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I Landed My Dream Job as a Case Manager for the Homeless. And Then 8 Months Later I Quit.

The system is broken.

By Lena_AnnPublished 2 years ago 7 min read
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I Landed My Dream Job as a Case Manager for the Homeless. And Then 8 Months Later I Quit.
Photo by Maria Teneva on Unsplash

The Beginning

I have had a heart for the unnoticed and underserved for as long as I can remember. When I was young, my best friend and I used to sell Girl Scout cookies door to door (we lived in a small town, and this was years before this kind of activity was frowned upon.) Along our route, we’d identify older people who seemed lonely, and then each holiday, we’d make each of them a card and slip the card into their mailboxes.

As teenagers, we would save up our money and take ourselves to the local Denny’s where there was a young waitress whose section we would request to sit in. We knew she was a struggling single mom. We’d order one slice of cheesecake to share between the two of us and then leave her the biggest tip we could. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t a lot of money, but to us, $10 was quite a lot.

When I was 18, I moved to Houston. My first job was as an outside sales consultant in the uptown area. I’d never lived in a big city before and I’d never met a homeless person, however, while working that job, I met quite a few. They would sit with me while I ate lunch each day and we’d talk about their life stories.

I was always surprised to hear about the lives they’d lived prior to becoming homeless. I was even more surprised to learn that their path to homelessness was not what most would imagine. Something as simple as a truck breaking down and having no transportation to work could eventually lead to homelessness. And hopelessness.

My conversations with these men and women stuck with me for years. I knew that eventually, I wanted to work with people experiencing homelessness.

Starting My Dream Job

Fast forward to 2020 and a local non-profit I’d met with a few times as part of my marketing position let me know they were hiring a Case Manager position. They did case management work within our local homeless community. I’d had many conversations with the Executive Director prior to this and I’d expressed an interest in joining the organization should a position ever come available. They seemed to be doing all the things I wanted to accomplish within the world of homelessness and I wanted to be a part of it. Plus, I’d also get to manage their marketing which is what my career focus had been leading up to this point.

I jumped at the opportunity and immediately interviewed. As soon as the grant money was secured, I started my dream job.

Or so I thought.

It was not long before I started to notice some very big cracks in the system, both externally within the system meant to help the homeless and internally within the non-profit itself.

Cracks in the External System

I haven’t yet, but I will soon be writing many more stories regarding the cracks in the system that is meant to help our homeless and underserved communities. However, for the sake of this story, let’s just say I started to notice that a lot of numbers are fluffed to appease the egos of those in charge.

For instance, Houston touts a 53% reduction in homelessness since 2011. What has really happened is the definition of “homeless” has been tweaked in a way that benefits those reporting the numbers. Furthermore, the way in which the number of people experiencing homelessness is calculated each year is, at the very least, questionable. More on that in the future.

Another issue is that most government-supported grants for assisting the homeless have one focus: get people housed. Problem solved, right?

Wrong.

These individuals get placed in areas of town they are unfamiliar with, with no community to support them. They often have unaddressed addictions, PTSD, and other mental illnesses. Lump in new stressors like paying bills, learning how to cook, budget, grocery shop, and clean and suddenly being housed turns into an overwhelming adjustment.

Without a support system in place, many end up right back on the streets in the areas they are familiar with and in the routine they have become used to. We humans are creatures of habit.

I believe that homelessness is the direct result of a breakdown of community. When we house someone experiencing homelessness without a proper community support system in place, we alienate them even more.

I did my best to continue to case manage after my clients were housed, however, I was repeatedly told this was not what I was paid by my grant to do. I felt helpless.

The Christian Dilemma and Internal Cracks

I knew the non-profit I was joining had a very proud, Christian-based foundation long before I began there. Honestly, I was a little worried I wouldn’t fit into the culture because I do not consider myself a Christian. My experience with many who give themselves this title has left me confused about how they can claim to love Jesus so much and yet behave so opposite of his teachings. However, what was most important to me was helping people. I’d figure out the rest. And for a while, that approach worked great.

I listened to their conversations. I prayed when they prayed. I participated in their religious discussions and I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about their beliefs. I have a curious mind and I love to learn about different perspectives. I’m an INFP, what can I say?

However, I cringed inside when they talked about the clients. I heard things like, “well (insert name) isn’t a believer” more than once. I noticed they used biased criteria to categorize who we would help and who we wouldn’t. I was also asked to report numbers as part of our marketing efforts that didn’t add up. When I’d question them, I’d be met with contempt. It started to feel like the toxic relationship I’d been in the year before.

The most difficult part for me was the overall lack of empathy. I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. There was also an ongoing smear campaign to downplay any good work other organizations were doing as if we weren’t partners with the same goal. It was so….narcissistic.

I felt surrounded by judgment, jealousy, and ego. I realized the goal of the organization wasn’t so much to truly care for people, but instead to do the work for the sake of appearances.

I held on as long as I could, but eventually, my mental health started to suffer so I had to quit.

Doing so broke my heart.

Reflecting

I absolutely loved the work I was able to do while there. I met so many people with so many stories. I was able to pour unconditional, non-judgmental love into each of them and remind them of their worth. I felt honored to walk beside them as they took positive steps forward.

There were tears. There were setbacks. There were big disappointments and days of frustration. But there was also joy. I experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows while doing the work I know I was meant to do. Over the course of 8 months, I assisted over 30 men, women, and children with their transition into more stable situations. Many of them still call and text me today.

Next Steps

I may have stepped away from my dream job, however, while there I learned everything I needed to learn in order to move forward. I now know how to navigate the system. I know the gray areas. I know where the gaps are and I have an idea of how to fill the holes.

I am going to write much more in the future about my experiences with our homeless community. For now, I’ll just say my work is not done. I am in the process of starting my own non-profit and I’m excited to see where it leads.

In the meantime, let’s start talking about what it means to truly build community.

Let’s come up with ways to create lasting support systems for our underserved communities.

Let’s make it our goal to remind every person, that they are SOMEONE.

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About the Creator

Lena_Ann

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