I woke up this morning to a text message from Elizabeth telling me not to pack up yet because she and Gloria were trying to get me a position in headquarters. I wasn't sure how I felt about that at first, because I figured I would just go clean the cots with the Americorps girls out at the warehouse, but I also thought that if it worked out for me to be at headquarters, it could be a really good experience for me to learn and make contacts.
About 10 minutes later I received a follow up text letting me know that I had a meeting with the chief of partnerships at noon! Wow! I got up and cleaned up the room just in case and the. For ready to go over to the chapter. I stopped at a deli on my way over and got an apple turnover for breakfast. Delicious.
When I arrived at the chapter I met up with Gloria and Elizabeth. They told me that they were fighting for me to stay in headquarters and that is why they set up the interview at noon.
After a few minutes a lady came in who I found out was going to be the new shelter manager at Nassau. They decided that instead of staying there I should go with her as her assistant. I figured that would probably work and agreed to go. I headed back to the hotel, loaded up on cold medicine and then waited for the can to pick me up.
The ride back to Nassau was fairly uneventful, except for the fact that I found out the Americorps girls really were leaving the shelter to go clean cots and would not be there when I arrived. I am so bummed. I was really looking forward to working with them again and now I probably won't see them at all. Although Holly does have my shirt. Does that constitute enough of a reason to fly to Arizona to visit someone(s)?
I arrived at the shelter and ate lunch with Charlotte, the new shelter manager, and then introduced her to Tom and Jerry, the current shelter managers. I walked around with her for a while and then Tom said that because they already have people trained in the office then they didn't need me and to go ask Jerry for another job. Bummer. So I went and talked to Jerry and kind of explained that I was really hoping to get some good experience while I was out here. He told me that we could probably just have me bounce around to wherever I am needed so that I can learn the reigns for each area and get a little bit more experience. I figured it would be good so I agreed and was sent to the Registration/Information desk. Anita was there and I helped her check people out, run errands, and check wrist hands as people came in the door. I learned more about the forms that we have available and dealt with some upset people. We are trying to get the people in the shelter to move on to the next step in their lives and so we have been moving them quickly through the disaster recovery process. We have de sure at least a few times that each client is registered with FEMA and that we have their records on our files as well. If someone doesn't match up, or they have refused services we have to ask them to leave. We said goodbye to several clients today. It was hard for a lot of people to see them go.
Right after dinner I spent a few minutes playing with a younger boy and girl in the activity area. They were both super cute and it was fun to have a few minutes to just laugh and play. They were adorable kids who have been through so much in the last couple of months.
The rest of the evening was fairly mellow at the shelter. A few people left, a few tried to come back in, and they are working on hanging everyone's wrist bands to purple instead of orange. (Think sneeches on beaches).
On the way home Alex, our head security guard, showed us a box of chocolates that some person had given him. The reason they have it to him was because he sounds exactly like Forrest Gump, who says: "life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get." It was pretty hilarious.
I went out bowling tonight with Anita, Alisa, and Casey. It was fun to be out and about and do something other than sleep and work. My score wasn't all that hot, but it will do.
So don't be mad...but I actually didn't take any pictures today. Can you believe that?? So sad. Don't you fret. I will make up for it tomorrow.
Until then, peace out!
Roadtrip!
ReplyDelete