Leadership Rochester: Program Day #2

As Program Day #3 is roaring into sight, I realized...oh, no! I never posted about last month's! So, let's get to it. Program Day #2 was called "Who takes care of whom?" and the basic premise is to introduce the class to the various social organizations in the Rochester area, what they do, what limitations they face, and the issues faced by those who need access to them. On the whole, it was a very enlightening day. One I think most folks would benefit by participating in.

The day started off early...WAY early! I had to meet up with the class at 5:45am. Did I mention I work the night shift until 10? Eek! But, we needed to meet that early as the first task of the day for each of the teams was to make breakfast for one of the homeless shelters in town. I should start by pointing out that each of our teams was given a list of food to procure not only for our breakfast, but also to ensure the shelters had some extra. I had managed to score two loaves of bread generously donated by Small World Food. (If you see them at the Rochester Public Market, make sure you mention LR gave 'em a shout-out and then buy yourself some of their amazing granola! I LOVE the maple cashew!) But, our class is fortunate to have someone who works at Wegmans and they ended up donating ALL of the food needed by ALL of the teams! (If you see them at the Rochester Public Market, ask them what the heck they're doing there). Way to go Wegmans!

After dispensing all of the food, my team set off for our destination: The Open Door Mission. On arrival, we were given a quick tour of the kitchen and set right to work. Everyone on our team jumped right in and worked their butts off to make a fantastic breakfast for everyone. Sam, who is a fireman, jumped right in to working the grill. The man knows how to feed a large number of men! I, with the help of one of my teammates, made the grits. I've had grits once or twice and like 'em, but I've never made them. I've certainly never made 2 gallons of them! Quite the learning experience for me.

The men started filing in as we were cooking and I was struck by the diversity. I had honestly expected what one would typically picture when you say "homeless man", but that image only matched a small number of those we served. The rest seemed like someone I might work with, or be neighbors with. Some of them were young, in their twenties, some not much older than that. There were a couple with obvious mental issues, that was clear, though. I didn't get the chance to sit and chat with any of them, though, as I was busy tending to my grits. They apparently require constant stirring...

As we were cleaning up breakfast, a fellow came in and sat down. The pots and pans were already away, so I went over and asked if I could make a plate up for him. He thanked me and I went back to the kitchen and started unwrapping. The mission admin, however, told us we couldn't serve him. They had rules, and the men needed to learn to follow them. He was late, he wasn't getting any food. A few minutes later, after speaking to the man, the admin came back in and said he'd explained it to him and he could now have some food. He wasn't going to let the guy go hungry, but wanted to make a point.

And, here's where it gets difficult for me. On one hand, I think I need to share my honest assessment of the day. On the other hand, my honest assessment will only make sense to some folks, and probably enrage the rest. But, if someone from the majority wants to give their assessment, I guess they can do that. I can only view the world through my own eyes and relate what I saw...

Here's my problem: as an atheist, I generally don't have issues with religious charities. Most charities do have some level of a religious background, but most also don't force it on either their guests or the people they serve. Open Door, however, is all about spreading the word of the Bible. Throughout the breakfast, a preacher spoke to them about accepting Jesus into their hearts and how that would make everything all right. Most of the men, though, either ignored him or walked away from him as he was talking. When the admin was explaining about the rules, he did talk about how he had men who'd lived there for 7-8 years. He admitted that was no longer a mission, it was enabling. I have to wonder how much quicker the men would make it out if they were actually provided something they could use here and now, and not simply be proselytized for solutions for the hereafter.

Keep in mind, this disparity only became crystal clear when we met up later in the day to debrief on our experiences. I believe our team was the only one that went to a primarily religious-backed organization, and the one thing that resonated in what they had to say about those other locations was the hope they felt from the people living there. Hope they'd get back on their feet. Hope they'd find a job. Hope they'd get their kids into a home. Hope was ubiquitous elsewhere. It caused me to be taken aback when I first heard someone mention the overwhelming feeling of hope. I experienced none of it at Open Door. Was hope absent because of the religiosity of the place? I guess I can't say with 100% certainty, but it seemed fairly obvious who was offering it and who wasn't.

After serving breakfast (and leaving a LOT of extra food behind), we headed to the Hillside Family of Agencies headquarters. I'd heard of Hillside before, who in Rochester hasn't? I know a couple of folks who have worked there, and have encoutered them regularly in my travels as TEDxRochester licensee. What I'd never done, however, was gone to their campus. And, when I say "campus", I mean CAMPUS! Wow, I never knew all of that was up there! It's like a mini-college campus up on the hill, tucked away out of sight. Promise, I'm done saying "campus" for at least a paragraph or two.

