Mission Accomplished!

I successfully completed the 2012 Chicago Marathon in 5:25:23 AND I far exceeded my fundraising goal, raising a total of $1912.00 so far (and I'm expecting several hundred more in matching donations from employers!!). I cannot possibly express how grateful I am to everyone who donated and everyone who either came to cheer me on in person (it made all the difference to look forward to seeing my family and friends) or sent their love and support from afar. I am so blessed.

A year ago I never would have thought I would run a marathon anytime in my lifetime, let alone the next year. Then, seven months ago, I had somehow* decided to run a marathon, and I hoped I could do it but assumed it would be painful and miserable. But it wasn’t. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I had so. much. fun. That’s right, it was fun! Granted, I wasn’t battling a dropped metatarsal like my running buddy (or any one of the variety of  injuries other runners were struggling with), but the combo of our relaxed pace, seeing friends and family, getting cheered on by random strangers, seeing a city I love in a completely new way, and running for a cause I wholeheartedly believe made it such an exhilarating experience. (One of the reasons it was so moving to run in Chicago was the fact that we passed so many places I accompany clients on a regular basis.)  During my training I learned so much about discipline, time management, priorities, pain, fear, and endurance, but during the marathon itself I learned about trust, gratitude, and (ironically) how to relax and have fun. We missed our (arbitrary) time goal by quite a bit, but it didn’t matter. In the last several weeks of training I’d gotten caught up in feeling like a slow runner compared to my teammates and others my age and really wanted to make a goal of under 5 hours. But what I realized during the race (and as my running partner verbalized afterwards), we didn’t have a time goal when we signed up. We signed up because we believed that the training process could be transformative and because we believed in the causes that we were running for. As a result I can now say that I’m a marathoner, and hopefully because of that process, Taller de Jose can better serve its clients and I am a stronger, better person. Thank you to everyone who was a part of that process.

(In case you haven’t see the pictures yet, here are a few! There are also some from the official photographers if you click here. If you'd like to see me look really silly you can watch this video featuring Melissa and me from the Chicago Tribune... it won't be the first video that shows up, you have to select "2012 Chicago Marathon: The Race Begins")

Team Taller with our finishers medals!

We were pretty excited to see our fans (it was easy to look so happy at mile 1 :))

 

*Ok, so "somehow" is a little misleading... I actually know exactly how it happened. I walked into work on the day the marathon registration sold out (we didn't know it was going to at the time) and my coworker Lisa said she was signing up for the Chicago Marathon (her second)… and so was Kerry… and Maeve… and they were probably going to try to fundraise for Taller de José. So the wheels started turning… four generations of Amate volunteers running the marathon and fundraising for our service site, how cool would that be?? So I ran to my computer, looked up the information and saw that my good friend Melissa was on gchat. I started the conversation:

12:26pm

me: should i run the chicago marathon in October??

Melissa: hmmm... i was totally being "tempted" by that too

(My thoughts: No way! That wasn’t the response I was expecting… I could run it and have a friend—and roommate—to train with! At this point we had a somewhat disjointed conversation about the time commitment, cost, running for a charity, when registration was going to close, etc, and then this…)

1:35pm

me: I'm tweaking out over here!!

  you should do it with me!!!

  if we pay the $150 to register, we'll be motivated :)

 Melissa: i think i want to?

  aaahhhh!

  i was thinking about the time commitment and feeling kinda guilty. but then i realized maybe it's what i need or at least a helpful motivator to learn to be more focused and intentional (with my time and my work)

  and excercise is healthy

 me: and I bet we could find a way to connect prayer and running and make both things more disciplined :)  (Side note from October 2012: We did. Among other things, our “pace bands” from the marathon had a prayer intention for each mile)

  doooooo it

Melissa: ok i'm convinced..... i will!

me: yay!

  YAYAYAY!!!

  okay, I'm going to do it right now!

Melissa: ok, i'm going to sign up now too! what the heck am i getting myself into?!

me: I don't know!! We're crazy!!

"The Funds Will Come in Somehow or Other"

I just finished reading Dorothy Day: A Radical Devotion by Robert Coles, where I came across this quote by Peter Maurin: "In the Catholic church...one never needs any money to start a good work.'... 'People are what are important. If you have the people and they are willing to give their work-- that is the thing. God is not to be outdone in generosity. The funds will come in somehow or other." It stuck me as a very bold and trusting concept, or, put more negatively, a foolish concept! I'm sure many of us would react, "What do you mean you don't need money??" And while I think it is a little extreme to say that one never needs any money, I do think there is some truth at the heart of what he's saying.

