The Times They Are a Changin'

February started a new chapter at the CAP office with only two caseworkers and an intern (ME!).  It was a whirlwind week of learning for me and I am sharing a few lessons with you.

Lesson One: Do your research.

Help of Ojai has a small, one time monthly rental assistance for clients who are sustainable.  There is an application process and we do our best to vet the person through references and their landlord.  We work with the person on their budget for the future and try to find ways to make cuts, like through utility assistance and our food boxes.  My first vibes from my applicant was I thought this was a perfect person for the program.  As it went on, I was doing my best to hurry and missed a few signs that maybe it wasn't the best applicant and I told the applicant we would most likely fund her.  Most likely in her mind turned to you will fund me, a rookie mistake of telling the client too much before it was finalized.  When it was all said and done, Karen commented that this was a time I should have reigned me in a little to fully look at the situation a second time.

Lesson Two: I hate mice.

We have taken full advantage of doing some early spring cleaning during this time of change.  In the process we have realized we have a mice issue.  THANKFULLY! the mice are not anywhere near the food boxes because those rooms are properly sealed.  Unfortunately, that means the mice are in our office space.  It started with finding a mouse house in a box.  That led to me finding a mouse in a mouse trap that had been sitting there for a VERY long time.  I didn't know whether to cry or vomit and had to step outside.  The exterminator has set out traps and our wonderful volunteer handyman has gotten to work.  A second mouse was caught in a trap (yay!), but I need to talk to the exterminator about not parading it around the office in a bag.

Lesson Three: Make a checklist.

I love checklists because it keeps me organized and makes me feel accomplished.  With so much going on, I need to be better organized with my clients and projects  It also keeps me productive and less forgetful!

Lesson Four: Community makes it better.

It is confirmed that if I ever become a teacher, I would teach middle school.  When coaching, they were always my favorite age group (if we were allowed to have favorites!) because they were hilarious, fun, hadn't realized what was too much information for adults to have, and talkative.  We have eight 7th graders come from a local school to help us clean up.  They worked hard, asked great questions, and talked to all of us.  Seeing their enthusiasm for their first assignments was refreshing and seeing their horror of asking them to clean out a fridge was hysterical.  They did it all  and it was refreshing to see how they worked in their own community and integrated into our community.

Lesson Five: What's the most you can do?

To end the week, we had someone drop off a lost and confused person at our office and leave her there.  The woman who dropped her off promised to be back at 2:00PM to drive the woman to Fresno, CA.

I interviewed the woman earlier in the morning and she could tell me her name and that she was trying to get to her aunt's house in Fresno.  She said she had been in Ojai since December and she had been living on the streets. Nobody from the community knew who she was and I couldn't get any more information from her.

The woman that dropped her off never came back to pick her up.  This puts me in an awkward situation when I have to tell this very confused woman that there is no ride to Fresno.  It was really hard to tell her that we couldn't give her anything except information.  We told her about the homeless shelter and advised her to check with some of the churches around town if she wanted to try to get a bus fare to Fresno.  Between Karen and I, we were able to give her fare to get to Ventura.  The bus fare was the most that we could do, as neither of us can afford to pay for her to go to Fresno.

It's hard to accept that sometimes the most you can do, doesn't feel that it's enough.  It's also a good reminder that even when we have cases like this, we have to stick to our policies and mission as a non-profit.  It's not our mission to to save everyone, but we can do our best by giving them information that can help them.