Breaking: There are buildings in Chicago and case management is hard.Bonus pug pic.

Yeah, yeah, it's been awhile. Deal with it. My life is not that exciting (who am I kidding. Yes it is).

Anyway:

You know what the next best thing is to a long weekend? The short work week that follows.

Complete with cheesy, comedic tour guide.

You know what makes a short work week even better?

CHICAGO. ARCHITECTURE. BOAT TOUR.

So right after the EDSSC took off for Labor Day, Fourth Pres. decided to close early that Thursday for a "staff retreat." Otherwise known as "free boat trip to look at buildings on the Chicago River+ Free lunch + Free drinks."

What is simple living? Not this, for sure. But I'm not one to turn down things that are free or boat related, so of course I went. Plus, it was mandatory.

The tour itself was pretty cool. I would never have known any of the stuff they told us otherwise. Sure, I can't rattle off the fun facts now, but I've been spouting off little tidbits of info to my housemates as we've trekked around the Chicago area (again, ladies, super glad not to have been voted out of the house yet.)

So please enjoy this visual representation of my time on the Chicago River:

Crucial. Revolution Chicago IPA. Fo' free. 

Trump Building. 

This is a building of some significance. 

Also a significant building. 

LUNCH. 

This building follows the curve of the river. Trippy. 

I'm sure this building mattered. 

Bridge. Still architecture, so it counts. 

People live in those. 

Statue of someone hailing a cab. No, really. 

Minor journalism nerd freakout.

I'm basically a Sun Times photographer
because I took this with my iPhone.

More buildings, I guess. 

This building is architecturally important.  

Uh oh. Don't worry, I got another. 

Some building. 

I think this one is important because it
was designed by a communist?

NOT the tallest building in the US. (Thanks for the update, Thomas.) 

Navy Pier Ferris Wheel.

The building next to the Willis tower.

Look at dat skyline. 

That was fun, no? I went home and had a nice nap afterwards. Being a full-time volunteer is not without its perks.

This past weekend was not as architecturally focused, but pretty stellar in way of activity nonetheless. Trish's boss, Michelle, decided she was going to take us to lunch in Chinatown on Saturday. While I'm a big fan of cultural diversity and going new places, I can say with the utmost certainty that I would never have gone to Chinatown on my own decision. It's pretty far from where I live right now and I lack the motivation to do cool things sometimes. So thanks to Michelle for dragging my apathetic butt to south Chicago.

My zodiac symbol means I'm sensitive and
emotional. I mean, I also don't identify with
goats, but come on...

I'm beyond glad we went. Sure, Chinatown is a neat area with some weird things to see, but holy crap can we talk about the food for a second? I like Chinese food, but I've never been blown away by it. After this lunch in Chinatown, I'm a little sad that I wasted so much of my digestive energy eating Chinese food that wasn't this Chinese food. This was one of those meals that I'll still talk about years after the fact because I'll probably spend the rest of my life trying to find potstickers that live up to this experience. Or maybe I'll just need to go back to Chinatown. Real talk: I'll probably go back.

This. This is the place. 

The food was so good, I went home and took a nap after. I seem to be celebrating a lot of my good times these days with naps.

The next day, support people Steve and Colleen took us to a festival to raise money for a hospital that caters to people with disabilities. It was a nice wholesome time that was for a good cause, so I'm really glad we got to check it out.

And now for a story that begins with astounding excitement and ends with some crushing disappointment.

Remember Darrell, my case management project (how dehumanizing does that sound? I need to think of something better to call him, like my "let's fix your life" buddy or "fixer-upper friend." Open to suggestions here.)? If not, check out my post from two weeks ago here. Back? Okay cool.

So, Darrell and I had our first official session about a week and a half ago in which we outlined his goals and discussed what our first steps would be. As mentioned before, Darrell is in a shelter. The shelter he's staying in right now is one of the more popular shelters in Chicago because it is really easy to get a space there. The problem is, however, said shelter seems to value quantity over quality because it's not the nicest place out there. I've yet to meet a resident of this place who likes staying there. Abby, who helped conduct the meeting because she is awesome and I have no idea what I'm doing, suggested that one of the very first things we should do was not only get Darrell out of the shelter, but get him into something more long-term and less awful. There this one shelter, Lincoln Park Community Shelter, in Chicago that has been described to me as the "Mecca of homeless shelters." Not only is it more selective, but the quality of their services is infinitely better AND they have case managers on site to help residents find jobs and permanent housing. The rules and regulations that come with the place are pretty strict, but Darrell is a good guy, so I didn't think he'd have any issues with that.

