I'm a Caseworker!

Hello Again,

So, I know many of you are eager to hear about Sarah's House and after a week of working there, I can tell you... it is wonderful! I'm so happy that I ended up there. No doubt that the work will be challenging at times, but only in the best of ways. It is difficult to describe all that I did this week because each day was different, but primarily- I shadowed the other caseworkers, sat in on meetings, worked at the front desk and read over a lot of different kinds of paperwork.

I share and office with the lead caseworker, Betty. She was out on vacation this week, but I'll get to work with her next week. My favorite part was probably seeing the caseworker's in action. They all have very different styles and use their individuality to build relationships with their clients. The guests at Sarah's House have been kind and welcoming and I'm working on learning names the best I can.

The shelter, transitional housing and daycare are all in 8 different WWII Army barracks on Fort Meade property and the offices are spread out among them, so I'm on my feet a lot going from building to building. The weather was nice all week though so no one minded. The drive is pretty easy once I'm on the highway, but I've been hitting a lot of traffic in the city, especially coming home in the afternoon so I shifted my hours to 8-4 later in the week rather than 9-5. That helped, but I might also try taking a different route next week to see how that goes.

It is hard to say too much more about work right now since I'm still learning the ropes. It is a lot of information all at once, but Joyce (my supervisor) told me, "We don't expect you to learn it all in a day." I'll do some more shadowing this week and then the next step is for me to double on cases with other caseworkers. I'm really looking forward to that because I know that I'll learn the most by just doing it. I'll let you know how it goes!

Now, let me apologize for not properly introducing you to my community members. Here we are in the Inner Harbor during our first week:

From left to right: Ian, Kelly, Rebecca, Bethany, Faith and Me.

We're still waiting on our bedroom furniture but here are some pictures of our living room and kitchen. We moved some furniture around in the living room today, but you can get the general gist.

Faith and Kelly at the table in the living room/ dining room.

Kelly, again, and Ashley (Ian's girlfriend who visited last week)

Rebecca making something wonderfully delicious

It's kind of hard to get good pictures of the rooms because they are big, but they are great spaces in which to cook, eat, read, watch movies or just chill.

Today was a big week because, not only did we have our first weeks of work, we also had the Dragon Boat Races. This is CC's GIANT biannual fundraiser. Local corporations and non-profits partner with CC programs, raise a ton of money for them and then race Dragon Boats (that hold 22 people each) across the harbor. Sarah's House was partnered with PNC Bank, Allegis Group AND the Air Force. Allegis came in first in their division :-) It is an all day event with mini competitions for best team chant, tent decoration, theme hat and more. CC had its own team and their theme was building, so each program decorated a box describing what their program "builds" (ex. Project SERVE builds... Leaders) and this is what we made:

We Project SERVE volunteers had the joy and pleasure of arriving at 5:40am to help construct our beautiful display :-) Later in the day we walked around the harbor with "text to give" signs for people who wanted to donate independently. All in all, it was a very fun day. We had beautiful weather and a great turn out.

Kelly and Bethany watching the races

Me and Kelly

Rebecca and Faith. Aren't our bright yellow shirts stylish?

Oh also! I think I've found a church to go to/sing with. Last week Kelly and I went to a young adult mass at the Church of the Holy Cross in Federal Hill. The music ministry was small but sincere. The music was contemporary but tasteful and I would get opportunities to cantor there too. I'm going to sing with them this week. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm really excited about it. Speaking of church, I'm about to get ready to go. Talk to you soon!

Love,
Caitlin

P.S. Happy Birthday Aaron! (He's coming to visit next weekend :-D!!!)

First Week Fun

So my orientation week is officially over and the end was just as exciting at the beginning. We visited all of the other volunteer sites, which are: My Sister's Place- a day shelter for women and children, Our Daily Bread- CC's hot meal program open 24/7/365 for three meals a day, Christopher Place- an employment center for formerly homeless men , Esperanza Center- immigration outreach providing ESL, medical clinic and legal services, and Villa Maria- a school for children who are diagnosed with special needs and/or an emotional disturbance. It was great to see where everyone else will be working.

One thing that I was pretty proud of this week was my ability to drive in the city. I jumped at every opportunity I could to drive somewhere so that I'd be comfortable driving to work on Tuesday.  I found that it is not nearly as difficult or scary as I thought it would be and I'm beginning to really get a sense for the layout of the city.

