Patience

A lot has happened since my last post on the blog. The biggest news is that Homeless Court is beginning to have a lot of people accepted into the program. With very little advertising, Homeless Court is attracting many new clients that come in each week to have their tickets dismissed.
Throughout my experience of meeting with all of these people, the quality that helps me the most is patience. I try to be as patient as I possibly can with each client, and it ultimately works for the best interest of the client and me. With every client, he or she wants to tell the story behind the ticket, why the ticket was issued, what the circumstances were, and I believe that part of my service at St. Vincent de Paul is listening to the stories. The client feels twice as comfortable and more at ease when he or she is listened to and a sense of openness and appreciation is conveyed which makes the process run so much more smoothly. I try to take these lessons of patience that I have learned from St. Vincent de Paul and apply them to my personal life. It is not always easy to practice patience but the more I do, the better I become.

Job Fair coming to SVdP

CWF/SVdP hosting a Job Fair on July 8 from 1-4pm

This job fair will place our clients in face-to-face contact with employers in Oakland and other parts of the East Bay who have job openings or expect to be hiring soon. We also plan to host vocational training programs and community service providers that address barriers to employment. Champion Workforce will prepare Transtional Employees to come dressed for succes with resumes in hand.

We'll be conducting mock interviews, resume workshops and computer classes. Our clients can learn from experts about financial empowerment, expunging a criminal background, training oppportunities from construction to culinary, and much more!

Akil's story

Corey and Akil, graduates of the TE program, have been hired part-time in the Men’s Center and for Community Outreach, respectively.

Akil got in trouble with the law in 1998. Since then, he’s left a lot of things behind—drugs, prison and relationships. “I am broken hearted and sober; but those are the things I had to lose to be successful.” Now as a Transitional Employee since February, he feels lucky to

have been granted “an opportunity that’s often difficult because of my background.”

Hired by SVdP as a Safety Aide in the Free Dining Room, Akil works part-time, keeping the building exterior clean and the dining room clients calm. It’s not just a job, but “a stepping stone,” Akil says, “helping me to separate from the corruption on the outside world. I’m trying to use every service SVdP offers.”

A Bay Area native, Akil aspires to work with teens in the inner city by being a spokesperson for the community. Akil feels he’s recognized what is damaging his life and was willing to sever harmful relationships in order to survive and raise his son.

His advice for new people looking to turn their own lives, especially at SVdP: “Let it be your whole life. Don’t put anything in front of coming here and doing what you have to do to be a Transitional Employee. Don’t put friends, side hassles, relationships or anything in front of it. Let your job and SVdP be the number one priority in their life and they will be successful.”