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.
