A few of you have heard from me that I have started teaching English to some neighbors who are new to the area. They have only been in the US for 6-10 months (a few of them more than others) and came over from Mexico.
I, who love learning but by no means have any experience teaching English, have been so blessed by this family! Last week the mother said to me, "Dios te bendigaras por todo to haces," which means (well, the Spanish is a little rusty...) "God is going to bless you for teaching us.
I was moved almost to the point of tears. All I've taught them to say so far is, "Hi, my name is _________." and "How are you?" And they tell me that God is going to bless me. I told them that God is going to bless them for allowing me to teach them, I who have no teaching experience. What a sweet family God has placed in my life! I'm so thankful for them. They bring me so much joy each week that I get to teach them.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
To Protect and to Serve...
This past week I was able to meet some senior lead officers with the Hollywood police. Occaisionally there will be times when the police will come through with a dump truck and the "Hollywood beautification team." They will not only pick up large trash items (such as leftover Christmas trees) but will also clean up encampments and send people on their way who are staying in the encampments. On Tuesday of last week, we rode around in our van following the police officers.
*Note: This is for the internship portion of the program here, in which I ride around in a van with a partner and ask homeless people if they need any services.* The police were warning the homeless people in encampments that on Wednesday, they would be cleaning out the area and the people would have to leave. We were there to offer bus tokens to anyone wanting to go to a winter shelter, as we had no room in our shelter. A couple of the officers we rode with started to get angry with the homeless people. "We've seen you here before," they said, "and when we try to help you, you don't go with the people we bring to help you. This looks like crap, we're coming through to clean it out tomorrow." There were more blunt statements like this said, and then we moved on to the next encampment.
Wednesday rolled by, and we were not sure what to expect. We most definetely did not want to associate ourselves with the police who were forcing the people to leave their only homes, but we wanted to be there to help the people access services. Imagine our frustration when clients began to look at our team differently. When I asked one particular client who we had started to build rapport with if he wanted a lunch, he just looked at us with eyes that said we had betrayed him. "No, thanks," he said as he walked away.
The hardest part of the day was listening the way that some of the officers were talking to the clients. "Get the hell out and don't come back, and take your s*** with you." One officer actually told me that after working in LA's infamous Skid Row area for 10 years or more, she only saw a handful of 'legitimately' homeless people who weren't substance abusers or mentally ill. As if the people who are those things aren't legitimately homeless?! A few of the officers began to tell the clients where they could and could not move to, based on where the boundary lines of their patroling areas were.
"Don't go over to Sunset," said one officer, because that's my area.
"You'd better not go over there," said the other officer, "because that's my area."
"Where am I supposed to go?" The woman I was talking to asked.
"Go over to Riverside drive," the first officer said, "because that's LA county and not where we go."
I will say that, much to my encouragement, I did meet a couple of officers who were more interested in helping and collaborating with us than shooting down the people they were forcing out. One officer said he had taken a tour of the PATH regional homeless center and he thought all of the Hollywood police officers should take a tour, so they knew what services were there. The officers who I thought were abrubt were in all honesty doing their jobs. It is their job to keep the streets clean and safe. And yet, I look forward to the day when all people can be treated subjectively. Hopefully in seeing the way we treat our clients, the officers can change the way they address the homeless. Overall, the week was successful because it was the start of a relationship with the senior lead officers of the area. The more they know about how we can help people, the more alternatives they can give the homeless people they run into on the streets.
*Note: This is for the internship portion of the program here, in which I ride around in a van with a partner and ask homeless people if they need any services.* The police were warning the homeless people in encampments that on Wednesday, they would be cleaning out the area and the people would have to leave. We were there to offer bus tokens to anyone wanting to go to a winter shelter, as we had no room in our shelter. A couple of the officers we rode with started to get angry with the homeless people. "We've seen you here before," they said, "and when we try to help you, you don't go with the people we bring to help you. This looks like crap, we're coming through to clean it out tomorrow." There were more blunt statements like this said, and then we moved on to the next encampment.
Wednesday rolled by, and we were not sure what to expect. We most definetely did not want to associate ourselves with the police who were forcing the people to leave their only homes, but we wanted to be there to help the people access services. Imagine our frustration when clients began to look at our team differently. When I asked one particular client who we had started to build rapport with if he wanted a lunch, he just looked at us with eyes that said we had betrayed him. "No, thanks," he said as he walked away.
The hardest part of the day was listening the way that some of the officers were talking to the clients. "Get the hell out and don't come back, and take your s*** with you." One officer actually told me that after working in LA's infamous Skid Row area for 10 years or more, she only saw a handful of 'legitimately' homeless people who weren't substance abusers or mentally ill. As if the people who are those things aren't legitimately homeless?! A few of the officers began to tell the clients where they could and could not move to, based on where the boundary lines of their patroling areas were.
"Don't go over to Sunset," said one officer, because that's my area.
"You'd better not go over there," said the other officer, "because that's my area."
"Where am I supposed to go?" The woman I was talking to asked.
"Go over to Riverside drive," the first officer said, "because that's LA county and not where we go."
I will say that, much to my encouragement, I did meet a couple of officers who were more interested in helping and collaborating with us than shooting down the people they were forcing out. One officer said he had taken a tour of the PATH regional homeless center and he thought all of the Hollywood police officers should take a tour, so they knew what services were there. The officers who I thought were abrubt were in all honesty doing their jobs. It is their job to keep the streets clean and safe. And yet, I look forward to the day when all people can be treated subjectively. Hopefully in seeing the way we treat our clients, the officers can change the way they address the homeless. Overall, the week was successful because it was the start of a relationship with the senior lead officers of the area. The more they know about how we can help people, the more alternatives they can give the homeless people they run into on the streets.
It's been a while!
Hello, everyone! I know that it's been a while since I've last updated all of you. I hope to be making more regular posts on my blog in the near future (call it a goal or resolution, whatever you like...)
Here's some highlights that I'm particularly thankful for from my Christmas break:
Here's some highlights that I'm particularly thankful for from my Christmas break:
- Seeing some real snow- we had a snow storm the right before I left. I really wanted to get stuck in Michigan, but it didn't happen.
- Cooking with my mom, particularly our cranberry salad and mashed potatoes.
- Playing clarinet and singing in the Christmas Eve service at Chapel Lane Presbyterian church.
- Playing Mexican train dominoes with my parents. Always a highlight.
- Getting a Daddy-daughter date at Arby's (our tradition- Jamoca shakes).
- Talking to Alicia on Skype for like 2 hours.
- Going skating at the Midland civic arena!
And my parents hosted a Holiday Tea at Chapel Lane for me in which I was able to share a little more about my experiences here in Hollywood. I'm so thankful to all who attended and helped out with this! I felt so encouraged by your being there. That was pretty much my holiday. I actually slept in till almost 10 everyday, and if you know me, you know I must have been very tired to do that because that's not characteristic! It was a time of recharging and I am very thankful for the time to be with my parents.
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