Oh the Places We Go

One of the special things about running the Chicago Marathon (as opposed to another city) is that the route passes by so many places I know well, in many cases because I accompany clients there frequently. Seeing those along the route are helpful reminders of why I am running and help give extra meaning to some of the tougher miles. So here's a little virtual trip through the marathon route, via the places we accompany clients most often:

Mile 2.5
We pass one block away from the Daley Center, which accounts for almost 30% of our accompaniments. We visit here with clients most often to attend court dates for such varied situations as: small claims court, evictions, name changes, domestic relations (child support, custody, divorce), guardianship, and traffic court. Other times, though, we assist a client in obtaining birth or marriage certificates, or in filing court documents, often with the guidance of one of several help desks (several legal aid agencies provide the much-needed service of providing legal aid to prepare low-income individuals to represent themselves in court. They're so needed, in fact, that we often arrive as early as 7:30am to sign in even though they don't open until 9:00).

Mile 3.5

On our way north on LaSalle street, we pass by the main offices of CatholicCharities, an organization where we refer a large portion of our clients (and they refer quite a few to us as well). Clients who we refer to Catholic Charities receive services including counseling, financial assistance, clothing, food, housing, senior services, Head Start preschool, and legal assistance (both immigration-related and other). 

 Mile 15
Around mile 15 (the point at which you start thinking, hmmm... I should have just run a half marathon, I'd be done by now!) we run through the medical district, passing Stroger Cook County Hospital, Rush University Hospital, and UIC Hospital, all locations where we accompany clients who have doctor's appointments or procedures. We recently formed a partnership with a community clinic in Little Village to help ensure clients make the connection to Stroger when they're referred to see a specialist, so we've seen a big increase in medical accompaniments in the past year. (If you didn't see my post about my formerly blind client from last year, that's a great example of some of my experiences in the med district).

Mile 23.5
The route takes us to the corner of 35th and Michigan, the Police Headquarters for Chicago, where we accompany clients who need to obtain copies of police reports or request the 918-B Certification, all documents they need for the U-Visa application (a visa available to victims of violent crimes).

And the list could go on and on-- the marathon goes through 29 Chicago neighborhoods, and we've accompanied clients to even more than that. In addition to being motivated by seeing these locations along the route, last year I also had a band around my arm with a list of people to whom I was dedicating each mile. This year, if you would like to donate in honor or in memory of someone-- perhaps someone who has accompanied you in your own life-- I would be honored to dedicate a mile of the marathon to them. Taller will also send a special card to that person or their loved ones and add their name to a special plaque in our office. If you would like to donate in honor or memory of someone, just let me know when you make your donation!

Imagination

I recently read a quote about running that helps put words to a big part of why I run:

 "Bernd Heinrich, Ph.D.... agrees we were born to run. But the secret, he argues, is not that we can trot along under a hot sun. No, the genius lies in our ability to visualize-- to imagine-- that such activity might lead to an important goal. We don't run primarily because we can, or because it feels good, though both might be true. Rather we were born to run with imagination and purpose. Paleoithic runners pursued antelope with visions of a steak dinner. Today we run to score a soccer goal... To finish a 5-K and then maybe a half-marathon. To raise funds for good causes. We run long amd persistent, hoping to one day complete 26.2 miles... Our imagination is our greatest human talent. Our imagination and our optimism." -- Amby Burfoot, "Just Imagine," Runner's World  

I find purpose in running for Taller de Jose, and, for me, the beauty is that Taller is a place that inspires that imagination and optimism in others; we strive to encourage our clients to imagine a future better than the present they're living in and show them they have the support they need to realize those hopes. Most often, as in the case of my client Aurelia, they already have the capability of imagining, and it just takes a listening ear or gentle reassurance to show them they are capable of tackling the obstacles in front of them. 

For about a year now, I've been working with Aurelia, who is in the process of applying for the UVisa. This is a special immigration visa granted to individuals who are victims of violent crimes and who have cooperated with police officers and other law enforcement. The idea is to encourage members of immigrant communities to report crimes and assist in their prosecution; often, individuals fear going to the police because of language barriers, and more significantly, they worry they or their loved ones with be deported. Thus, problems like domestic violence are rampant yet rarely spoken about in neighborhoods like Little Village. 

Before I met her, Aurelia made the brave step of calling the police after suffering years of abuse. She was still confronting the emotional turmoil that comes with being responsible for the arrest of a loved one, no matter how much pain that loved one caused. But because she had a 5-year-old daughter to provide for, her focus had been one of survival, not coping with her loss and confusion. In order to apply for the UVisa, she needed to re-live the abuse over and over, both in writing her personal testimony and by attending frequent court dates to serve as a witness in the case against her abuser. I connected her with a counselor to help with the testimony, but attending the court dates was even more stressful because it meant facing her abuser and his family, who blamed her for calling the police. I attended each court date with her (the process was over 6 months long), and each time we walked away with the case unresolved, she would express desperation, questioning whether she was doing the right thing. I always let her know that the decision to return to court was hers alone, but that if she chose to go, she wouldn't be there alone. In the end, she did follow through to see the case to its conclusion, and her participation was an essential part of both the prosecution's case and her immigration application. 

She is still in the process of applying for the UVisa, so there's a long road ahead of her, but I can see her determination and hope that it will all be worth it; and for as long as she needs it, I'll be there, not as the director, but as a supporting actress. And hers is just one of many, many stories I could share. I feel honored to bear witness to my client's stories of hope and persistence, of imagination in the midst of great suffering, and it is those feelings of gratitude and inspiration that give purpose to my training.