Hi Y'all!! (too soon?!)
So I was told that I have to blog about my experiences down in Mobile, and though I don't think my life is remotely interesting enough to worthy a blog, I'll give it a shot...
I left Chicago almost a month ago, and I miss it terribly. When people here ask me where home is, do I say Hudson, Ohio? Nope. I tell the truth and say Chicago. Anywho, after a trip home and to Boston, I flew on down to Houston for orientation. Highlights of Houston: Lacey Maxwell and BBQ. We stayed at this ridiculous retreat center that had PEACOCKS! (Though I question their native-ness to Houston). Orientation felt an awful lot like middle school summer camp, but I kind of liked it that way, ha. We had speakers come in and talk on each of the four pillars (social justice, spirituality, community, and simple living). My favorite speaker was the simple living speaker, because she taught us how to do this type of dance called Neya (sp?), and we all looked ridiculous and were laughing and it was free! After five days of exhaustively talking about all of these concepts though, we just wanted to clear out and see our house and actually start this year.
My roommates are wonderful. Really. I am a bit biased, but I think that we have the best house. There are 7 of us (Jenny, Mary P, Andrew, Andrew, Megan, Matt, and myself). Our house is an old convent (really). It's HUGE. We all have our own room, equipped with our very own sink. Though we were greeted by a few cockroaches when we came in, we've made a game out of it and start a tally on how many we can kill throughout the year. I think we're up to 10.
Mobile is a cute little, little city. We can walk almost anywhere. We took a tour of our agencies and the city, and it was a bit overwhelming. It's odd to experience all of these things that were so abstract before I got here (like racism, poverty, slavery, people who are illiterate, homeless children) and then to see the reality version... all in one week. We drove by the old slave markets where people. PEOPLE. were bought and sold. It was mind blowing. Then we toured a homeless day shelter where Megan works, and her boss told us that the average age of a homeless person is 9. That's what, a third grader? Ridiculous.
My agency is the Service Center for Catholic Social Services. I've only been there 3 days, but I can already tell it's going to be really, really hard. We have some grant money from utiltiy companies, and we try to disburse it to people who are going to have their utilities shut off without assistance. So many clients have these HUGE bills because they have a medical need (dialysis machine, home-care machine...) that are drawing on their electric bills, and if they get cut off, so do the machines... It's hard because there is SO much paperwork and checking information involved. People come in the day the power is going to be cut off with their 4 babies, and don't have the necessary paperwork... I saw a woman who had 6 or 7 little ones and was homeless. I see people coming directly from the prison right to receive food stamps and a place to stay. We went to "the Bayou" yesterday to do offsite work for people who have been affected by the oil spill. These people worked for crab companies or processing plants and now have no work, and BP gave them a one time sum of $1,000 to cover "all future lost income." Some of these peoples electric bills are $400, plus rent, food, gas, and water? $1000 might last a month. All the clients in the Bayou are from Vietnam, Laos, or Cambodia, and speak very little if any English, so finding new work is even more challenging.
Okay, my time on this library computer is about to cut off, so I'll stop rambling. I bought a bunch of random postcards to send, so please give me your address so I can harrass you. Also, please send anything random down to Mobile:
208 S Ann Street
Mobile, AL 36604
PEACE,
Emily