At Taller de José, we need money to pay the bills for our office space, the phone and internet, public transportation for our clients, basic office supplies, and the salaries of the few staff members who are paid. But we wouldn't be where we are today without the generous donations of time from our many volunteers. Our volunteers donate about 170 hours per week to the organization--what an incredible gift! The volunteers and interns accompany the majority of our clients, work at the front desk answering the door and the phones, gather information about new resources, assist with clerical tasks and our accounting, design our flyers, brochures, and newsletters, and help with special projects along the way. So in that sense, Maurin is right; people are what are important. Without people, we'd have an operational office space and fully loaded bus cards, but no one to see the clients.

And he was right in another sense-- the funds do come in "somehow or other." For Taller de José, that "somehow or other" is often grants and sponsorship from organizations like the CSJ (Congregation of St. Joseph) Ministries, but a large amount also comes from individual donors. Thanks to all the generous family and friends who donated to Taller as part of my marathon fundraising, I've officially exceeded my goal with a whole week to spare! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I have been so touched by everyone's generosity.

But, that doesn't mean I can't surpass my goal even further ;) Our total team goal is $5,000, and we're still short of that, so it's not too late to donate! You can do so here: https://www.givecentral.org/core.php?do=event_signup&key=GC-4fc7aa9d03cbd or by mailing in your donation to Taller de Jose, 3047 W Cermak, Chicago, IL 60623 (or you can contact me for my home address).

As the marathon gets closer, I just keep getting more excited (I know, it sounds crazy... why would anyone be excited to go out and run for almost 5 hours straight??). It will be such a thrill to be surrounded by so many people aiming for the same goal, and so many of them also running for charities. Please keep all the runners in your thoughts and prayers; I hope that everyone who has put in so much hard work during training is able to cross the finish line safely. Thank you so much to everyone who has accompanied me during this journey!

p.s. If you haven't yet, check out the redesigned website for Taller de José!

Sta. Ines de Bohemia

Almost exactly a month ago, I began working at Taller de José’s second office site at St. Agnes of Bohemia, which is still in the Little Village neighborhood, about a mile west of our main office. My official job title is now “St. Agnes Site Coordinator,” which I think makes me sound much more grown up and managerial than I feel :) Essentially, most of my job duties are the same, I just happen to do them at another location 3 days a week in order to help Taller de José reach out to more clients in a different part of the neighborhood. But there are a few differences, and in the past month I’ve also learned a lot about what a wonderful place St. Agnes is!

The parish’s name, Santa Inés de Bohemia, is very telling of the history of the parish and neighborhood. Founded in 1904, the church (then Blessed Agnes of Bohemia) was built to serve a growing Czech population in the neighborhood, but in the early 1970s it became clear that an increasing Latino population required masses (and a myriad of other services) in Spanish. Now, the parish offers 9 masses each Sunday, 7 of which are in Spanish, and the pastor points out that the majority of people at the English masses would understand the Spanish just as well. But beyond the masses and other sacraments the church provides, it is also involved in the community in so many other ways (The parish website says there are 40 different clubs and groups within the parish!). In the same way that Taller de José was founded by listening and responding to the needs of the community, our staff has tried to partner with St. Agnes to support the programs they are already doing well and fill in where they see any gaps in their services.

One of the ways I do this is by assisting with the “Fussy Baby” group, also known as “Little Explorers.” The group is open to parents with children age 0-3, and provides an opportunity for the children to play and the parents to chat with specialists trained in child development. My favorite part, of course, is the end, when we get to sing and then eat the snack I’ve prepared. The group is one aspect of the parish’s effort to educate parents and decrease the rates of infant mortality, which are extremely high, even compared to other neighborhoods of similar socioeconomic status. My coworker, the previous St. Agnes Site Coordinator, is heavily involved in research being conducted by Masters of Public Health students from UIC in which they’re trying to find the causes of these high rates. Preparing snack is definitely different than our typical ways of companioning those in the community, but as one of my coworkers pointed out, “playmate” is one of the definitions of “compañera” (our job title)!

