#57: Our Work (PART 2)

​【Support Program】
Our weekly job coaching program largely consists of two parts.
 
The first part is Resume Building. Generally speaking, many tend to reduce this task into a dry administrative chore, yet that’s not where we’d like to take it. In fact, our aim is to sit face-to-face with each client, taking the time and listening carefully to their work and life history. This poses a challenge on a busy day, but we try our best not to lose sight of what’s important.
 
What kind of work were you doing? Did you enjoy that job? Why did you leave that job? What skills, training, or licenses did you acquire from your previous jobs that may prove useful on your next job? For those who’ve moved from afar, what prompted you to make that decision? What line of work are you interested in now?
 
The company that I worked for went out of business. Skipped work frequently, until eventually I was let go. My Commercial Driver’s License should help me get a truck driver job. Carpenter ‘til my mid-50s, but fell from a ladder during work, broke my spine, and now I’m on a wheelchair.
 
Able to secure childcare for my 5-year-old, so I want to start working again. Now that I’m divorced, I need to resume work. Dropped out of high school for my first pregnancy, and I had my hands full with raising 5 children, one after another. Because of my mental health issue, I get sudden panic attacks that disables me to continue on a job.
 
Had to escape from my abusive husband, so I left my kids with my mom and came here – that’s why I quickly need a job to bring my kids over. My daughter has a severe disability so our family moved here for her to receive a much-needed medical care at no cost – but it’s been incredibly difficult to find a job in an unfamiliar town, and eventually we became homeless.
 
I beat up my supervisor on the job and was fired. I was incarcerated for some time. I ruined my life with substance abuse. 
 
In one case, a successful lawyer who had her own practice after graduating near the top of class at a law school, and a stint at a distinguished law firm. Yet, after a divorce, substance abuse sunk her deep – so deep that she lost her home and was eventually forced onto the streets with her two children. “I’m good at work and studies, but I’m bad at making the important life decisions.” Her eyes full of sorrow as she quietly confessed those words.
 
And from time to time, we hear about the unhealthy relationships with parents.
 
I was raised by a single mom, as a result often felt neglected. My parents argued all the time, we had no real conversation at home, so our family was totally dysfunctional. My childhood was unbearable because of the physical abuse from my dad. My parents’ drug problem completely messed up our family. My mom still drives me nuts even to this day, obsessively intervening in my life.
 
Indeed, resume building can be a plain task of listening, asking, and taking notes. Nonetheless, no matter how limited in scope it may be, it lets us touch the lives of people from all walks of life. No matter how limited in vision it may be, through the lens of work and life history, we come to see the livelihood of each client.
 
A unique story of each person who lives with us in this same world. Surely, every one of us carries a curious past and the distinct emotions attached to each episode in our life. We all naturally come from our own different background. Nevertheless, if there’s one common thread in all of us, then that may be our basic demand to be treated with dignity as a human.
 
That’s, indeed, a very basic human demand. Surely, we all demand and deserve that. And how to respond to it is also very basic – we just see and hear each person with our fullest sincerity. Quite simply, that may be all.
 
Look straight in the eye and introduce ourselves. Ask their names and give a firm handshake with a smile. And then, take the time and listen to their life story. Through it all, let them know that we’re here to help if they so choose.
 
In the beginning, many clients have their guards up. Perhaps, that’s the reflection of how our society treats them. Nonetheless, as we approach each person with dignity and sincerity, most faces tend to ease up. And little by little, many start to open up and talk about their life story.

Read Next: Our Work (3)【Interview Class】
Read Previous: Our Work (1)【Homeless in America】
 
Complete Series: Our Work (1)～(4)
[1]   [2]   [3]   [4]

Read Theme: On-site Report