a week of "firsts"

Although this past week was my third living in Atlanta and my second working at the outreach and advocacy center, it was filled with many firsts.



Some noteworthy firsts:

~first intake on my own (filling out paperwork and putting it into our computer system)

~first time working with a guest one-on-one

~first time making a significant mistake... actually many, many mistakes!

~first hug from an appreciative guest

~first time being late for work (getting a ride from a friend actually takes longer than public transit, believe it or not)

~first opportunity to help a guest find a "new" pair of shoes for his new job

~first time having to tell a guest that we didn't have any shoes that fit him

~first time getting away from the city (realizing that although it's a great place to live and work, a break is nice)

So, quite a few firsts! It was a great week, full of tough conversations, delicious dinners, powerful prayers, and plenty of rain.

first week!

Hey Friends,

I moved into the Dwell house September 1st and have been going full speed since then!

I'm living with a 24 year old and a 30 year old female who recently graduated from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, a 26 year old male who is currently in seminary at Columbia, and a 25 year old female who works with the Hispanic population at a non-profit in the city. We share a 5 bedroom house, and are all connected by our desire to live in intentional Christian community with one another. So, that means at least once a week we cook and eat a meal together and join in discussion about the Bible and 2 books we are reading. The entire household is responsible for keeping the house clean and going in together on some communal groceries.

It's only been 2 weeks, but it seems like I've lived here a while now. I enjoy my housemates and am slowly but surely learning my way around Atlanta. A large focus is placed on becoming part of our community and specifically the neighborhood. I have found several ways to get involved such as a neighborhood church called Neighbor's Abbey that meets in different people's homes on Sunday afternoons. I also hope to help tutor at the GED program that Steve (one of my housemates) began just down the road at a local church. Just getting outside and being physically present in the neighborhood really makes me feel more connected to the people who live around me, so I try to take walks and say hello to people who are sitting on their front porch (most of the houses have porches) or working in the yard or whatever.

A typical day for me starts at 6:30am. I wake up and am usually ready to leave my house by 7:45. I walk through the residential streets to the Marta transit station (about a 15 minute walk), take the train up two stops to downtown, then I walk to Central Presbyterian Church (about a 5-10 minute walk). Central Outreach & Advocacy Center, which is the non-profit organization with whom I am serving, is located on the ground floor (basement) of the church. Although it began as a mission of the congregation it now operates separately, but I have quickly learned that the church members are very supportive of the outreach center still. So, the full-time staff and volunteers start each day by sharing joys and concerns and joining in prayer. Then we open the door and the day begins! Kimberly, the operations manager (my boss) greets guests and determines how many we will be able to serve during our hours (9am-12:30pm) based on the specific services they are requesting. She sends them inside to the front desk, where they fill out an intake form, and then they wait in the lobby. We also offer bathrooms, telephones, and water to anyone who wants to come inside for a while. The outreach advocates (that includes me) see guests one at a time, sitting down to find out exactly what services they need and what type of assistance we can provide for them. Common requests are food from our pantry (for those with a permanent residence), clothing voucher to a nearby clothes closet, reading glasses, birth certificate, Georgia ID voucher, etc. After we have closed our doors for the day, the rest of the afternoon (until about 4pm) is spent doing paperwork, filing guests' information into the computer and filing cabinet, preparing for the next day, and yep that's about it. I take Marta back home and depending on how exhausted I am I try to exercise, cook dinner, and participate in some kind of cultural activity around town, or just settle into a chair on our small screened in porch with a housemate for a good conversation or quality book reading time.

Well, if you managed to read this far, thank you for your interest in what I'm up to these days! I hope this blog gives you some insight into my year as a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) here in Atlanta. Please feel free to share this with anyone else you think may be interested in reading it or looking into the program. The website is http://www.pcusa.org/yav.

Peace,
Katie