On Wednesday we went to Genesee Valley Outdoor Learning Center where we did team building activities and some high ropes challenges. I climbed to the top of a 25 foot telephone pole and then jumped off! While wearing a harness of course. On Friday, Allison put together a beautiful commissioning service for us with our supervisors and other members of CC. We prayed together for our intentions for the coming year and each of our supervisors spoke and gave us each a small gift. My supervisor's said that she was thinking about what I might be able to use, but saw that the lead caseworker had already set up my desk for me with everything I needed. When she was looking through the notes of past Project SERVErs, she noticed something about a cactus and noted how they compare to the clients at Sarah's House. She noted that their prickly exterior sometimes causes people to keep their distance, but with a little care and nourishment they are allowed to grow and flourish. I plan to keep it on my desk as a reminder of this metaphor.

So then orientation week was done and we had... FREE TIME! And we painted a mural. That's right, a mural, and it is awesome. We decided that the sand color in our living room was nice, but a little boring with a lot of wall space, so this is what we did:

Rebecca sketched it (inspired by a painting we found online) and then we all worked together to fill in the lines. We're incredibly proud of ourselves and smile every time we look at it. But that's not the only thing we did together. We've been having detailed conversations about how to do groceries, chores, cooking and cleaning around the house. It's going pretty well so far.

I'm sorry I still don't have pictures of my room for you. Like I said, we're waiting to get new beds and desks and as soon as everything is here and in it's place, I'll post some pictures.

Today, we all volunteered together at Our Daily Bread and then we are going to my Aunt Mary Carol's house for a cook out. We can't wait! Tomorrow is our first day of work. I'll be sure to let you know how my first week goes!

I'm Here!

Hello Everyone!

I'm excited to tell you that I have safely arrived in Baltimore and begun settling into my new home. My mom and dad and I successfully packed all my things into our rented van and drove down to Maryland on Wednesday. On Wednesday and Thursday we got to spend time with family and friends in the area, which was wonderful. I'm so excited to be near my extended family (blood related, and non) again and can't wait to spend more time with them this year. On Friday, we moved all of my things into the house in the morning and had lunch with one of my parent's old friends, Angelo Boar, who works at CC. Around 2, I had to say goodbye to my parents because they were off to spend the weekend at the beach, and our meter had run out. It is hard to believe I won't see them until November! 

Once my other community members had arrived, we took a tour of our house and picked our rooms by lottery. The house is a four story brown stone with two bedrooms on the first floor (one is a guest room), a bedroom, kitchen and living room on the second floor, and two bedrooms on the 3rd and 4th floors. I got the room on the ground floor which I am really happy about. It doesn't get much natural light, but it was repainted last year in really pretty yellow and green, I have my own bathroom and a really cool layout. There is one big main room, the bathroom off of the back, and two small rooms- nooks, kind of, that come off of the side. One, I use for storage and the other, I'm going to put my bed in. We are getting new double beds (to replace the old single ones) and desks next week. Once we get them, I'm going to move some things around and then I'll send you some pictures, but at the moment, it is not quite finished. 

More importantly, however, is that my community members are awesome. There is Faith from Boston, Bethany from Ohio, Kelly from Florida, Rebecca from Vermont and Ian from Baltimore. They are all really great people and we have had a lot of fun over the last few days telling stories, laughing, and getting to know each other. The best part though is that everyone is equally committed to living well as a community and communicating concerns and ideas for how to make this year great. I know there will be challenges, but right now, the future is looking bright :-) Also, my coordinator Allison is WONDERFUL. I anticipated that she would be from all of the phone conversations we had, but she is so much fun in person and truly a part of our community family too, even though she doesn't live in the house with us.

We have done quite a bit over the last few days. In addition to get to know you activities and sessions on community, spirituality, service and simplicity, we toured the area (the Inner Harbor is in walking distance), went grocery shopping, learned about CC and Americorps, had dinner at Ian's house got finger printed, went to the doctor, met with the HR director and ... visited Sarah's House! That's where I'll be working. We got a tour from one of the caseworkers named Kelly. She rattled of a lot of information and rules about the facilities and residents and it was definitely more than an little overwhelming, but I am no less excited to work there. It will be a lot to learn, but I know I'm capable of it. And, I got a hug from one of the little boys who lives there! More to come about Sarah's house in the next couple of weeks. 

In the coming days, we will visit the other service sites, meet the director of CC and Project SERVE alumni, go to an outdoor learning center, have a picnic, go swimming and more sessions on community living. On labor day, we all work together at Our Daily Bread, a hot meals program and then we will go to our individual sites on Tuesday. 

I guess that's all for now. General summary- I'm EXTREMELY happy. I know in every bone of my body that I picked the right program for this year and vocation for my life. I'll be sure to update you again soon. Thanks for reading and all of your support!

Love,

Caitlin