01/19/2023
Good Thursday Morning Supporters and Volunteers!
A while back I had the honor to sit down with Megan Poole, Senior Director of Program-Immediate Support at St. Patrick Center, and I wanted to revisit portions of our discussion that I think were important but did not have enough space last time to share them with the community. One critical theme we discussed was being able to “meet [the guest] where they are at” and helping that person build from their starting point as much as possible. Whether it be in the unhoused community where you must meet them at their trust and security level, so they do not feel like you are pushing are prodding them along or with the guests at the Outreach Program who only come with the few documents they were able to gather to make it to the Church on time. In both cases, we must be conscious that each guest has their own story that is complicated and multi-faceted, and we are only there for a small but important piece.
One final thing we discussed that has stuck with me during the rest of my tenure at the College Church is the juxtaposition in ease it is for me to get my official documentation versus a guest at the Church or the St. Patrick Center. Many people whom we see in both our programs do not have the same luxury of access to these very critical documents that we take for granted. Megan has seen members of the unhoused population she works with take up to three months of running around to get their documentation without assistance, whereas for us it would take a day. This is valuable time that each of us tries to give back to our guests so they can have fuller and better control of their lives. Each day we work to turn three months into thirty minutes and alleviate one problem in that person’s multi-faceted life.
Again, I want to thank Megan Poole for sitting down with me and having a wonderful conversation.