We also partner with another group that is researching ways to educate Latinos about diabetes by hosting classes through the churches in the neighborhood. I learned at the staff meeting a few weeks ago that St. Agnes also offers senior groups (including Zumba classes! I was definitely surprised to come upon a group of zumbaing seniors in the social hall one morning), a mentoring program for at risk youth, a food pantry, and they are undergoing the process of “parish transformation,” a program through the Archdiocese which seeks to help parishes revitalize their mission and stabilize their finances. From what I have seen so far, St. Agnes is a parish that truly seeks to “practice what it preaches” and really engage the community beyond the four walls of the church. I’m really looking forward to learning more about the parish and finding ways that Taller de José can continue to respond to the community. And I'm so grateful that the generous donations from my family and friends in support of my running will support my participation in the mission of both St. Agnes and Taller de José. Though my marathon training will be done in just two weeks (!), I've learned a lot during the process that I know will stick with me for a long time. In much the same way, the over $1150 I've received in donations and pledges so far will have a lasting impact on the people with whom I get to work every day.

What is a Typical Day LIke?

When people ask me about what I do at work, it's tough to say what a "typical day" is at Taller de José, but I was told once that "there is no typical day" isn't a very satisfying answer to that question (and I'd have to agree!). So in an attempt to describe what the day-to-day is like and give a taste of the variety of circumstances we see, I'm going to summarize what my work was actually like last week:

Monday (Labor Day)
Ok, so obviously it isn't typical to have Monday off work, but my running partner and I did use it as an opportunity to complete the weekly "long run" that's part of our training plan. This week it was 18 miles, so we rode the bus to the north side and ran the entirety of the Lakefront Path! While not "work," I still look at it as part of my fundraising efforts and therefore an important commitment to the mission of Taller de José.

Tuesday
On Tuesday, the office is open noon-7pm in an effort to provide appointment times in the evening for those clients who work until 5pm. It's a great idea in theory, but many of our clients who show up as walk-ins aren't expecting us to open so late; it's nearly impossible to come into the office early to get any work done because clients always somehow find their way in. Last Tuesday a coworker had come in just a little early, and despite having her door closed, several clients did come in, and the office was already hectic by the time I came in at noon. I wasn't scheduled to see anyone until 1:30pm, but I ended up seeing clients right away. By the end of the day I'd seen 4 clients total in between working at the front desk because we're currently without our part time receptionist:

• A woman who I had seen the previous week, and showed up on Tuesday without an appointment. She had questions about finding special education services for her son, and expressed frustrations that she wasn't able to express herself fully during his IEP meetings due to the language barrier. It seemed like what she needed most wasn't referrals, but moral support and the opportunity to share her story and vent her frustrations with the system.
• A man who needed help reading and filling out some basic court forms asking about his income and expenses. In situations like these, we can't give legal advice and aren't supposed to fill out the forms for them, but we can help translate so they can hopefully understand them. If they need actual legal advice we can connect them with legal aid agencies that provide advice or representation.
• A woman who needed to apply for Child Support Services from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (they will help with the court process of getting court ordered child support and with enforcement and modification once the order is in place). The website says you can go in person to their offices in the Loop, but my experience is that wait times can be 1-4 hours just to be told to fill out a form and wait for an appointment in 6-8 weeks. I had seen this woman previously in April, and we had found the form on the department's website, with instructions to send it in and avoid the long wait times in the office. We did that, but the client still had not heard from them 5 months later. We picked a date when I could accompany her to the office in the Loop to apply for the services in person. 
• A man who came in as a walk-in and wanted assistance calling the electric company because he received a shut-off notice. He said that he was able to make the payments, he just needed a payment plan to give him a little more time to do so. Unfortunately they said he was not eligible for a payment plan, but suggested he try calling another organization to help him pay the bill. He preferred to call that agency on his own.
• A woman who was very worried about her 20 year-old-daughter and needed to find counseling for her based on the recommendation of the daughter's psychologist. She is a single mother trying to support her two children, so it was important to find agencies near her home that would provide low-cost services.

Wednesday
We started the day early with a staff meeting, where we began with prayer as we normally do. The majority of our time was spent discussing the new client evaluation we're starting to implement. The staff has been working for quite a while to develop a way to ask our clients how they feel about the services we offer and how we offer them; based on what we hear informally from our clients, we believe that we are living up to our mission, but we recognize the importance of taking a more systematic approach to evaluation to make sure we're serving out clients as best we can.

I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon accompanying two clients to the offices of Healthcare and Family Services to apply for Child Support Services (see description of the second client from Tuesday... we were there 10am-1:30pm). As usual, the wait was incredibly long. When I returned to the office in late afternoon I received a call from a client I had seen previously who was requesting rental assistance. Her hours had been cut back so she was behind on one month's rent; luckily her hours were increased again, but it was barely enough to pay the current rent, let alone the past due. I was able to call another agency we've worked with in the past and was so grateful to hear that they actually had the funding available to assist her.

