So for the past week I have been training more and more for what I will be doing here at NOAH. A lot of this training has consisted of shadowing the staff during individual casework sessions, trying to get a better idea of services that we provide here and also services that other agencies are able to provide. To be quite honest I love it, but the most difficult thing to do is to know what the hundreds of other agencies around the city are able to provide. On top of that it is super intimdating to try and read through the fine print for people to get their Michigan ID, housing agreements and countless other types of paperwork. But I like this, I like this a lot.

So…Story time again!

Yesterday I was shadowing once again and a man came in to talk with a NOAH caseworker. Obviously I am not going to divulge any specifics as to his situation, or his name, but we’ll call him Jack. Jack taught me a crucial element when it comes to dealing with the homeless, downtrodden, unlucky, oppressed, whatever you want to call it, this was the lesson of dignity. What I have come to realize is that so very often it easy for the party that is attempting to help to feel accomplished with simply handing things out, helping or serving in some way. But where is the dignity. Just in my interaction with Jack I learned a little something about what it looks like to partner with someone rather than hand out to someone. I glimpsed for a moment in conversation with Jack how he his dignity, pride and very humanity were not being protected by different agencies and in my own mind. No one had knowingly done this; in fact I believe it was a matter of his overwhelming plight becoming increasingly intimidating to the point where Jack felt he could not handle it any more. I suppose the reason for my writing this is not so much to tell of a story, instead to tell of my folly, to tell of my mistake in remembering the human dignity that each and every one of us has. Regardless if we are living on the street or living in a three story home, there is a certain respect we all deserve as people, as people of a God who sees value in us all. I pray not to forget this dignity, this respect, and I certainly will not forget Jack. Please pray for “Jack" for I do not think we can fathom the hardships, mentally and physically that some people go through. Pray for "Jack."