Tag Archives: Genesis Home

What about personal responsibility?

Posted on by Stan Holt

Last weekend I had a great priviledge of doing a two hour training on poverty for Raleigh’s Support Circles. Support Circles is a program of Catholic Charities. It matches up small groups of congregational volunteers with homeless households to provide them social support as these households move to self-sufficiency. I spend some time defining poverty, sharing some of the most recent data and talking about how poverty impacts health and education. As part of the discussion, one of the support circle volunteers asked me, “You haven’t talked about personal responsibility? Don’t you believe that people have personal responsbility to improve their situation?” Of course, this comment comes during the week following Mitt Romney’s comments regarding the 47% who believe they are entitled to public support and do not take personal responsibility to care for their lives. So perhaps talking about personal responsibility and poverty is a timely thing to talk about.

I just saw this article written by a woman who was on welfare and shook my head. I remember many variations of this story when I was working as Genesis Home’s Executive Director. It was true, the majority of families who found themselves homeless and living in this transitional housing program were in a temporary situation. However, they needed some government assistance to move out of their current situation, a homeless shelter, and needed to continue that assistance until they were stable.

So as I thought about the volunteer’s question on Saturday, I asked the question: What in your life have you been able to control, and what in your life have you not been able to control? In my own life, there were things I could control and things I couldn’t control. When I can’t control something, I don’t feel like I can take responsibility. Suppose I have a job, and I am laid off because the plant is moving overseas. Am I responsible? No. Am I going to need assistance to make ends meet? If I haven’t managed to save up enough, I might need unemployment assistance. Do I have control over getting a new job? Well, not really, that is dependent upon an employer’s decision, not mine. I do have control over completing applications, preparing for interviews, and ensuring I make a good impression, but even a good impression is someone else’s judgement of me. However, what if jobs are scarce in my community? Do I settle for a part-time position, with no benefits? Perhaps. After all that is in my control and having some income is helpful. What happens though, if in the cycle of applying for jobs and getting rejected, I feel discouraged? Hmm. It begins to feel as if I have no control, frustration rises, and I’m hooked into a cycle of feeling like the system is against me. Guess what, it is going to be hard for me to take responsibility; particularly if it feels like things are spiraling out of my control.

The good thing is that I have a support system that would help me think about what I can and can’t control. Some individuals and families may not have that support. I’m glad the Support Circle volunteers are asking these tough questions and talking about what they can do to help. Sometimes personal responsibility can seem elusive, but when we help others discern what they can and can’t control, and help them understand the small steps to take, confidence will lead to greater personal responsibility and that is another step in the process toward self sufficiency.

 

Image from caregiverland.com




Not Without My Dog…

Posted on by Jennifer Bosk

Think about losing your job and having your lights turned off.  Now think about being locked out of your home by the mortgage company.  Then the repo guy comes for your car.  No cell phone.  No computer. Not even a change of clothes.  You sit on a street until you are run out of the neighborhood because now you’re a vagrant – no longer wanted. 

You walk and walk until dark falls.  You hover under a bridge for shelter from the rain and find a beat up cardboard box you crawl into for the night.  Everything is gone. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.  Days turn into weeks.  You beg on the corner for loose change while people drive by yelling, “Get a job!”  You have nothing.

Then one day she comes loping down the street.  She’s dirty, thirsty, and has a wary look in her eye.  She draws near and you offer this four-legged visitor some water, keeping your distance.  She laps the water quickly, looks up and for the briefest of moments, she wags her tail.  You extend your hand.  She slowly crawls to you.  And now you have someone else to focus on.  Someone who is as beat up as  you.  Someone homeless like you.  Someone without anything in the world – except now she has you and you have her.

You bond.  She follows you.  You share your food from the dumpster.  She sleeps next to you at night, keeping you warm.  Where you go, she patiently follows.  You talk to her, tell her it will get better…someday. She becomes your world.

Then someday it does get better.  You hear about an open shelter.  You head that way hoping to be first in line. You reach the building and there, in bold letters, is a sign that says, “No Pets”.  You look at your companion. You turn and walk away to find a new bridge and a new box. Continue reading →




“50 Cents Just Might Make Their Whole Day”

Posted on by Reah Nicholson

On Tuesday, January 10, 2012, I rode down to Sowell Street in Durham, N.C., to do a video interview with Mr. Jerome as an assignment for my job. To me, Jerome was a stranger, a man who I knew nothing about, a man who had hit hard times and was once living on the street. But when I left his little white house, I realized he was more than that, he was the man that had just changed my life. Continue reading →




Baby, it’s COLD outside!

Posted on by Meg Buckingham

A New Englander turned sunny, warm North Carolinian, I’ve gotten quite used to the warmer winters we enjoy here in the southern states. Our winter gear for the most part stays packed away for days when there is a glimmer of hope for snow and one excited little boy waits to see what will fall from the sky.

Christmas this year was nice and warm, per the usual. My parents visited us from Connecticut and were pleasantly surprised when we had to roll down the car windows as we rode from place to place. I had to remind my son that it was indeed, Winter, and ” YES! You have to put that fleece jacket on if you are going to be on that scooter for two hours!” It seemed easy to forget, even for me.

And then it seems that Mother Nature woke up with a start, remembering her sunny southern states and decided to gift us with a breath of arctic winter. Good morning, Winter! We pulled hats, gloves and thick coats from the bins and closets this morning while we waited for the car to warm up and without a hesitation my son asked, ” Is it going to snow, Mom?” I told him no, reminded him that it is supposed to be cold in the winter (or at the very least colder) and to please go to the bathroom BEFORE he got his coat all zipped up.

Cut to me at the camp drop off and then again at work, listening to everyone I pass comment on how cold it is (I have to admit I joined in on the complaining) and how they had to get out their winter coats and what a pain it was. I am a band-wagoner for the most part, but one word in those comments caught me – coatS. Here we are, complaining about being cold, with our vast array of coats to choose from, our colorful hats and mittens to wear as we drive in our heated cars to and from our heated offices and homes. Man, do we have it bad or what?!?!

There are so many people out there who don’t have a warm coat, hat or mittens. Not even one. There are people out there (yes – like, RIGHT out there) who don’t have a heated car or even a car at all, and there are even those who don’t have a home to cozy up in when this season hits us. Most people just think that the homeless woman you give your change to at the intersection definitely stays in a shelter for the night when it’s freezing – and I think we live in that happy denial state because it’s just easier that way. But in reality, any given night there are 2,000 people just out there on OUR local streets. And the people who are warm in their homes, luckily, but don’t have coats or have to walk outside to the bus stop and wait for an hour while they shiver? It’s more than you think.

So I’m not going to complain about the chill in the air today. I am super lucky – I have ALL the things I need to keep me safe and warm. Most of us do…and it’s up to us to look out for those who don’t.




8 Years Old and Never, Ever Had a Christmas Tree!

Posted on by Jennifer Bosk

Once upon a time there was a little boy living in the Triangle who had never, ever had a Christmas tree!

Little 8 year old Joseph wanted a tree so much. But homeless people don’t get trees and he and his Mom were living on the streets.

They weren’t homeless because of bad choices. His Mom even had a college degree! But she lost her job in Atlanta and she moved home to live with her mom in Durham.

Her mother passed away so she had to move in with her Dad, Joseph’s Grandpa. Grandpa’s girlfriend didn’t like them very much and one day they found themselves tossed out of his home.

How could this story ever have a happy ending?  Click here to find out:  Christmas Story