Thursday
On Thursdays the office is "closed," but that really means that we're not open to see walk-ins; if a client has court or an appointment that day, there are still several of us available to accompany them. The full time staff members work on Thursdays to keep client paperwork up to date and take care of the other administrative tasks that allow us to stay up and running. In addition to working on my own client files and following up with clients via phone, I spent time on our upcoming newsletter and annual report.

I also accompanied a client to the police department to request a special certification needed to apply for a U-Visa or VAWA. These are special visas available to individuals who are survivors of domestic violence or some type of violent crime; if they can prove that they cooperated with law enforcement and government officials to report and/or prosecute the crime, the are eligible to apply for the visa. Catholic Charities' Immigration and Naturalization Services has a special program designed to help clients apply for these visas, and they partner with Taller de José to provide accompaniment to clients who may be nervous or worried about collecting all the necessary documentation.

Then, in the afternoon, a client made his way in without an appointment and said he needed help finding shelter for the evening. And while our sign says we're closed, it doesn't feel right to refuse to help someone in that situation. Luckily, we were able to find a shelter that would accept him, even though he'd lost his photo ID. Then another client of mine came in an needed assistance filling out court forms. I could have asked her to come back, but they did need to be filled out on a strict time line and I was worried about finding time the following week.

Friday
The morning started off in court at the Daley Center, where I accompanied a client to help make sure she understood what was happening and was able to communicate effectively with her lawyer (we had helped her get a lawyer from a legal aid agency that took on her very complicated case free of charge). On my way back to the office in the afternoon I stopped by Best Buy to order a refrigerator for a client who was approved for WRAP funds, a program through the Department of Children and Family Services (which suspended due to state budget cuts shortly after this client was approved). I'd applied for the funding several months ago and had just received the check; I was very excited that she and her children will now have a working refrigerator! Then the rest of the afternoon flew by while I returned phone calls and scheduled appointments for the following week. One last client stopped by to receive assistance understanding and filling out forms she'd received about her medicare coverage for she and her husband, and by the time we finished I looked at the clock to see that it was already past 5pm.


And that's a pretty good example of a "typical" week on the job! Thanks for sticking with me if you made it this far (the sad thing is that I tried to leave out details in order to keep it short-- being succinct isn't one of my gifts :)). As the weeks fly by, I'm realizing how quickly the marathon is approaching-- just 4 weeks from yesterday! So let me know if there's anything you'd like to hear about on the blog before then. Thank you again to everyone who has donated, and if you're considering but haven't already, there's still time left! Just click on the link to the right or contact me if you'd prefer to donate by check. Thanks for reading and for all the support!

Accompaniment

With my running buddy
at the half marathon

A week ago I finished a half marathon in Madison, Wisconsin with my roommate and running partner, Melissa! (She's also training for the Chicago Marathon this year). This is the second half marathon I've run, but the difference between the two was like night and day. The first time was a BIG struggle to make it to the finish line (I kept questioning my own sanity in choosing to run the race in the first place) and felt like I couldn't take another step afterwards. In contrast, I ran my second half marathon several minutes faster and afterwards felt like I could have gone another several miles. While I think the weather was a big deciding factor in how I felt during those races (80 degrees versus 60 makes a huge difference), I also think that having a running partner really helped. Put another way, having someone accompany me made all the difference!

In a similar way, as a staff at Taller de José we believe that we are able to successfully accompany our clients only because we also accompany each other. Our clients benefit when we collaborate to find the best solutions to their situations, and we benefit when we support each other emotionally after a tough case or a long day. We do our best to avoid burnout or "compassion fatigue" when we make an effort to eat lunch all together and share the "state of the heart" prayer at the start of our staff meetings. Right now, I appreciate being able to commiserate about squeezing in early morning runs, dealing with aches and pains, and trying to satisfy our now voracious appetites. But even when neither running nor work-specific topics are the center of conversation, I benefit from simply being in the presence of my workplace community. It reminds me of the lesson my clients have taught me so many times: sometimes what I'm actually able to accomplish with them is less important that the simple fact that I am with them.

I am a strong believer in the ministry of accompaniment, and I am so grateful to be a part of the staff at Taller de José as well as running for Team Taller de José. My clients give me a reason to run, but it's the support of my friends and co-workers that make it possible for me to actually go the distance.

Four Generations of Amate Volunteers at Taller de José are training for this year's marathon!

Team Taller de José from left to right: Maeve, Kerry, Fr. Bob, myself, and Lisa

Are You Busy?

"Are you busy?"

"Well... yes, but why?"
"There's a client here who doesn't have an appointment, but she says it's urgent... do you have time?"

