.M. I changed my negative feelings toward the homeless people to positive feelings. I had been very biased toward homeless people, after the event I knew that these homeless people are hard workers too, I can tell by the motives of them coming to the Project Homeless Connect so early in the morning and how eager they want to find a job. Overall, I think the PHC is a nice experience to have and for me to learn more about the homeless people

The American Dream among the Homeless by Zhi Gan

Before volunteering in Project Homeless Connect, the word “homeless” was something I thought had nothing to do with me. I’d never experienced homelessness in my life. Neither had I lived or worked with homeless people. Sometimes, when I saw an old man holding a board by roadside, saying “anything helps,” I would stop for a moment and look at him. But still, the idea of “homelessness” was so abstract to me that, besides knowing the man literally “doesn’t have a home,” I knew nothing more about him. I had no idea of what hardship had made him homeless and what he was living off. I couldn’t imagine what he thought of himself and how he made sense of life. My world and the world of the homeless were like two parallel lines that never went across each other. Participating in Project Homeless Connect, however, gave me a precious chance to gain firsthand experience interacting with homeless people and allowed me a peek into their world.

It was a typical sunny day in Denver. I got to the Ritchie Center around 8:10, where we were supposed to meet our clients arriving in 20 minutes. Wearing light-blue bilingual shirt, I was hoping to be paired up with a Chinese speaking client, though, as I discovered later, there were no Chinese, or Asians in general during the whole day. The first two buses arrived shortly. As people were getting off, I was surprised that many of them were in nice suits and dresses. “They are nice”, this was the first impression I got today, and it certainly didn’t go along with any of my previous ideas of homeless people. We were still waiting in line for the others buses and after another hour, I finally got to the front and met with my client, whom I would call Jeff.

Jeff was a nice, middle-aged man in a dark green jacket. He started the conversation by telling me how he discovered the PHC event by chance: He was walking back from Father Woody’s (a charity) after picking up some free food and drink when he saw a PHC flyer. As he was reading the fly, a yellow and black bus stopped by the road side and he was told this bus was right to the Project Homeless Connect. Considering he had nothing important today, Jeff jumped on the bus and got here. As we were walking to the Gates Field and prioritizing our schedule for today, Jeff declined brunch by saying “an old man doesn’t eat a lot.” He told me that he needed “nothing except a job” and he “loves working than anything else”. This was interesting as he didn’t look like homeless at all and I could never imagine someone being homeless would “love working than anything else.” Jeff told me that he used to have his own construction company and live a rather comfortable life. The reason he wanted a job was to rebuild his business and “win the 50,000 dollars back.” Since I was somewhat overwhelmed by his words, I was simply smiling without making any comment on his ambitions. Deep inside I was thinking him a little crazy, just like what Barbara thought of her co-worker when she told Barbara that she would make a lot of money in the future and live a wonderful life (Ehrenreich 2001).

As we were walking through the hallway I pointed to the housing area and told Jeff we might be able to find him a nice shelter there. Unexpectedly, he said in a light-hearted tone that he didn’t need a shelter because he preferred staying on the streets to living in smelly shelters. Again, I was surprised, especially when it was said by a 50-year-old man.

The first service area we aimed at was the ID/Certificate area, since Jeff needed a Bursar’s Certificate to “restart his business.” Things went smoothly, and after spending a few minutes talking with the lady, we got all the paper work done and Jeff was told to show up next week at the government office to get his certificate. We both didn’t expect it so successful and I congratulated Jeff at once. From the conversation Jeff had with the lady, I got to know more details about his career: he used to be a subcontractor of Safeway, doing wall painting, roof remodeling, janitorial and a lot more for the chain retail company. He used to have his own construction company. He hired quite a few people working for him…Jeff didn’t clarify what happened later – I guess it must be painful history that he didn’t want to mention – but it sounds like he was involved in some lawsuit and lost all his money. As he was talking about his “old glorious days,” Jeff was as excited as a veteran talking about Iraq. He used gestures, body movements, and almost stood up. It turned out that the ten-minute conversation became Jeff’s autobiographic speech and the lady and I were both listeners most of the time. Jeff told the lady his dream was to “get back to where I was,” because, as he said, “I love money. It makes me feel good, and I used to support eleven people.”

