I love my job. I'm going into a third phase of my year,
meaning that I am pulling back from the regular drop in work for a more desk
based phase of report writing, research and resource writing. While this is
very exciting, I am really going to miss the drop in work, and the clients I've
got to know.
I must admit that there have been times where I have been
totally overwhelmed by the task faced by those working with homelessness and
poverty. With the changes to benefits this year, it has seemed like we are
trying to bail out the Titanic with a thimble. A totally unscientific look at
our stats has shown that the numbers attending one of our drop ins have jumped
up in the last month. There is likely to be a number of factors, but can it
only coincidence that it fits with the benefit changes. There are times I've
got home after work and felt so guilty for the nice warm house I get to sleep
in, when we have just handed a young couple sleeping bags and suggested a few
places for them to bed down.
It seems like an endless job. And it has really made me
reflect on those baffling words of Jesus 'The poor you will always have with
you,'
I wish I knew what Jesus meant by this. Is it a rare
defeatist view from Christ, or a criticism of the human condition? Or is it just
a simple observation that true materialistic equality is impossible? (On that
last point, I think of the film Enemy at the Gates, where the Communist Commissar
comes to realise that communism won't work, as he is jealous of the love his
best friend has. He says: 'In this world, even a Soviet one, there will always
be rich and poor. Rich in gifts, poor in gifts. Rich in love, poor in love.')
Maybe it is a shot of reality to all of us, to not be
complacent or defeatist. There will always be those in need, but that isn't a
reason not to try. Or maybe I am reading way too much into this, and risk
becoming like my GCSE English Teacher, who would overanalyse every word of a
poem. (She once said that a poet used the alliteration of the 'M' sound to
signify the falling snow.)
I'm sounding quite bleak here. But what sparked me to write
this post was an encounter I had in the street a few days ago.
I was wasting time in town before getting the bus to a
meeting when I bumped into Sophie*, a client who had been coming to the Drop In
for a while with her partner Adam*, but who I hadn't seen for a few weeks. When
you don't see someone for a while, it could be that they have moved away. Other
times, we find out that they are in hospital, or even have passed away. But this
case was the best scenario. Sophie told me that they had got themselves a flat
and Adam had a job. She had a massive smile on her face. Then she thanked me
for all we had done for her, shook my hand and walked off.
It made my eyes well up a little (and they are again now as
I write this). Moments like that are that little boost that is needed to keep
going. Yes, there are an awful (in both uses of the word) lot of people who
rely on Drop Ins and Foodbanks, but there is hope.
*Not their real names.
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