"Are you busy?" is always a tricky question to answer. As I'm sure anyone in the social services field will tell you, the need for services is huge, especially in the current economy, and there are rarely enough hours in the day to feel like you're beginning to make a dent. In the past year I've learned a lot about when to say "yes" in order to better serve others and when to say "no" to make sure that I maintain my own sanity and don't short change any of the clients I'm already working with. Thankfully, Taller de José has been an incredibly supportive working environment in which to learn about finding that balance.

The paradox about being busy at Taller de José (or any social service agency) is that we love the work that we do  and are thrilled that word is getting out for people to take advantage of the services (around half of our client are referred by partner agencies and churches, and another 30% are referred by family, friends, and previous clients), but at the same time it can often be disheartening that there is so much need and that the numbers just keep growing. Because my co-worker (and fellow marathoner!) has been working tirelessly to implement and trouble shoot our new online database system (it's made a huge difference in how we record and report client information), I have some facts from the past fiscal year (July 2011- June 2012) to give you a "by the numbers" version of what we do.

In fiscal year 2012, our compañeras...
... went on over 490 off-site accompaniments, each of which can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 8 hours (the majority being 1.5 to 4 hours)
... made over 625 phone calls to or from resources in the area
... made over 1766 referrals to other agencies

The highest "presenting need" (what our clients asked about when they first came in) was by far legal assistance (a total of 288 clients, and that does not include immigration issues), followed by financial assistance (161 clients), domestic violence services (138 clients), and counseling (68 clients).

And here are a few numbers that make those first statistics possible:
$ 10.00 = the average cost of just the public transportation for one accompaniment
$ 120.00 = the phone and internet bill for one month's worth of phone calls and emails to clients and resources
$ 1850.00 = one month's rent for our office spaces

While taking a look at the numbers, I discovered that I've seen 132 new clients at Taller since I started (exactly a year ago today!), so I've decided to make my fundraising goal for the marathon $1320. (I've worked with many more clients than that between taking accompaniments for other compañeras or assisting clients who have come in the past, but I've conducted intake interviews for 132).

Thanks to generous donations I've already raised just over $700, and I have 52 days left before race day! Thank you so much to all who have already donated or are planning to, and thanks for all the prayers and support so far!

In Gratitude

So, I had planned to write a different blog post this week, but when I came into the office and found these waiting for me this morning, I decided to change it up a bit.  I wasn't in the office when he stopped by to deliver the roses (and cupcakes) but the note addressed to me said "Thank you so much for everything you have done for me."  (Before I go any further, I should make it clear that, yes, it was a male client, but he's in his 80's and based on by interactions with him, I have no reason to take it as anything other than a very generous expression of  his gratitude).

While this example is extravagant (and definitely a first), the heart-felt thanks that I often receive from my clients are a constant reminder of how important our work is to the people we serve. Though I believe strongly that receiving thanks or gratitude from clients is not (and cannot) be the reason or primary motivation for my work at Taller de José, I do like to believe that it can often be an indication that what we're doing is making a difference in individuals' lives.

This particular client is a elderly man with some memory loss, who stops by on a regular basis because he lives very close. Often he needs help filling out forms or understanding his mail, and I've accompanied him twice to speak with staff members at the public housing complex where he lives (most of the staff there doesn't speak Spanish). Though I often feel that I haven't really "done" much, he is often very effusive with his gratitude, I think because he often feels lost in the system thanks to his memory loss and language barriers. Interactions with him usually remind me that sometimes the most important thing I can offer is just my presence. I think I often get caught up in focusing on what sort of knowledge and tangible services I can provide for my client, when what they appreciate the most is just knowing that someone else is there with them in the struggles.

I'm continually humbled by the generosity of my clients, who often have difficulty making ends meet but insist on sharing what they have. In preparation for a long day of waiting to meet with a doctor, one client came with "sandwichitos" ("little" sandwiches) for both of us (although "sandwichito" wasn't accurate at all... each was two hot dogs, avocado, cheese, and tomato on a huge bun). When I mentioned to a client that I was getting ready to move in a few weeks, her husband offered to come help, and multiple clients have invited me over for some of their home cooking (I've thanked them all but never taken them up on it). Just yesterday I accompanied a client to court who came prepared with water bottles and juice for both of us. Though I consistently try to turn any sort of gift the first time they offer, usually their insistence makes it rude for me to refuse again. In general, in the world of social services, accepting gifts is a big no-no, but I have to balance that with the understanding that my client will likely be hurt and offended if I refuse to take the sandwich she lovingly made for me. (Of course, I have never and will never accept anything expensive... these flowers are by far the most expensive thing I've received, and it's a little tricky to return those).

