Day 1 Placements Tuit
I spent my morning picking up snacks for the group at Hope Community Transitional, then talking to students and their placement coordinators there, at First Place, and at DeGage (I'll be visiting some of the placements every day to check in and see how things are going). At each of these places I was able to talk to the host/coordinator and explain the class a bit more fully, see that students were in the right place, and get a fuller sense of the organization. I was very excited that all of the people I talked to were enthusiastic about our class, supportive of what we're doing, and very encouraging.
I had one experience that sticks out. As I was walking from my car to Degage Ministries on Division, there was a man walking down the sidewalk pushing a shopping cart. He fit the stereotype of a homeless man in his dress and personal cleanliness. But what I noticed most clearly was that the shopping cart was filled with beautiful hand-carved walking sticks. I took a bit of a risk and stopped to ask him if he made them himself. He said yes, and he was excited to talk to me about them. I asked him if he sold them, and he again said yes. He said his name was Gravedigger, shook my hand, and told me to stop by Heartside Ministries anytime to find him and buy one. It was a friendly, positive exchange with someone I would have overlooked most days, and I hope that I'll be able to see him again--and maybe buy one of his walking sticks--in the next couple of weeks.