Mission Moment: Meeting People Where They Are

Transcript

Kopano: Many of our residents come from populations where their voices have been silenced for so long. Going to, um,  access benefits, you know if, if maybe they had not the best day and a little bit of um you know elevation in their voice when they finally make it to the front of the line to speak to someone that’s gonna help them access a service that can mean, you know, the difference between, you know, having that service right away, not at all, or having it delayed and so over time it could just kind of become a pattern of their voice just kind of shrinking more and more. There’s not a one size fits all method to housing case management. Each person, you know, comes into the organization to the housing with different backgrounds and different needs and different goals. And essentially, it’s meeting one-on-one with that person to navigate their goals and objectives and help them achieve them.

George: It’s important to have individualized services for the reason that, you know, people have very special needs in our building. Some, we have people that they’re in wheelchairs, they have walkers, they have to have their medication distributed. And we have a nurse in our building, which is fantastic I mean, uh, what building has a nurse.  They are very accommodating, matter of fact, see, I’ve always had a, a serious back situation. I mean my back was really, really, I mean… When your back goes you spend, uh, I don’t know, half the day either thinking about it or trying to overcome it. They were able to get me a much more suitable mattress for my back and it’s been now uh a few months and wow my back feels fantastic now, you know. If I was out there, you know, not in solid housing, I wouldn’t really–it would be a back issue. I would just deal with it, but with housing, you know, you take care of these physical needs and they get obviously they get worse if you don’t.

Kopano: One of the ways I try to create space for residents to share their voice is to just be present, allow them to voice their feelings, their needs, whatever that might be and not give any judgment. And just letting them speak and not being in a place where I feel like I always have to give someone advice, and I think by doing so it allows people that I’m dealing with to know that they can come and just share their voice and not get redirected or told what to do. They can feel safe in that space to express whatever they’re going through and know that it’s not going to impact their housing in any way.

George: It’s really important for staff to listen to people because they’re thrust in a situation where, I mean… Who knows? They might have to, I don’t know, adjust or, you know, make sure, you know, whatever important needs are met are met. You know, the staff does a very good job of that.  For me, it’s good because, see, I’m a natural loner, okay? And I mean, I could go you know, sometimes days without saying hello to somebody really. Interacting with a, you know, with a really nice person every day for me it’s really good. Yeah, I kind of need that.

Kopano: It’s important for our residents to have someone help them navigate their situation. And oftentimes just having someone that they know they can come to to even just bounce things off of you know. Knowing that someone will be there and try to give them an honest assessment of what they’re asking.

George: Having stable housing allows you to just change your priority list. You know, I just simply wanted to get in better shape at my age you have to exercise so that’s one thing. I mean, and certainly I want to find employment. I want to find something, you know, that I can look forward to going to. So those are two big things, you know. And there’s there’s others, you know, and yeah. I mean, it’s… they’re doable now.

Kopano: How I feel when I see residents  achieve their goals is… It’s reinforcing for me and I know it is for them and oftentimes it’s just, you know, little things that, “Hey, I made my appointment today,” and it’s like you know what? That’s great and they’ve achieved that goal for that day and if they can continue to you know do those those little things then hopefully their larger goals can be achieved as well.

George: It still is a fantastic experience. Sometimes you take things for granted but then I have to step back and say, “Hey, wow, what a great place that I’m living in.” So, you know, things are looking things are looking, looking up. And you know having stable housing also, you know, opens you up to a lot of opportunities.  Now on to much more important things: Are the cubs going to win the world series in my lifetime? Another one, I mean.