July 1, 2005 to August 22, 2005

For the week of August 22 - A Felonious Roadblock

Get out of prison - get a job. Does it work that way? Not very often.

When a person out of prison after having served their time, moving back into a stable way of life isn't easy. For many, the first stop is our shelter. Some spend just a night or two while while they contact family or friends. Others are with us for a longer time while they find alternative living arrangements.

As one of our guests, Ian, said, "This is a great place to be coming to at night. It keeps me off the streets and staying out of trouble. I'm just getting out of prison, and I'm not looking to go back." Our basic program of food and shelter helps ex-offenders while they readjust. 

Yet individuals with a felony conviction on their record face many challenges, among them are the following...

• Persons with a felony conviction are barred from most public housing opportunities

• Many SRO (single room occupancy) buildings, that offer studio apartments with few amenities do not accept persons with a felony conviction

• Most employers won't hire someone with a felony conviction - telling the truth means automatic rejection in most cases

• Most persons coming out of prison don't have a current ID card, which makes getting almost any kind of social service, job, or housing very difficult, as described in  last week's What's New

Despite these roadblocks, our case managers do what they can to help. There are a few job training and placement programs for ex-felons to which we refer our guests, but space in these is limited. Our case managers also provide encouragement to help the guest keep trying and not give up.

Your support helps keep guests like Ian on the right track. We hope that in the future we can do even more to help these guests build a life that doesn't involve criminal activity.

For the week of August 9 - Why an ID Matters!

Here are two facts that you probably didn't know about being homeless...

• Most of our guests don't have identification

• It takes identification to do almost anything

What does a person need identification for? Just some of the things are...

• get a job

• get into a transitional program

• enter a substance abuse program

• go into a building downtown, even for an appointment

• apply for housing

• to show to police when stopped at random

• receive public benefits

Why don't many of our guests have IDs?

• they've had their belongings or wallet stolen while sleeping or living on the streets

• they've been released from prison without an ID

• a police officer confiscated it

• they don't have a home where they keep important documents and so don't have a birth certificate or Social Security card

• since they don't have a home, they don't have utility bills, mortgages, library cards of other documents needed to prove place of residence

What do we do about that? Our case managers help our guests obtain IDs. Last year, we helped 138 guests get an ID. Several small grants help pay for the cost of the program. Did you know that in early 2005 the cost of a state ID went from $4 to$20 - a five-fold increase! Our funds don't go as far as they used to, but we're still trying to help as many people as we can.

For the week of July 19, 2005 - Learning about our Guests' Learning

As part of our quarterly survey, we asked our guests how far they went in school.  The results are shown in the table below.

You can see that our guests fall on both sides of the educational spectrum.  While 12 never reached high school, 12 have completed higher education degree programs.  As you may expect, 57% of those who answered the question did not graduate from high school--though 12.6% did obtain a G.E.D.  At the same time, 18% pursued higher education.

Regardless of how far they went in school, all of our guests have a great deal to share.  They follow politics and sports and enjoy conversing in our dining room and at the shelter.  Bernard once told us that he's glad the Marquard Center is here "because it gives me a place to meet interesting people which I can communicate with on an intelligent level."

For the week of July 12 - Reflections on Service

Summer is a time of transition at Franciscan Outreach, as full-time volunteers finish up their terms of service and new full-time volunteers come on board.  Today we bring you reflections from a current volunteer, Canh-Lien, who will be completing her year of service in the coming week.  

As my volunteer year comes to a close, I reflect on all the events and situations that I have been a part of.  I can safely say that I will return home with more wonderful tales to tell than Geoffrey Chaucer could ever imagine.  Friends and family have consistently asked me what I will do when I return to the “real world.”  I ask myself, “What is the real world?  Is this not the real world?”  If working with the homeless isn’t real enough, then please define reality. 

Entering this line of work, I naively and arrogantly thought I would be saving the world.  I would be impacting these impoverished souls and nothing can stop me.  Little did I know that I myself could transform in the process.  Yes, I think I have made a small difference and I hope that I have emitted the Franciscan spirit not only to our guests but to everyone I have befriended this year.  That in itself is saving the world bit by bit. 

Most importantly to me, I have received more than anticipated.  I learned what compassion and empathy truly are.  I learned that I don’t need to be trampled over like a doormat for people to like me and that patience and mutual respect bridge many gaps.  Laughter is the antidote to any awkward moment and saying “thank you”--and truly meaning it--restores people’s dignity.  I also learned that sometimes it’s okay to be unsure of the future. 

Someone once said, “Thinking anxiously about the future, people forget to live in the present such that they live neither in the present or the future.” I’m currently still debating the next stage in my life, unsure of whether to enter the work force or to pursue a master’s degree in public health.  However, I am definitely sure that after this year’s experience, I have a lot to offer, whichever direction I may choose.   

 I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Franciscan Outreach for all the wonderful things they do for the people they cater to and for allowing me to witness and grow in their compassionate awareness.

We thank Canh-Lien and all of the full-time volunteers for their dedication and their willingness to open their hearts and lives in service. Working together with them, we are all continuously learning, changing, and growing.  This is the essence of what we do at Franciscan Outreach.  As stated in our mission:

"We, the donors, board members, staff, volunteers, and guests,

are looking for the transformation of ourselves and our society."