The way you get a spot at Lincoln Park is not unlike how you win tickets from a radio station. Starting at 9 am on Monday, a potential resident can call the center and ask if there are vacancies. Guests of the shelter either get kicked out or move on to something better quite frequently here, so as long as you are the first to request the empty spot, you get in. At the same time, everyone is trying to get into this shelter, so it's a race to the operator.

Abby proposed this plan of attack: Darrell and I would meet at quarter to 9 on Monday. At 5 minutes to 9 am, we would start calling. We knew wouldn't get through right away, but at least we were getting the ball rolling. Then it was a simple matter of hitting redial until someone picked up or we were told there were no open spots. It was a clunky plan with a low success rate; one of my co-workers once redialed 106 times in a morning and still didn't get her guest a in. But it was the best we had going on.

Darrell and I both made it in on Monday and began the redial process. Redial, wait, hangup, redial. Do that about 60 more times, and you have a good grasp on how I started my week.

Redial, wait, hangup, redial. Wait, hangup, redial. Wait, hangup, redial. Wait, hangup, redial. Wait, hangup, redial. Wait, hangup, redial. Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial.Wait, hangup, redial....."Lincoln Park Community Shelter, how can I help you?"

I nearly fell out of my chair. We got through.

"Yes, I'm calling about vacancies?"

"Well, m'am, our waiting list for females is very long. You probably wouldn't be able to get a spot for..."

"Oh, no! No, no, no, no, I'm calling for a man. Our guest. Darrell. I'm calling on behalf of Darrell X who is looking for a vacancy."

That changed everything.

"Okay then. Tell Darrell to be here tomorrow at 10 am and we'll see what we can do."

I almost cried. We got Darrell a spot. On the first round of calls. I asked him for a high five and spent the rest of the day in the warm after glow of a case management success. I told everyone who would listen about my awesome luck. I was marginally not awful at the case management things.

But you know what they say about that asshole Murphy and his stupid law. This was way too good to be true.

We got an email from Darrell the next day that was frought with confusion and disappointment. He had been at the shelter at the appointed time, brought all the appropriate documentation with him and waited patiently for his admittance.

And the shelter wait listed him. Turns out our information was bad: getting though on the phone the first time didnt get you a spot in the shelter, it got you a spot on the waiting list to get into the shelter. This place is so popular, you basically put yourself in a lottery just for the chance to wait to get in. No promises about getting a bed, just that the shelter might consider you. Might.

I was more than a little crushed when I found out. Abby assured me that this was still a victory, as we're closer to getting Darrell a better place to stay when we were when we started, but I can't tell Darrell that. Not when he has to go back to the crappy shelter. Not after we assured him we had gotten him in to Lincoln Park.

But we'll keep trying. This isn't a failure, really, but it doesn't suck any less. Cross your fingers that we get him in there soon.

That's too sad of a note to end this post on, but I'm out of things to talk about. So here's a low-rez picture of a pug sitting on a bar stool. Yes, we found a bar with a pug who sits at the bar.

He thinks he's people. Silly pug.

And just like that, everything is wonderful again. 

You want me to do what now?

I've mentioned this briefly, but it's worth bringing up again for the sake of the story I'm about to tell: the EDSSC is working to expand it's case management load. Though our primary function is to provide emergency services and the like, the supervisors have a very forward thinking approach to long term planning in that they know that this band-aid we offer is helpful, but will not enact real, sustainable change in the lives of the people who visit the center. I can pretend that the box of cereal I give Joe Drop-in will suddenly inspire him to compose a resume and apply for housing, but I can also attest that I find cereal uninspiring, so I can't expect Joe to be suddenly inspired either. What is truly needed is dedicated individuals who are willing to work with Joe to find out what he wants for his future and not only provide him with the resources to build that future, but also be with him every step of the way to make sure he stays on track and is finding success. 

We call those people case managers. More commonly found in havens of social work and other places that aren't located in the frigid basement of a Presbyterian church (I spent most of this week wearing two sweaters and long sleeves while sitting at my desk. Oi vey.), case managers are nothing short of miracle workers. When I think about the work they do, I'm reminded of a joke one, David Gaillardetz (who is currently doing cool social justice things in Ecuador. Here's his blog if you want to check it out.) told me in freshman year of college:

"How many social workers does it take to change a light bulb?"

"One, but the light bulb has to want to change."

See, in case management, the concern is not so much that there isn't anyone who wants to work with people who may be struggling, but that the struggling people want to put in the work it takes to turn their lives around. It's not as if they're lazy or indifferent, but that getting back on your feet is hard. Really hard. You can have all the motivation to in the world, but anyone will get discouraged after trying and failing time after time. 