The constant generosity and gratitude of the people I interact with is a much-needed reminder that I can always be more generous and grateful. It's a reminder that I'm the one who should be thanking my clients for what they've taught me, thanking my coworkers for their support and advice, thanking my family and friends for their support (both of me as an individual and Taller) or thanking my roommates for listening to me talk about work yet again. So, that being said, I'm sorry I can't send you all a dozen roses, but thank you to everyone for reading, praying, donating, and supporting, it means so much!

14 Reasons Why

I know that I'm going to have a lot of "firsts" while training for this marathon, but it seems significant to acknowledge the "first of the firsts" I accomplished yesterday: the first time I've ever run 14 miles (I'd run up to 13 previously, when I ran a half marathon a little over a year ago). So, in honor of that, I decided to come up with 14 reasons why I'm running for Team Taller de José (somewhere around mile 11 or 12 I decided that I need to start focusing on the why instead of the how... because right about then the "how" was feeling like self-inflicted torture):

I'm running for...
1. Pablo, who hasn't been able to see his two young daughters for more than 4 years because the legal system is failing him and his family right now.
2. Josefa, who lost her public benefits because she has a learning disability and could not understand the notices they sent her.
3. Isabel, who wants to take her children out of the country to meet their grandparents for the first time, but can't do so because the father, who physically abused her, won't cooperate to get the children passports
4. Juan, who packs a sandwich for me, his wife, and himself when we go to Stroger Cook County Hospital because he knows we could be waiting there all day to speak with a specialist to diagnose his wife's rare illness.
5. Mariana, who needed to go meet with a lawyer offering pro-bono services, but was scared to leave the Little Village neighborhood for the first time and take the underground subway. 
6. Miguel, whose employer took advantage of him when he was injured on the job because Miguel did not understand his rights.
7.  Paula, who was terrified to go to the dentist for the first time in years to have extensive dental work done to repair damage caused by domestic abuse.
8. Marco, who has Alzheimer's and needs assistance filling out forms for his discounted senior bus pass and help communicating with the English-speaking staff at the subsidized senior housing where he lives.
9. Maria, who did not know what to do when her renters refused to pay rent and threatened to harm her.
10. Eva, who was confused about how to enroll her newborn daughter in the state's health insurance plan for children, and then three years later was nervous about finding a head start program for her.
11. Sara, who was trying to navigate the legal system without a lawyer in order to protect her children from an abusive and manipulative father.
12. Tatiana, who is a single mother fighting for a better education for her two children with Autism.
13. Susana, who has been emotionally abused by her husband for years and is seeking counseling for the first time.
14. Felipe, who has not seen his family in years because he left Mexico to work in the United States, the only way he could keep his children from starving.

Though the names have been changed, these are brief descriptions of 14 clients that we've served at Taller de José in the past years. We did our best to walk with them as we sought to find the assistance they needed. Their stories, and the stories of the hundreds more that we serve, motivate me to keep running.

"Are You Lost?": Running in La Villita

Though I moved away several weeks ago, I spent the first 11 months of my time at Taller de José living in Little Village, just about a mile from our offices. An important part of the Amate House Volunteer Program (through which I began my work at Taller de José) is the idea of living in solidarity with the people we serve. I felt very fortunate to be one of a few people in my community of 8 people to both live and work in the Little Village neighborhood (also known as "La Villita," or just "LV," as we like to call it). Often I felt that this enabled me to better connect with my clients. I have first hand experience of seeing (and smelling) the garbage that accumulates on streets, sidewalks and yards (some of our neighbors tried to help keep their yards clean by putting up plastic grocery bags on their fences for pedestrians to use as garbage bags). I know what it feels like to be worried about my safety and that of my friends and neighbors when I see fresh gang graffiti or read about a six-year-old girl getting shot on her front porch in the middle of the day. I know what it's like to receive plenty of stares, catcalls, and shouted comments (in both English and Spanish) while running in the neighborhood; given that experience I'm not surprised that spotting recreational runners in LV is so rare. 

Issues like violence, pollution, limited income, lack of opportunities for exercise combined with lack of insurance or access to health care all help to contribute to the racial and economic health disparities in our country (the CDC provides information specific to Hispanic populations). In Chicago, the racial segregation of the city's neighborhoods (here's a map that makes it pretty clear) can make these disparities even more severe because low-income neighborhoods are also often those with high pollution. Though it seems that it has since been cleaned up, an area in Little Village had so much hazardous waste it was was formerly declared a "Superfund site"by the EPA. Coal plants in the Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods contribute to significant health issues in the area as well, creating $127 worth of health damages in 2005. An article by NBC Chicago shares, "They’re so toxic that a Harvard School of Public Health study found they cause 41 premature deaths, 550 emergency room visits and 2,800 asthma attacks every year." Luckily, these plants are scheduled to close soon, but that won't undo the toll they've already taken on the community.

