A Moment with Emma

My name is Mildred and, earlier this summer, I started working at The Mustard Seed as a community support worker. Recently we took a social issues walk around the inner city. Some people on the walk were employees at The Mustard Seed and others were nursing students from a local university. After looking at and talking about a few important landmarks, we passed by a spot where some of our clients spend their nights. A couple of mats and a few belongings were strewn around and a couple of women were sitting and chatting. We said our good mornings as we passed by and stood a few feet away to listen to our guide talk about what used to be the location of a tent city. Moments into the info session, one of the ladies (we’ll call her Emma) walked over to us and jokingly said that the stuff we were learning, though important, was not adequate. The ideal, according to her would be us actually coming to the streets and “living” the street life for a day and night.  She also mentioned that she is still human, though a “drunk one most of the time” (and we laughed) and that we did not need to be afraid of her. She pointed out one lady in the group and said she could tell she was scared because of the way her arms were closely hugging her body; she also alluded to how that body posture would be risky on the street. After saying a couple more things she walked away, only to return a few moments later eating a sandwich and holding a drink she said she had "bummed off some guys." This time she had little gems of information concerning safety on the streets; among other things she talked about the importance of wearing proper shoes because of the needles in the alleyways and warned us not to walk on the grass without proper shoes.

I must say the lady’s words were what I remembered the most about my walk that morning. It got me thinking about a number of things. The first was a reminder of the importance of experiential knowledge and how we need to continue paying particular attention to our clients’ stories.  Emma may not have “looked” the part of a teacher, but she sure knew what she was talking about because she was living it. More so, it also reinforced, for  me,  the importance of creating programs with our clients versus creating programs for our clients and how that can make the difference between a  regular lesson and a life changing one. Emma taught me never to lose sight of the fact that our clients make decisions every day, and our work is to facilitate decisions that better their lives. Although I am the “helper” in this work of poverty alleviation, it is really Emma’s story and others like hers that bring me to this position of service.  My hope is that particular moment with Emma is one that many in our group will not forget. I’m glad to have had a momentary glimpse into the lives of those we serve and how important it is to be totally present with them as we serve them. Every day as I become more familiar with the agency’s operations I ask myself, “How can I continue serving in a way that does not create dependency, but one that honors the experiences of our clients and involves them in making decisions about improving their lives? How can I stay open so the stories we share continue to be opportunity to learn more?"

What do you think?

- Mildred
-----
Subscribe to The Mustard Seed Blog via RSS