Jeff is the type of person that knows what he wants and sticks to it even when he is in adversity that seems totally hopeless to me. He keeps dreaming his dreams while he is living on the streets or waiting in line for food at Father Woody’s. Somehow he reminds me of Ragged Dick, the homeless youngest that always believes he will make his day. The only difference was, Jeff was already 48.

As previously said, Jeff wanted a job. So we moved on to the job-seeking section and found out that Jeff needed a resume first which he had never had in his life. The kind-hearted lady guided us to the Resume Lab where we could get Jeff a resume on-site. While we were waiting for help, I was watching doctors and medical workers doing body examination for people at the other side. As I turned back, I was surprised to find out that Jeff was quarreling with a young man and he was totally out of his temper. Fortunately the verbal conflict was put out in time before things became out of control. And when asked what led to the fight, for the first time, Jeff seemed discouraged and didn’t have much to say. Later after we sat down at the computer desk and began talking to the young lady who was helping us with the resume, Jeff told more of his story.

Worried that his past history would taint his resume, Jeff confessed the truth and told us what happened that ended his career. One of his employers hurt someone, and together with his business problems, Jeff was involved in a lawsuit and lost all his money. He ended up being in prison for a few years, during which time he had a terrible divorce with his wife. And it’s the reason he had the fight with that young man, who was his ex-wife’s nephew. I also learnt that Jeff had over 25-year experience working in construction and house remodeling. He got a vocational college diploma in house-building when he was in prison, which was extremely impressive. We generally think that homeless people are illiterate and poor educated. But in fact, many of them have had good education. Just as Avery writes in her field notes, “While working on his resume – one thing that he was ecstatic about – he mentioned a degree in printing… He told me he had gone to school for it, being one of five kids, he had to pay for it himself” (Denney 2009).

I was being constantly surprised by Jeff and his legendary stories. This time, he told us that he had got “518 relatives here in Colorado” and that’s why it’s “so easy to meet up with one of them.” His mother and his four sons were all living in Denver, too. In fact he could readily get himself out of homelessness by moving in with any one of them. Unlike most homeless people, to be homeless seems to be his own choice. “Everyone thinks I’m a loser,” he said, “and I’m the only homeless people in my family now.” In my opinion, he still couldn’t accept that fact that he had turned from helping others to receiving help and he was so obsessed with the “old days” that he couldn’t admit his failure. At the same time, he was the most pious believer in the American Dream that, as long as he worked hard, he could rise again. Jeff had such faith in himself that he believed he could come back to the height where he once was. I don't know why but somehow I found something on Jeff that Dick calls “spectable.”

I can’t remember how many times Jeff reminded me that he wanted to rise again, and each time, he said it in the same, serious tone. And each time the image of an ambitious old man who wanted to restore his “golden ages” added to my respect for him. He obviously deemed his business the most important thing in his life and it was exactly the reason that caused his homelessness. He had been taking care of others all his life and it was his mindset of being a “giver” rather than a “receiver”. He was so disappointed at himself that after he was released from prison he didn't go home. And I assume that he didn’t want a shelter for the same reason. In one article on homelessness, they conducted a survey and found out that “neighborhood concentrated poverty had little direct effect” on people optimism about life. The study also suggests that “While neighborhood poverty was relevant, other indicators were more directly significant in explaining the attitudes and behavior under consideration.” Living in poverty doesn’t necessarily mean that Jeff has to behave hopeless and despondent. It is other factors, his past experience, his knowledge and skills, and his character that determine how he acts and what he believes in. The American Dream was deep in the bottom of Jeff’s heart.