However, it's also important to recognize that there are many groups trying to combat these issues. Both the YMCA and the Lawndale Christian Fitness Center provide opportunities for a diverse group of people from both Little Village and North Lawndale (a predominately African American neighborhood) to use the exercise facilities for very reasonable prices. The  Little Village Environmental Justice Organization has been working hard to fight for better environmental conditions, and several clinics in the area offer low-cost medical care. And then of course, there's Taller de José! Though our mission isn't exclusively health-related, we do refer and accompany clients to clinics and hospitals (see my last post for a story of one such accompaniment), and we do our best to participate in programs working to better the health of the community. We partner with Picture Good Health, a program to improve diabetes care in Latino communities, and my co-worker facilitates the Maternal Wellness Committee at St. Agnes of Bohemia to address the issue of infant mortality, bringing parent support groups, prenatal classes, and an infant development group to the community.

One of the comments yelled at me one day while running really sticks out to me: "Are you lost? This is a Mexican hood!" I wanted to yell back, "I live here, too, you know!" but at the same time I realized he had a point. Yes, I was living there, and I felt that I gained an important sense of solidarity, showing my clients that I wanted to live next door to them instead of community from a nicer area. But the reality was that I had only signed up to live there for a little less than a year; it was impossible for me to really understand what it was like to grow up and plan to spend the rest of my life in Little Village. It forced me to recognize that "living in solidarity" is complicated, and there are plenty of arguments for and against moving into Little Village like it. In the end, though, I think it was an important and transformative experience for me, and I hope that at the very least my presence as a resident there didn't harm the community's more permanent residents. And while it was often unpleasant to run in LV, it did help to put things in perspective and help me realize how blessed that I have the opportunity to put so much time and energy into training for something like the marathon. I'm running for my clients who can't run right now because of fear, health problems, or personal struggles that take priority, with the hope that my efforts will open up more doors for them in the future. 

The arch on 26th Street that's often used as the symbol for Little Village

"Oh, tú eres bien güerrita!"

As a relatively young organization, Taller de José has done a lot of adapting and changing in order to really define what it is we can offer to our clients. But because Taller was founded based on the needs of the community, I think it is part of the nature of the agency that it will continue to adapt, even once it has been around much longer. One such way we have been adapting in recent months is an increase in offsite accompaniments to medical providers. Sometimes this is because clients are seeing a physician who doesn't speak Spanish, other times because they are nervous and don't have a family member to accompany them, or a whole slew of other reasons. In the case of one of my clients, not only did she not speak any English, but she was unable to get to her visits on her own (or even navigate the hospital once she got there) because she had recently become blind due to very severe cataracts in both eyes. I'll call her Maria.

For several years, Maria had only been able to see out of her right eye due to a worsening cataract in the left eye. Then, in early 2012 she developed a cataract in her right eye, which quickly became so severe that she couldn't see anything. The loss of vision made it extremely difficult for her to care for her two children, especially her oldest son, a 15-year-old with Down syndrome and other conditions so severe that he is non-verbal and will attempt to eat paper products (or most other things in sight) if not closely monitored. Without health insurance, Maria wasn't sure where to turn to receive assistance, or whether it was even possible to regain her vision. Luckily, Maria was already receiving some case management services from another agency, and her caseworker was able to get her a referral to the Opthalmology department at Cook County Stroger Hospital, the "safety net" hospital for many of the county's low-income and uninsured residents. But Maria couldn't get there on her own, had no family that was willing to go with her, and her social worker's case load was far to big to allow her to accompany Maria. Enter Taller de José.

When Maria came in for her first appointment at our offices in March of this year, her caseworker came in with her, and when she had to hold her hand to guide her into my office, I realized the severity of her condition. During the appointment we agreed that both her caseworker and I would try to find a clinic that could see Maria. We both spent the next several weeks calling clinics and other agencies who might be able to help. The case is a great example of the type of collaboration between organizations that Taller de José strives to achieve; the fact that  47% percent of our clients are referred by a partner agency, church, or school, is a pretty good indication that we're succeeding.

