"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!
"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!
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