No one plans to be homeless or in poverty. No one went to kindergarten and said "I want to live on the streets and rely on some rando church on Michigan Ave. to feed me when I grow up." No, everyone said they wanted to be a fireman or a movie star, or in some very rare and weird cases, a dolphin trainer at Sea World (that was me. I was that weird kid.)

My co-worker Abby, who has her Masters in Social Work and has been interning/working in the field for a few years now, has been been explaining the ins and outs of case management to me over the last two weeks. She's had some remarkable success with one guest, whom she just found an apartment and has been helping him to furnish it. I've been so impressed with her, but I've silently been glad that I wasn't in her place. Not because I don't want to help people. Come on, I'm in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. I did something very wrong with my life if I ended up here and didn't want to help people. No, I was glad I wasn't doing case management because I didn't want to fail at improving someone else's life. 

I'm a 22 year old kid with no paying job, living in a house I didn't have to find on my own. My rent is paid for. I don't have to worry about grocery money. I have a disposable income I don't have to work for, despite it being pretty meager. What the hell do I know about building a life? I haven't really had to do it for myself yet, so how can I possibly do it for someone else?

Then on Monday, the receptionist at Fourth Pres. called down to let me know that Darryl X (name change for confidentiality purposes) was coming down to see Abby. I dutifully told Abby she had a visitor and she goes, "Oh no, he's here for you."

What. 

My blank stare obviously demanded more explanation. 

"I met him this weekend. He's nice, so I thought he'd be a good first case management appointment for you."

WHAT.

I must have looked like the most pathetic sort of intern ever, because Abby very nicely said, "Go get his contact information and talk to him."

Words. That's right. I was capable of using words. I grabbed a clip board and some paper and made my way to meet Darryl. 

"HI. I'M KRISTEN. I'LL BE HELPING YOU WITH WHAT YOU NEED TODAY. WHAT DO YOU NEED TODAY."

I probably wasn't shouting, but I'm sure I was doing something wrong. Darryl didn't seem to notice anyway. He very nicely told me Abby had spoken with him about finding a job in the field he was studying. Also a place to live. 

"GREAT. HERE'S MY EMAIL. SEND ME YOUR RESUME AND WE'LL SET UP A TIME TO MEET NEXT WEEK. WHEN ARE YOU FREE. I'M HERE ALL THE TIME."

When I got back to the office, I accosted Abby immediately.

"TEACH ME CASE MANAGEMENT SKILLS."

She promised we would review later. Okay, that was good. She'd tell me what to do, I'd find Darryl an apartment and a job and then maybe solve world hunger and the crisis in Syria after lunch. 

I don't think the EDSSC realized the mistake they made. They just gave me a life to fix. I have no authority to tell anyone to do anything with their life. You want to ride your bike down the highway with no helmet? You probably have a better understanding of your situation that I ever will, so go ahead. I don't have a good reason to stop you. You want to go on an all frosting and Cheetos diet? Sure, maybe that works for you. What do I know about anything anyway?

I know nothing. Think Jon Snow and subtract everything he could possibly know about and you have me. 

We had a staff meeting the next day dedicated almost exclusively to Case Management 101, which happened at an excellent time, seeing as I have zero experience in the area. Dan asked the group what some of our concerns were about case management. 

"I'M ABOUT TO RUIN SOME POOR GUYS LIFE."

I didn't say that, but it's the same idea. 

Again, I must have looked terrified, because we took up too much time in the rest of the meeting trying to reassure me. They gave me some of the best advice they could have: don't see it as fixing someone's life. See it as a research project. 

See, I can do research projects. I've done enough of those in school that by the time we had finals in senior year, I could bang out a fifteen page research project in a day (this is less of a skill and more of a testament to how bad I let my senioritis get). Suddenly, the entire prospect of taking on a case didn't seem so daunting. All I had to do was put in the hours to find places that would benefit my client. Once I found all the sources, I just had to piece them together to create something new and readable...er, manageable.

So now I'm slightly less terrified, but I don't really see this as any less of a big deal. This isn't working in a soup kitchen to fill high school community service hours any more. This is the big leagues. 

Whatever it is, it's going to be interesting.

That was the most excitement I had all week at work, however. It's pretty good that things are mellowing out. It means I'm finally getting used to my job and the city. 

Short post this week then. For those who will inevitably wonder, as everyone else I've encounter today has, my weekend was good. Relaxing. Shout out to Tolton for the kickin' backyard barbecue/beach trip and to the city of Chicago for hosting a free jazz concert that's so cool, even Lupe Fiasco showed up (and did some Jazz-Rapping). And to my community, for not yet kicking me out as I continue to talk in circles about my increasing panic that we might be sending troops to Syria. And for putting up with me in general. Super appreciated. 

As always, thanks for reading.