A few weeks later, Maria's caseworker called. Maria had gotten a referral to Stroger and had a surgery scheduled for mid April-- would I accompany her? I agreed to do so and we arranged for the caseworker to give her a ride to the hospital. (Generally clients come to our offices and we accompany them on public transportation; for liability reasons we cannot transport them in a car. Because Maria's condition made it nearly impossible for her to come on her own to our offices, at future appointments I would go to meet her at her house and accompany her from there to the hospital and back again. We were fortunate that several times her caseworker was able to assist with the transportation.) When we arrived at 8:30am for what we thought was a 10am surgery, we were informed that, no, it was just a pre-op assessment, and that usually wait times to see the doctor are between 2 and 6 hours after the scheduled appointment time. Unfortunately for us, our wait was much closer to 6 than 2 hours; a little before 4pm that afternoon, Maria was finally able to see a doctor for a total of about 15 minutes. Those of you who know me well know that I really like things to be organized and on-time. The past year at Taller de José has been a big lesson in patience for me. (Coincidently, a virtue I'm also learning to practice during my running; training for a marathon is a long, slow process). That first day was a pretty good indication of how the rest of her appointments were going to go. The wait times are so long because Stroger is overwhelmed by the number of patients seeking care who can't find or afford it elsewhere. (I'm now reading County: Life, Death and Politics at Chicago's Public Hospital, which is providing some interesting history and insight about the hospital).

Now, about 3 months later, Celia has had successful surgery on both eyes, giving her near perfect vision again. We've spent a total of 45 hours together between riding public transportation and siting in waiting rooms for her 6 appointments. The first time I saw Maria after her first surgery (which gave her vision back in her right eye) she exclaimed "Oh, eres bien güerrita!"which essentially means "Oh, wow, you're really white!" We'd only spoken Spanish together, so she had mistakenly assumed I was Latina. Though not necessarily the most tactful of comments, it was so wonderful to see how excited she was to see again (and all the surprises that came with it!). That day she was much more independent and has since learned how to get to and from the hospital and our offices on her own. This new-found independence and self-sufficiency is exactly what we hope for all of our clients. She told me, "Isn't is such a miracle that when we first came you had to hold my hand so that I could get places, but now I can see again and do things on my own?" I agreed that it was.

"One doesn't ask of one who suffers: what is your country and what is your religion? One merely says, you suffer, this is enough for me, you belong to me and I shall help you" - Louis Pasteur

Why I Run

I've never kept a blog before, but since I decided to keep one during my marathon training, I figured that the day of my first double-digit run was an appropriate day to start. It's hard to imagine running more than twice my 10-mile run all in one day, but I would have said the same thing on my first 5-mile run; the body's ability to recover and grow stronger is pretty incredible! But enough about training. I promised myself (and anyone who happens to read) that I wouldn't bore you with all the gory training details. Instead, I really want to focus on Taller de José, the organization I've been fortunate enough to be a part of for the past year. 

Since Taller de José opened its doors in September 2008, it has been serving as a community resource center in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. Little Village is a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood, and although it has a vibrant culture and entrepreneurial spirit, it also has very high rates of poverty and violence. The founders of Taller de José sought to respond to the high level of need they witnessed in the neighborhood, and the conclusion they came to after many conversations in the community was that people were unable to connect with the resources already available to them. Thus, Taller de José, (“Joseph’s Workshop” in English) was founded to give individuals the tools needed to meet their most pressing needs. The unique part of Taller is that it achieves these goals by offering services of accompaniment. Sometimes that means: listening to clients’ stories and offering emotional support; explaining and filling out forms that come in the mail; calling other social service agencies and helping them with the language barrier; or, very often, it means actually physically accompanying them to court, the doctor, the social security office, or a wide variety of other places. I’ve been with clients at their interviews to receive permanent residency status in the United States, at court when they learned they’ve been granted an Order of Protection against a long-term abuser, and at the doctor when they’ve had a much-needed surgery or diagnostic appointment. I have learned much more than I ever expected to know about the City of Chicago and the social service network that keeps it afloat.

I’ve been blessed to work at Taller de José for the past 11 months, and now I am looking forward to making an even greater contribution through my marathon fundraising efforts. I hope that recalling and relating my client stories will help give me the motivation to keep training, and hopefully you’ll enjoy reading them as well. One of the best parts of working at Taller is the wonderful community the staff has formed, and I know that I wouldn’t have been able to serve my clients without their advice, input, and support (and there are 2 other staff members, one former compañera, and the board president/co-founder running the marathon this year!) I know they will be a big support during my training, but I also really appreciate any prayers, thoughts, or advice you can throw my way! Thanks for accompanying me along the journey to the finish line (cheesy blog posts and all J)!