Yes, I realize how long it's been since my last post. No, I'm not convinced anybody is still reading this. And I'd like to stay a lot has happened since then -- and in many ways, there has been a lot. In other ways, well, not so much.
In the past few weeks, my parents have come to visit and we had a stellar outing at a wonderful place called TexAZ. And yes, it is exactly how it sounds. I've taken a brief retreat to San Jose/Santa Clara and pretended to be a normal person for a weekend. I've taken (with all of Phoenix JVs) a roadtrip to San Diego to pretend to be Greg for a Halloween... which... didn't turn out so well.
In many ways, we've pretty much gotten into a Phoenix groove these days. At work, I am holding a 100% case load -- meaning I have at least 10 families who are my clients specifically. Sometimes I have more than 10, which makes days REALLY interesting and REALLY busy. A major highlight was being able to get my first family into a transitional housing program. Basically, they were my first "real success story." And the day they moved into their new apartment, they stopped by in my office to thank me for the work I did for them. The day before that, another family moved into their own new apartment. While she wasn't my client specifically, she came in to thank all of the case managers. She was crying... which of course made all of the rest of cry. Those two families were a great reminder of why I signed on for the year.
Other than that, it's been business as usual.
What EXACTLY is "business as usual?" you might ask
Good question! I'm glad you asked.
There was a pretty great article published in The Arizona Republic last week about Central Arizona Shelter Service (CASS) -- aka our company. The article mostly focuses on the 5th anniversary of the Human Service Campus, which is where the downtown CASS shelter is located for single men and women. Vista Colina is not a part of that campus. We're located much further north, but we are still run under the umbrella of CASS. The "Suddenly Homeless" section is about the Vista Colina shelter. It outlines the story of Adrienne Mones, one of our clients.
And I'm going to FORCE you to read it now. No, seriously. Read it now. The rest of this blog post will not make sense unless you read the news story. As many Santa Clara professors would say, just to make sure you've done the reading, I'm going to give you a quiz afterward.
Okay, not really. But I repeat, YOU HAVE to read the article.
Crowded Maricopa County shelter a last refuge for homeless -- Arizona Republic, Nov. 5, 2010
YOU CANNOT READ THE REST OF THIS BLOG UNTIL YOU READ THE NEWS ARTICLE!!!
Really, I'm not lying.
Are you reading it yet?!?!
Just for good measure, I'm posting the article link again:
Crowded Maricopa County shelter a last refuge for homeless
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Okay, I warned you. If you didn't read the article, you're ruining the ending -- and if you didn't read the article after all those multiple warnings, I'm assuming that you're one of those people who reads the last chapter of a book before the first. And let's face it, if you're one of those people, there just isn't any hope for you.
I'm giving you one last chance. Read the article. It's now or never.
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Alright. Since you've read the article, I'm going to go ahead and add to the story.
So remember Adrienne? The article mentions that she's working at a massage therapist; saving her money; and working towards paying off a hefty sum of traffic fines for driving without a license. It also mentioned that she is working towards getting a valid license. What the artice doesn't mention is that Adrienne, who was unable to drive and didn't have a car, was getting a ride to work from her boyfriend, who DID had a car.
Through a freak string of events, he lost that car earlier this week.
As a result, both Adrienne and her boyfriend came into my office upset on Tuesday morning because they did not know how either one of them would be able to keep getting to work. I gave them a bus pass that was good for the day, but it obviously wouldn't sustain them. They left my office a little brightened because they had found a temporary solution, but they were still disheartened because they didn't know what would happen in the long rung -- especially because they were able to get jobs and get back on their feet already.
Then fate stepped in.
Turns out a business woman was also having car issues Monday, although of a different nature. Her Toyota was making a funny sound while it ran, so she took it in to the dealer. In typical repairman fashion, he told her the part that was causing the loud racket was not the only part that needed to be replaced; other parts had to be taken care of as well. The dealer gave her an estimate of $1500 in order to fix the problem. He also told her that the funny sound wasn't an indication that there was something majorly wrong with the car. It still ran well. However, like all salesmen, he was somehow able to persuade her into buying an entirely new car because they were having "such a great sale." So she traded in her old car for a $1500 credit on her new Prius.
Maybe it was buyer's remorse -- or maybe it was something else-- but she tossed and turned all night long.
She decided that her $1500 could have gone to much better use.
She had done some volunteering at homeless shelters before in the past. And she also remembered reading a story in the newspaper last week about a homeless mom who didn't have any transportation because of a suspended license.
She returned to the car dealership, picked up her old car and added $1500 to her car bill. Then, she dug up the article, Adrienne's name, and called the shelter.
2 hours later, the car was sitting in the parking lot outside the shelter, and the keys were being placed in Adrienne's hands.
Now Adrienne, who is still working and has applied for a transitional housing program and is just waiting to hear back, has a car ready and waiting for her. She's still paying off the last of her fines and it's given her even greater motivation to get her driver's license validated.
Sitting on the bottom step just inside the front desk of the shelter, Adrienne told us today how she felt about the car.
"A few days ago, I wrote down on a piece of paper that I wanted a 4-door car that ran well for me and my kids. Now it's sitting outside my window," she said. "I'm so grateful for everything. If I wouldn't have come here, none of this would have ever happened."
And THAT is business as usual.
