Lessons learned working in emergency shelter
This post comes to us from Anna Dixon, our Canada Summer Jobs Summer Student. Anna was hired to keep the shelter gardens, coordinate garden volunteers, and help with the endless tasks that need done in shelter. All of us loved her and are really sad to lose her! Good luck back at school, Anna!
My name is Anna and I have had the wonderful opportunity this summer to take on the shelter assistant role here at the YES Shelter for Youth and Families. During this time, I have learned about how the YES Shelter operates and I have gained a better understanding of the challenges that youth experiencing homelessness face on a daily basis.
When starting this position, I was unsure of what to expect. I imagined my position would strictly be focused on maintaining the outside appearance of the YES Shelter property and assisting with volunteer management. As it turned out, I engaged with clients daily and truly enjoyed helping young people and families when needed; it was the most rewarding part of my position.
One aspect of the job that was very surprising to me was the prevalence of drug use amongst people in the homeless community. I was able to learn more about substance abuse and witnessed some of the struggles that drug users tend to face. This better enabled me to communicate with and understand some of our clients.
In my position, I struggled with wishing that I could have provided more support for people in desperate need of help. Its unbelievably heart wrenching to hear client’s stories and to see people in crisis and not be able to solve their problems or have good answers for them.
The most important lesson that I have learned through my experience working at the YES Shelter is that everyone deserves kindness and not everyone fits the same mould. I discovered that the simplest gestures of respect can be very meaningful. For example, I quickly gained the respect of many clients simply by acknowledging them and taking an interest in their life by having small, simple conversations.
I learned that sometimes people are just seeking someone to show an interest in their life and take the time to listen to what they have to say. Ultimately, I learned that by exhibiting kindness, compassion, and listening we can learn so much from others and make another person’s day brighter in the process.
I am extremely appreciative of this opportunity. It has truly been a life changing experience. Learning about the various struggles that so many people in the homeless community face on a daily basis has been incredibly eye-opening.
My summer position at YES has provided me with a new understanding of the struggles that people face. Overall, this involvement has taught me that Emergency Shelter can’t solve all of the challenges that are faced. But, that the simplest acts of kindness and compassion can help to encourage our clients that they can overcome the difficulties that they are currently facing.