This week in the center we had too many homeless kids and not enough volunteers. The ratio was 4:1. To make any progress, we need a ration of 1:1, at most 2:1. But we make due, and do what we can.
One of the nurse practioners did a lesson for the women about birth control and sexual health. It spun into a conversation about sex, who was having it, who wasn’t, who had babies, who didn’t. One of our young mothers proclaimed she was not having sex until she right with her body, until she had confidence again, until she really wanted it. She knows the consequences of sex all too well: a single mother who left the abusive man who fathered her young son. Now she lives in a small house with 15 other people, many young teen moms and they are worried they’ll get evicted next month. Some of the boys at the center loitered around the table, and we we shooed them away thinking they just wanted to laugh at the word sex, until it became apparent they were just as curious about sexual health as the women. We need to organize a lesson geared toward men. Strange how easy it is to ignore them in the dialoge.
One of our boys dropped in after dissappearing for a few weeks. He is incredibly thin, keeps to himself, draws pictures of mushrooms. His skinniness is caused by his schizophrenia; all food is contaminated with preservatives, he says, and he refuses to eat. He thinks food is poison. He ranted about how we stole his mail and left abruptly. One of the volunteers thinks we can get him into the psych ward at the hospital since his physical health is detrimenting due to his mental illness. They’ve been resistent to accepting him in the past, apparently, his problems weren’t severe enough.
My favorite little couple came in with their adorable six-week old little girl. It was inspiring to see this large, strong man cradle his infant daughter in his arms, kiss her forehead, muse on the inner thoughts of the just born. He is steadily holding a job at McDonald’s at the airport, and is trying to work his way into a position with an airline. His girlfriend is smart, and she says she doesn’t want to get her GED, she thinks she can get a real high school diploma. We’ll look into that next week.
After the center closes, we have a meeting. Our center director says from now on, we’ll pick a youth to work with each week, rather than all working together. He thinks one-on-one mentoring will be more effective, despite our low volunteer numbers. I pick a girl, Tanisha, who I met on the street last year. She’s taking her GED this week and I am ready to help her move on to the next chapter of her life.
