Café 458... Finally Interacting with the Target Population

I definitely started this trip with several preconceived ideas about the homeless population in general. I can say I was definitely not the only one who felt anxious or nervous about our interaction with the homeless clients. The fear of saying the wrong thing, giving off the wrong vibe during our interactions was something that we all dealt with in some way or another. Today was much of a slower day at Café 458; we were only serving from 11:00 A.M to 12:00 P.M. All the clients came in at the same time, and I think it was great that I had the chance to dive in right away and get to interacting with the client by taking their orders.The first few people who walked through the doors went straight for the three tables that I was assigned, so there was not much time for me to stand around and be nervous. Thankfully, everyone was very kind and appreciated what we were doing for them. I was put to ease right away. I wish that I had the chance to conversate with them in a deeper level just to get to know them on a more personal level. But today through reflection with the other participants, I learned that giving a bit about yourself could also help set off those conversations that could be meaningful to both parties. We got to hear some of those stories while attending a Alcoholic Anonymous meeting. Some of the clients that we served were also part of this group. This experience was definitely brand new for me, I did not know much about the concept of AA and it was great to see how they operated. It felt great to hear the testimonies of people who had clearly been at the lowest point in their lives, who rose up and conquer this addiction that they have struggled with for many years. Several of them mentioned that they had to relearn how to be social, how to form relationships with others, because this is something that they lost while either being in the street, and while going through this self-destructing phase. This particular gentleman mentioned how after getting off the streets and getting his own apartment he could not get himself to sleep on his bed because he was so used to sleeping on the floor. Often we are so quick to judge people who are on the streets and question why they can't just get a job and get themselves together. We don't realize that it is often much more complex then it seems. It takes more then just one's willingness to change someone's attitude and self-identify. This people often need to go through a transformation within themselves to understand their worth and what they have to contribute to society in gender, in order for them to fully recover. And recovery is not something that they do at once and stop working on, it is a lifelong struggle that they have to face for the rest of their life. After our service we had lunch at the Martin Luther King Memorial, which was a great way to end our service day.