We met in one of the meeting halls to both debrief from our mornings as well as be broken up into new teams for our afternoon assignment which really was the "Who takes care of whom" portion of the day. Each team was given a small piece of paper with a scenario on it, and our job was to get assistance for the imaginary person in the scenario. We were challenged, however, to do so in an hour and fifteen minutes and we weren't allowed to use our smartphones as Internet devices. If we wanted to search, we could go to the library, just like someone who needed public assistance would need to do. You can just hear all the groans THAT limitation caused, can't you?

My team was tasked with a teen who was homeless. His mother had moved in with her aunt, but there wasn't enough room for the boy, so he was drifting around living with friends. The friends had suggested he apply for food stamps to help with food costs, but since he didn't have a permanent address or birth certificate, this would prove difficult. What do you do? What DO you do?

We decided immediately that we should hit the Brighton library first to gather information. But, on the way out, my team mate who was a police officer suggested we stop by The Center For Youth quickly since it was right around the corner. Okay, let's try that! We got there and explained our situation. The receptionist asked us to take a seat and she'd get someone for us. Minutes later, my friend from City Council, Elaine Spaull came out and greeted us all with a "what are you all doing here?!" Apparently, she knew almost every one of us. That's Elaine!

We chatted for a moment and then she pulled us into a room and gathered folks to help us out. She brought in two of her directors and we talked in detail about what the Center offered and how they could help. If, for example, this young man had come to them, they wouldn't stop at just getting his immediate needs filled. They'd help get him that birth certificate, they'd help him find a place to live, they'd take a fully holistic approach to taking care of his needs. "What if, however, he went first to DSS instead?" I asked. "They'd refer him to us." was the immediate reply. DSS has a relationship with the Center and would get him the help he needed through them.

Not bad, and with 35 minutes to spare! Someone suggested we not rush back, but bask in the glow of our success over a cup of coffee. We all agreed. :)

On returning to Hillside, I ran into another friend, Eric Wheeler. Eric was one of the first speakers at TEDxRochester when he was the curator of the International Center for the History of Electronic Gaming at The Strong. He's moved on since then and was now working at MCC helping returning veterans get their education going.

It turned out he was there for the next portion of our day, the debrief/panel discussion. Similar to last month's panel discussion, this panel was made up of a group of folks who all work in providing services to specific persons with needs. As mentioned, Eric Wheeler spoke about his advocacy for veterans in the upstate NY area. Perhaps the most interesting take away came from him. He explained that the Rochester area is one of the BEST places in the country to be a returning veteran due to the wealth of services offered. Glad to hear!

Also on board were two folks from different senior assistance programs (I misplaced their info and will update this with it later) and Chris Hilderbrant, COO of the Center for Disability Rights. Chris gave a talk about his life that was both moving and entertaining. Suffering a spinal cord injury at the age of 14, he recounted dealing with the lack of accessibility he's faced in his life and how he "accidentally" fell into leading the charge to change things.

The discussion group was interesting, but it was the findings of my class I was most interested in. All of the other teams ended up having to put in a lot more work than we did to get the results they needed. Most remembered to use 211 as a starting point to find services, though. I'm embarrassed that it never even crossed my mind as my wife and I spend a lot of time in local Goodwills, and that ad is constantly running through my head!

I'll spare you all the details, though, as I'm sure you're as exhausted reading all of this as I've become from typing it! The short of it is, if you're in need of accessing one of our social nets, it ain't easy. For example, almost every group expressed having discovered a "secret code word" that would direct them to the right assistance. If you didn't discover that code word, though, you spent a lot of time jumping from person to person explaining and re-explaining your needs and situation. One team member made the point that those in need, should they be in possession of a cell phone, could very quickly exhaust their monthly minutes on just one call into "the system".

So, what did I learn today? Honestly, there were a number of interesting tidbits here and there, but the day pretty much confirmed my view of public assistance and charity. The system is needlessly complex, and I believe that's entirely by design. There are those who believe we shouldn't provide any social assistance to anyone under any circumstances, even if it costs lives. By making the system too complex to navigate, I believe the hope is that those who don't REALLY need assistance will simply give up, get jobs and stop being lazy parasites (their opinions, not mine).

Or, there are those who believe that there are people who genuinely have need of assistance, but the system is too gummed up with people who don't need it and just want to scam the system for "their" money. A lot of the complexity comes from a need to excessively verify, re-verify, confirm, etc to ensure no one gets a single penny they don't need. Unfortunately, all of this additional scrutiny increases complexity which, by its nature, decreases efficiency and increases costs. It's ironic to note these types of people will scream bloody murder if you try to introduce legislation that curtails the illegal activities of businesses because that legislation would decrease their efficiency. An efficiency that was only gained by cutting corners and perhaps causing some people to suffer, mind you, but an efficiency nonetheless.

Certainly no immediate solutions to these problems present themselves, but I certainly wasn't expecting any after being immersed for only one day. I had hoped going into it that things weren't as bad as I thought, so it was disappointing to learn they are. The one positive I did find, though, was the people involved who dedicate their lives to trying to make things better for others, no matter how hard. It's their tireless devotion that's most inspiring!