Progress

A lot can happen over a slice of pizza. Our dining room is often much more than a place for our residents to grab a bite to eat. It's a gathering center for conversation and a hub for catching up on all the news of the Valley as well as the rest of the country. An epicenter of laughter and contemplation all wrapped up in the form of a mini-cafeteria.

Recently, I had stopped by for lunch and had the pleasure of talking with one of our residents who was preparing to leave Samaritan House. The woman I spoke with was a single mother of two young  children and was preparing to move out into her own permanent housing. She had been staying with us for the past couple months and was ready to get back on her feet because we offered her the opportunity to save her finances and focus on some issues that were preventing her from having a home. She shared and the whole room was encouraged by her story.

I finished my lunch and plodded back to my office, determined to write about something that would inspire world peace or solve homelessness or at least earn me a congratulatory letter from Five Guys Burgers (my favorite). I sat in my chair, staring at my screen begging an idea to plop down from the nether-regions of the universe. Nada. Nothing. There had to be something I could muse about.

Data and statistics are always riveting so I sifted through a few projects we are working on and realized that presenting the information was slightly more thrilling than watching paint dry or any number of professional golf tournaments. It's not that the work is unimportant, but sometimes presenting this information can be challenging and due to the massive amount of pizza nestled in my stomach, I was in no shape to be creative. Ugh.

Then I recalled the conversation with the woman at our shelter and I felt very dumb for not immediately realizing the importance of what was happening with her. She was not going to be homeless in just a few days and life was changing for her and her kids. I couldn't believe it never occurred to me that this was a very noteworthy accomplishment. You see, sometimes we get so bogged down with meetings and papers and logistics, that we miss the forest through the trees.

The human element of what Samaritan House does has always, and will always be the catalyst for true change in people's lives. We do more than move around figures and crunch numbers and make appointments. We help moms and kids stay off the street while they transition into housing. Our staff works very hard to foster dignity and our case managers are relentless in their pursuit of assisting our residents better their stations in life. Our director is constantly raising funds to keep the lights on and food in the fridge, as well as overseeing all the day to day dealings of the shelter.

There is a definite progression that we clamor to see in our resident's lives and it feels good to see changes even if its over a slice of pizza.