According to Sandra Barnes, the American Dream may be “considered an ‘opiate’, and such persons may be considered dupes for embracing an ideology that may result in disappointment and unmet dreams.” My sympathy for Jeff also comes from the same aspect, “What if he couldn’t achieve his goals?” He is respectable for his perseverance and diligence, but the realities, his age, the economic situation, etc., make me doubt the possibility that he could succeed. However, Barnes also argues that “This optimism, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, is a hallmark belief in our society and a central motivator for persons with goals and aspirations.” The American Dream has already been part of the American national identity that is more or less found in every American. It has been inscribed to the history of this country. The book Ragged Dick is by no means a non-fictional novel, however, it has succeeded in causing resonance among readers in its story and gained great popularity by awakening the deep-rooted “American Dream” in every American. In turn the story of Jeff proves that the story of Dick can be true. Poor and homeless people can still have hope and be optimistic as long as they have faith. And Barbara’s co-work is not ridiculous at all when she said she would break into the middle class in the future. From another perspective, their dreams are based their competence and skills that many homeless people have. They are often undervalued of their capacity, if I hadn’t spent half a day with Jeff, I would not know his expertise in house construction and company management. Suzanne in her notes has documented the same thing, “Furthermore, as I got to know my client better, I realized how intelligent he truly was and is. He taught me about archeology while we were waiting to get his hair cut” (Allbright 2009). Observing the American Dream embodied among the homeless is crucial to understand the mentality of this large population in this country. By examining their needs, our society can build better services that can assist them thrive.

As we eventually arrived at the job fair area, Jeff spotted Brown Brothers at the corner and went up at once. It’s a construction company that built roads, factories, houses and almost anything of bricks and concrete. It was a perfect job for Jeff, and obviously his working experience made him a desired employee. After filling out all the application forms, we got out the crowd and found a place to sit down. Jeff started to tell stories from his “old times,” and when he was talking about his family and how they used to live together happily, I could see something called hope in his eye. I always remember what Jeff told me at the phone company desk in the job fair, “$14 an hour is too little for me.”

Alger, H. (1868). Ragged Dick. New York: Penguin Books.
Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickel and Dimed. New York: Owl Books.
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Allbright, S. (2009). Field Notes. Retrieved May 08, 2009, from http://writ113301spring2009.blogspot.com/2009/04/field-notes-from-project-homeless.html#comments
Barnes, S & Jaret, C. (2003). The “American Dream” in Poor Urban Neighborhood. Sociological Focus, 36-3,219-239.

Project Homeless Connect Essay by Suzanne Allbright

The stereotypes of homeless people are often inaccurate or misrepresentative of the thousands of individuals on the street. However, it is difficult to deny that these stereotypes began somewhere, for some reason. What people tend to imagine when they think of homeless people, are individuals that are lazy, unintelligent, substance abusers, and dirty people with no direction and no desire for betterment of their situation. Both Project Homeless Connect and the many other discussions and texts that we have read in class, however, have helped me realize just how inaccurate these judgments often are.

What I walked away with from Project Homeless Connect was not just the realization that homeless people exist, and that they are not merely drug or alcohol addicts, but rather I walked away with a sense of hope and appreciation that only my client could have provided.
While my client’s appearance was similar to that of my expectations, his character was quite surprising. However, until later on in this relationship, I did not fully recognize the impact of the things this one, simple, homeless man had to say. I had made the judgment, like many before me and many after me will continue to do, that I would not get anything out of this day or this relationship I was about to form. Project Homeless Connect is simply for the clients. My client, however, proved me very wrong.

The morning of Project Homeless Connect, I had certain anticipations for how the day would evolve and the type of relationship I would form with me client. I found myself quite upset with the organization of the event and the unraveling of the day, however. After meeting my client, who had little on his to-do list, we made our way to the medical services. I realized that I had already forgotten to ask if he would like to check his bags, and I found myself pushing the idea of a massage on him. I cannot explain my actions, but I felt completely unprepared even after a previous year of volunteering at this same event. As we reached the medical services, it seemed that this lack of preparation was a common theme for everyone.

