It is such a beautiful day. The sun in shining and it's 80 degrees and I'm stuck inside. Not for too much longer. And I do have a 3 day weekend to follow which is always a pleasure. I feel like I can't get enough weekend time. Last weekend, I went camping in the San Juan Islands with my boyfriend and another couple. We had such a wonderful time exploring the islands, eating delicious food and being dirty for four days. It was so great to get away from everything. From technology, work and obligations. I have to say that self care and recreation are the most important part of this line of work. If you don't take care of yourself, you can't get anything done. I had a professor at U of O who always said "You gotta take a break to re-create". Probablly the most important thing I learned while there.

I had Monday off, making this an easy three day week of work. Coming back to work after a vacation is always a bit challenging, but this week has not been bad at all. I have been working hard to modify the policies that our clients must follow. I have been attempting to create a policy that would be more realistic to the "real world" in hopes that the youth are a bit more prepared for when then leave this program and become independent. We are going to implement our new policies on Monday, and as I have said to them over and over, it's going to be a trial and error period until we all get the hang out it and figure out what works and what doesn't. I am hoping that it will allow the youth who are doing what needs to be done much more independence. It's only fair. Well, it's time to get back to work before my days ends. So long for now.

Challenges

I encountered and pushed myself through a challenging moment today. A school counselor of one of my client's called to inform me that she has been missing quite a few classes and isn't sure what is going on. I confronted my client about it and she flat out told me that the class she continuously skips is boring and so she isn't even going to try. I asked her if there is anything we can do to help or if there is any incentive to help get her through the class and she told me there is nothing anyone can do, that she will take a different class next year to make up for it. The problem is, this class is making up for a class that was failed in the past and if these classes are not passed, graduation will be postponed. It made me sick to my stomach to hear her say that she plans to fail this class, that she doesn't even wish to try. After a brief conversation and me taking away computer privileges, she angrily went to her room. It was tense and uncomfortable and I think we both needed time to ourselves to take a deep breath. A while later, I went to talk to her and expressed that the only reason I am being harsh is because I know that she is a very smart girl and therefor I have high expectations of her. She later apologized and said she is having a bad day and that we can talk about it again tomorrow. Maybe things will turn around...?

On a brighter note, I helped a client apply for this really great job. The application was pretty intense and asked some very personal questions. He answered the questions beautifully and wrote an excellent cover letter for the first time. It was a rewarding moment, to see someone work so hard for something. I hope it works out for him.

One week from today, Tuesday May 19th, the Runaway and Homeless Youth Rally is taking place in Salem. Anyone want to go? It should be a very powerful experience. Check out this website for more information
http://ohryc.org.googlepages.com/
We really could use all the support out there. Funding is so important for these programs as the population of homeless and runaway youth is HUGE! Check out that website for some information on what's happening around the state.

The picture...going to my happy place when I am stressed...the beach
I leave you with that for now.

Day 2 of Blogging

My titles will get more exciting, as will my blogs. I promise. I'm just new at this and have a hard time starting out with what to write about. Since I am at work, I will start with just that.

A Day in the Life of Work:
Today, I started out at a meeting with community partners from all over our county. We talked about concerns in our community, particularly those affecting the quality of life of youth and families. We discussed the lack of health care, housing, transportation, prevention programs and funding. I brought up the fact that we are the only shelter program for youth in all of our county with only seven beds. If our program is full, we are forced to send the youth to the neighboring county, outdoors, or back into the dangerous situation they are trying to escape. When you have a youth in this situation, chances are they haven't seen a doctor in years, if ever. There are most likely some mental health issues occurring that the youth does not recognize, and therefore does not seek help for which may hinder the youth from successfully becoming independent, which is what our program works to do. After talking about the barriers we as providers are facing, we did our best to focus on the positive things happening in this community. For instance, we have a lot of caring people in this community with the mission to help our homeless youth and families. This meeting generally generates anywhere from 20 to 35 people who care and really are passionate about making this a safe, healthy and productive community. Next, we were informed about a wonderful job program for low income youth this summer and to encourage our youth to apply for this work experience. After this meeting, I journeyed over to our main office to participate in our staff meeting. We debriefed and filled each other in on all the clients. Further, we reviewed the outline that I created of new policies for our program. We have been talking about reconstructing the program rules to better serve the clients. I am excited to see what the new program expectations will do for the house and our clients. After the staff meeting, I headed back to my office to wait for my 3:00pm appointment who no-showed. Unfortunately, it is something that I am used to. But, I guess if I didn't know where I was going to be sleeping or what my next meal would be, I might be missing appointments too. It's rough out there for the homeless and I feel for them. At the same time, it's very important for me to see people follow through in order to work with them. So, I got to spend the afternoon relaxing. This evening, I have been chatting with client's about their day as they come through the door. I will help one with job searching, one with updating her resume and later tonight, a client will be leading the first life skills class on nutrition. I am looking forward to see how it goes and how her peers will react to the information she will present. That's Positive Youth Development right there. Hope it goes well!

Signing off for now...

Blogging for the First Time

This is my first blog...well, my first Blog on Blogspot. I've bloged on MySpace in the past and have found it to be an excellent outlet to the ups and downs of life. I am a very emotional person and there's no better way to express these emotions than to write it all out, for me at least. Not only am I an emotional person, I am very invested in my work which can be very draining both mentally and physically. I work in a transitional living program for homeless youth as a case manager, intake coordinator and outreach coordinator. Sometimes I feel like I do it all, but I know that's not true because of the wonderful, hard-working and dedicated staff that are here to keep this program strong and successful. I spend a lot of my time dwelling on the things that go wrong at work, but I want to take this opportunity to focus on the good things and ways to improve our weaknesses. In addition, I am constantly learning new things...new things about working with these youth, new things about myself, new recipies, new books and music. I want to share with you all the things I am learning and experiencing. Let the blogging begin

My current status: Relaxing at work...appropriate?
Current Book: Twilight (FINALLY!)
Curryent Mood: Content, ready to go home though