Anawim Housing and a few thoughts about Vocation

Warning: another long post. :)I am truly thankful for my job. Yes, there are probably days I complain about it, but this means I have a job and I should be thankful for that fact alone! This is the first job I have had over a year. (I had valid reasons for leaving other jobs--graduation and moving!) A few months ago, I told Rebecca I would be sad if I'd have to leave this one, because I do enjoy it. I don't know if I have ever actually told my dear blog readers what I do. I figure this is the best time to do that.

I am the Family Service Coordinator at Anawim Housing. Anawim Housing is a non-profit housing agency. We have two distinct housing programs. First, we are lease units to low income families and individuals. Yes, we are a landlord. Yes, that does mean we have to evict people sometimes. Our units have income restrictions. We receive government and private funding, so we can lease them at affordable rates. (Did you know that affordable housing, means that you shouldn't be paying more than 30% of your income on housing?) Second, we also have a Shelter Plus Care program. This program we rent units throughout Polk County to sub-lease these units to families and individuals who are homeless and have one or a combination of mental health, substance abuse, and/or HIV/AIDs. We provide the shelter, and we partner with other agencies to provide case management for this program. A rule to stay in this program is that they need to have case management. Both of these programs are permanent supportive housing. This means there is no end date that people need to be out by. The word "supportive" is where I come in.

My role is to be the supportive services for our tenants. (Not with the Shelter Plus Care tenants, because they have case management.) Let me bullet my job description for you:

• I am a contact person. If tenants are wondering where to find something in the community, they can call me and I can refer them to an agency.


• I also coordinate our furniture program. We accept donated furniture and household items. I work on that end, but I also am able to let tenants take some of the furniture free of charge within the first 3 months of their tenancy.


• I work with a program called Transport to Health. It is not about getting people transportation to medical appointments. Actually, we get grant money and tenants are allowed to apply for some of the funding to use towards an activity. (Y membership, educational opportunities, concerts, etc...) There is a limit of how much a tenant is eligible for. I think it is an awesome program. The tenant has to volunteer (1-2 hours) or pay a portion (about 10%).


• I put together a tenant newsletter every other month.


• I organize an annual Holiday Party and other tenant events.


• I organize free educational workshops for tenants.


• I work with several tenants on an on going basis if they need more support. This typically happens if they are receiving rental subsidy assistance from us. Yet, another program I monitor. We do have some funding to help people if they are going through a life crisis. It isn't like General Relief. General Relief can only help you once a year--more like a band aid. I can help tenants with a portion of their rent for a longer period--over a course of 3 months. It is our hope if we help tenants with a portion for three months, it will help stabilize them through whatever life crisis they are facing.

(Also, just an update. I think I posted at some point during the summer of one lady who I was working with. She was on the verge of getting terminated from Section 8. She won her appeal! She had a fine to pay, but we were able to help with some of the fine due to the extenuating circumstances. She is paying us back half of what we helped her with. She is a great tenant, so we were so happy for her! This is one reason I like my job and that I am thankful for it!)

I enjoy what I do. And, I thank God for this. I didn't plan on being a social worker when I was first entering Calvin. Actually, I went into college thinking about being a Chemistry major. I took one class and decided that was not something I wanted to do. I didn't want to work in a lab, teach, or work in a medical profession (I have a husband for that...haha). So, I took some general core classes and really enjoyed Psychology. I talked to my Resident Assistant, Abi, and she wondered if I had thought about social work. She said that it seemed to be something I would enjoy, so I took the introductory course and I loved it. God not only used Abi to direct me to my job, but also one of my religion classes. I can't remember the specific class, but I think it was a Bible lit class. We studied the book of Amos. Oh man, Amos is full of God's call for us to be socially just. I felt convicted to do something after learning this. I really felt and still feel like social work is where I fulfill that calling. (Other's can work on social justice issues in other ways--they do not have to be involved in the field of social work!) Frederick Buechner once wrote that "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meets." I love that quote about vocation. And, at this point, I have deep gladness helping low income families and individuals get a roof over their head and become stabilized in all areas of life. :) (Who knows maybe this will change and I think I have more than one area that taps my deep gladness, but I think it is okay for this to be a fluid idea. I also think this could be a completely different post. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this idea as well.)