My first year volunteering at Project Homeless Connect, I was nervous and so worried about dealing with my client and where the services were located, that I had the tunnel vision phenomenon occur. This year, however, due to my previous experience, I found myself taking more of an observational perspective and approach to things. I was worried about customer service and organization. I wanted my client to get the best of what was being offered, simple as that. Nevertheless, this ultimately failed to occur on nearly all levels. At the medical station, we were greeted by welcoming faces, but it was immediately apparent that they had very little idea of the proper procedure. In addition, these medical students seemed to be questioning their own ability to measure my client’s blood pressure. I found myself simply embarrassed, feeling as though I had brought this man to a circus. The scale, upon which my client had to stand to take his weight, was off by fifty pounds. He laughed and fixed it single-handedly before stepping on it. We were finally led to a nurse for a simple check up. While I was waiting for them to finish their visit, a woman volunteering said she believed that there was also a check out desk, but that she wasn’t quite sure. It was apparent that not many people knew what steps to take and where to direct the client service volunteers. As my client and I were beginning to walk away, the nurses suddenly pulled us back and said they needed to get the forms signed by the nurse in charge. This woman running the show came over to sign us out, but she found that the nurses who had met with my client had not properly filled out the paper work and completed their side of the requirements. One unknown upon another unknown was the pattern I was beginning to observe. We finally checked out from the medical station, and although my client said the service was very helpful, I found myself apologizing for the chaos and the seemingly unknowledgeable volunteers and services. He did not seem to mind. My feelings were only multiplied, however, when we proceeded to the hair cutting station to find that the hair cutters had not arrived. This was the only other service in which my client had any interest, and I was frustrated over not being able to supply it. We put his name on the short list in case that they would arrive within the next half an hour. However, this never happened. My client was completely unable to get this simple service.

It was during this time, however, that my client truly broke the mold of these stereotypes. As I was apologizing for the haircutting service and the obvious chaos, my client made it a point to let me know that he did not mind, and that he simply appreciated all the volunteers and services that were being offered. He also told me that patience is important in all aspects of life. One must enjoy every moment of life and not let small matters get in the way of their day. My client definitely appreciated the small aspects of life and was grateful for all the opportunities before him. My client further surprised me by asking if I minded him smoking while we were outside waiting for his haircut. He showed true manners and respect for others around him, which I appreciated greatly and found very refreshing. Based on the typical stereotype, these were things I was certain I would not find on this day.

While outside burning some time, I became most impressed with my client’s knowledge and enthusiasm. He asked about my education and what I was studying at DU. After I told him I was majoring in biology, he asked me why I had not wanted to study geology. In my head I kind of laughed, thinking to myself that he was insane to think that rocks were fascinating and that I could do anything important with that educational background. However, he changed my mind immediately. He knew everything there was to know about geology, and in addition to explaining the excitement about the variations in rocks, he proceeded to pull different types of rocks out of his pocket. It became quite clear how passionate he was about this subject, and how knowledgeable he really was. This was the last thing I had expected going into the day, but I was happy to have my beliefs and expectations shattered.

My client also reminded me briefly of Barbara Ehrenreicher’s novel Nickel and Dimed. Barbara makes a point to demonstrate how even having a job is sometimes not enough to maintain a lifestyle that includes housing and food. Her whole purpose was to uncover the truth about low-wage workers and their situations. Similarly, my homeless client also had a job. He did advertising, in which he walked around and distributed fliers for companies among various neighborhoods and locations throughout Colorado. He said he was paid well, but I did not inquire how much his salary really was. In addition, my client also served in the United States Army for five years. I had a sudden realization of not only the truth of Barbara’s novel, but the fact that even people who served our country courageously were still unable to live a decent life. This was upsetting, but even still, after all our chatting about the situation, I found myself somewhat numb to these issues. I found myself knowingly unable to alter these truths.

As a final, yet quite significant moment, my client once again made quite clear the need to enjoy life and all its sweet pleasures. As I said goodbye to this man, with whom I feel I made a bond, he asked me how to get to Washington Park. I looked at him with slight surprise, but told him how to get there and that it was maybe a ten minute walk from campus. He smiled and simply told me that he was going to enjoy this beautiful sunny day and sit in the park. I was nearly speechless. I appreciated his passion for life, and his ability to enjoy even the weather while under such terrible circumstances. I was unsure whether I would be able to find such joy in such little things as this if I were in his position. This purity was most unexpected, yet most enjoyable to discover.

The characteristics my client portrayed were not only inspirational, but they were refreshing. Although I was unable to assist him in many areas of his homeless situation, he was purely happy. He reminded me of a child, with little worries or care, and just the simple ability to enjoy his surroundings. It is easy to say that I would never have witnessed such simplistic joy and satisfaction through any other means. Many of us have homes, jobs, and things of great value, yet we find ourselves unhappy and consumed by the desire for more and the excessive stress of getting there. However, this man proved that happiness does not rely on wealth or valuables. He broke the typical mold of homeless people, and I was overjoyed to witness and meet such an inspiring and compassionate human being.