Denver Rescue Mission Log
As I was walking there I was extremely nervous. I had to get directions from other people because I didn’t know how to get there and the person giving me these directions was Deven. He said that was in a sketchy neighborhood and I was immediately nervous about going by myself. When I got there, there was a guy standing outside that directed me inside. This guy was of some Spanish origin and knew very little English, and my mind immediately went to stereotyping his situation thinking that he was homeless and just panhandling or something like that. Then later on I found out that he has been volunteering at the Denver Rescue Mission for a very long time and most of the people there knew him. From that moment I set all stereotypes aside because I wanted to learn from this experience and that was my first lesson. Then I went downstairs to the cafeteria and working rooms where they stored all of the food. It was very small and crowded with lots of stuff, but the atmosphere in the room was very positive and happy. The guy in charge, Steve, immediately put me to work with sorting and rotating bread. I learned that they throw out anywhere from 500-700 loaves of bread a day. I was amazed because I had assumed that any donations that were received were needed. This was not the case. Steve said that they had so many donations of breads and perishable products that they could not use it fast enough. Also, there were many loaves that were perfectly good to eat but because they were not sliced or because the slices were too small they would never be used. This made me wonder why the Rescue Mission didn’t have a list of acceptable items to make sorting easier. The people that I was working with were all very nice but at the same time they all for the most part kept to themselves. There were two girls that I did get to know a little bit. It was a grandmother and her 18 year old granddaughter. They said that this was only their second time volunteering but they really liked doing it. The girl had dreadlocks and at one point while we were working, Steve came up and began asking about them. It was quite humorous because you could tell that he was fascinated by them and how you got them and took care of them and the girl was having fun explaining it to him. This was one of the only conversations that I saw that was among many people that were working together. Otherwise, many of the people that came together stuck together. And even though there were many people just keeping to themselves. I thought it would be awkward but it wasn’t at all. Everyone knew what we were there for and everyone had their own reason for being there. When it came time to serve the food I remember looking at the lady next to me and seeing her relaxed face made me feel that much more at ease about this experience. She was delegating the salad and I was in charge of the dressing. The choices were regular Italian or creamy Italian. As people began to come in, my first thought to myself was, “They look normal to me.” Sure some of them looked a little rough around the edges but for the most part they were just the same as me. It surprised me so much to see that many of these people were homeless and had nowhere to go, yet most of them were very cheerful and positive and ready to start a conversation over anything. When the last of the people came in to get the lunch that was actually pretty good, I took a step back as well as a deep breath. It had all gone so fast and the work that seemed easy enough had now exhausted me. After clean up, all of the volunteers had a meeting. Clean up was relatively quick, due to the fact that all the while that people were eating, there were bussers cleaning up the garbage and the dishes. At the meeting we all shared our experiences and what we thought of the whole operation. I told them that I had had a wonderful time and would definitely like to come back sometime. Everyone agreed that it felt great to help people in need and that we would all like to spend more time helping out. I remember thinking how fake that sounded considering the fact that following that statement was the phrase, “… if I had more time.” However, did know that they were there now and that did count for something. After the meeting I headed home feeling tired, accomplished, and a little depressed all at the same time.
My clients name for the day was Tina McDonald. She was there with her boyfriend, and throughout the day I did not get to know much more about them. As, we met and got our breakfast, neither of them seemed to want to talk to me, and when they did, they sounded very sarcastic and unwilling to talk to me at all. With constant questioning I found out that they were both ex-felons, and were very upset with the system. They were both unemployed, unable to find a steady job, and in need of housing. Tina needed to get an ID first, so that was our first stop. When we got there, she was able to get a voucher to pick up her ID in one week. This greatly upset her because she was expecting to receive the ID right there and not have to wait. This struck me as a little selfish just for the simple fact that these services were being provided to her free of cost. From there we went to the job fair only to find out that we have not yet registered with the Denver workforce or written a resume, or gone through the mock interview. We spent the next hour in the workforce registration line. During this time all I got to hear from my client was how slow the system was and how inefficient this whole project was. I remember thinking to myself how ungrateful this woman was to have people here trying to help her and all she could do was complain. At the same time I felt guilty, conflicted and didn’t know what to do. So, I listened to her, and agreed because I still wanted to help her as much as I could without creating conflict.
When entering the job fair, finally, after over 2 hours waiting in lines to write resumes and enlisting in the Denver workforce, my client became very jittery and nervous. All of a sudden it was like she did not even want to look for a job. You could see her past mistakes haunting her. Her felony, sitting in the back of her mind and still holding her back, even now from even entering this small job fair where the employers are there to help and not expecting a perfect background. This was the first time that I was really able to see Tina in a vulnerable position. I didn’t know what to do. I was standing there outside the little roped off area signifying the place to find a job, and I remember seeing the CAUTION tape that was used as a barrier thinking how ironic that was. I remember wondering if she noticed that too, and whether or not she was going to make it past the warning signs. Finally, she made it inside. I had assumed it would have been like The Pursuit of Happyness, when Chris Gardner takes every opportunity he can get, like when he shares a cab and solves the Rubik’s Cube, but it turned out to be a completely different story.
I could not get Tina to go up to any of the potential employers. She kept looking at them, not doing or saying anything. There were approximately fifteen different employers there, and out of all of them she ended up applying to only one. I kept urging this stranger that did not want to talk to me in the first place, to apply more places, telling her that she was fine that it would help her situation, and all I received in return was a, “No. I don’t want to”. I felt helpless. How do you get someone to do something that you know will help them, when they do not even want to talk to you in the first place? I knew that she needed to find a job, and that she needed more help that what she received. I did not know where she was sleeping that night or what she was going to do for food so we picked up extra lunches. From there, I followed her out and she left with her boyfriend. As I walked them to the bus I felt completely useless, like my services could have been so much more helpful to someone who actually wanted them. I kept thinking about my experience at the Denver Rescue Mission and how the people there seemed so much more grateful.
