Birthday buddies

A quick shout out to two very special January birthday buddies:

Darcy Baker, born January 28th & Duane Baker, born January 23rd

That's right--my parents were born exactly 5 days apart in the same wing of the same hospital. Back then mothers and babies routinely stayed in the hospital for five days after delivery, so it's highly likely that my parents (along with my grandmothers, respectively) passed each other in the nursery hallways long before they would officially meet for the first time in middle school. In a sense, they've known each other all their lives, so I think it's easy to see why they are soulmates. Awwww.

This picture was taken 4 years ago at a particularly momentous birthday milestone, which I will not disclose for the sake of modesty.

But that 30th birthday party sure was fun, right parents? ;-)

"MEALS-ON-WHEELS"

It's week four of my internship at Santa Maria Community Services and so far everything is going swimmingly. Today we finalized my learning contract with University of Cincinnati, and it's packed full of great activities.

One such activity is a weekly Meals-on-Wheels route to six elderly women in a neighborhood in East Price Hill. Today I made my rounds for the first time, delivering meals to these residents and chatting with them on their doorsteps. I was a little nervous about how I would be received at these homes, especially being an unfamiliar face in the neighborhood. But my fears were quickly dispelled when I was warmly greeted and welcomed at each home.

That isn't to say I didn't have any excitement along the way. I listened and empathized as a resident told me about her slumlord's unresponsiveness while their entire apartment complex went without heat this weekend. I hollered "Meals-on-Wheels" at the top of my lungs each time one woman in particular kept asking, "Who is it?" I helped one woman connect to assistance with her rent deposit upon returning to the office. I even helped chase down a little dog that had dashed out an open front door.

And you know what? I loved every minute of it. I look forward to further developing a trustworthy relationship with each of these residents over the next 6 months. After all, this is what social work is all about--getting out in the community and connecting with people in need of services. So who knows? Maybe I will continue to participate with Meals-on-Wheels into the summer and subsequent quarters, long after this portion of my internship has finished. It definitely couldn't hurt.

On track

I am pleased to announce I am on track with one of my goals mentioned in my 200th post (as seen here): I'm getting active!

Inspired by my former-fellow-VISTA and good friend Alex's Couch to 5K running program (seen here at her blog), I decided to get in gear with a 5K training regime of my own. (Did you know Alex is getting married in October? And that I'm a bridesmaid?! Yippee skippeee!!)

Keep in mind it's only week one, but so far I have been very successful incorporating a few minutes of running into a mostly walking routine. Even though it is difficult at times, I always feel great when I'm finished, and I look forward to the next time around.

Perhaps best of all, I already have noticed a change in my energy level, and I am more motivated to eat right and take care of myself in order to become a stronger runner. I'm beginning to understand how fitness can be "addicting" so to speak.

For me, being active isn't about losing weight (though I can definitely stand to drop a few lbs.). It's about feeling good and accomplishing something. Sure, I've been successful in other areas of my life--I got all As in school, I was first chair in the school band, and so on--but I've never been physically fit. I've never played on a team (unless you count the junior high golf team or marching band), and I've never met a fitness goal. In other words, I've never really been an active person, so it feels good to be increasing my level of activity and taking charge of my health.

The fear of failure has held me back in the past--I've started something, encountered resistance, and given up so as not to fail in embarrassment. Of course, I realize giving up was the real failure. If I can keep at it this time, no matter how fast or slow my progress, I'll stay right on track.

The goal is to actually RUN in the 5K Price Hill Pacer Run/Walk benefiting Santa Maria Community Services this June. Assuming I am not part of the logistics team on race day, I want to cross the finish line. It will be my first 5K as a runner and I am determined to get there!

You heard it here, blogosphere--hold me accountable!

EPHIA

Last night Taylor and I attended the East Price Hill Improvement Association meeting in...where else?...East Price Hill. There were about 25-30 people in attendance, mostly community council members and a few residents. Even a few non-residents like us.

So why were we there if we aren't residents of that neighborhood? Well, East Price Hill is home to one of Santa Maria's 3 locations and many of the agency's clients live in Price Hill. I thought it would be helpful to attend so that I could get a better idea of the issues specific to the community. Because social workers take a person-in-environment approach in practice, it would definitely help to learn more about the community environment of many of our clients.

The meeting started at 7:30 in a neighborhood Methodist church. This was my first community council meeting in any neighborhood, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Mostly there were a lot of regular agenda items like reports from various standing committees and such. I did notice, though, that regardless of what committee was presenting, the main focus was on crime. It was clear that the incidence of crime in the neighborhood was a major concern for the people who live there. Many residents believe that if we make more arrests and take the bad guys out of the neighborhood, then we can fully eliminate crime and turn Price Hill into a thriving community. I agree with that--to an extent. Not all of Price Hill's problems can be reduced to crime alone. We still need employment opportunities, income enhancement programs, access to affordable health care, reliable transportation, quality childcare, and so on. On the other hand, if the neighborhood is safe it will be more attractive for such growth and development, allowing the community to really prosper. It's definitely all connected.

Lucky for Price Hill residents, Santa Maria (among other local agencies) is working hard to implement programming in many of those areas. Combined with crime reduction, these social services will help Price Hill thrive.

In the meantime, I intend to spend more time in Price Hill patronizing local businesses, attending local events, and getting to know the residents. It's the neighboring community to our Western Hills home and I should get familiar with it!

A day off

Last year on MLK Day I wrote about making your day off a day on in service. But this year I'm not practicing what I preached--I'm taking the day off.

As you might have noticed by the lack of blog posts, I haven't been around here much this past week or so. That's because I've been getting settled at my internship, adjusting to my classes, and juggling both of my jobs. It's been a lot to balance, but I'm hanging on!

At my internship last week, I distributed 2000 flyers for a free tax service, attended a staff meeting, and read through Santa Maria's board manual and employee handbooks. I also finished meeting with 9 of 11 program managers (just two more to go!) to get a better idea of the range of services Santa Maria provides to the community. My next step is to draft my learning contract with UC that will lay out everything I will work on over the next two quarters. It's quite a task--I've got to narrow down all of the program and project opportunities to something that is manageable between now and June. Because I can split my time between direct practice and administration this time, I've got a lot to choose from, which is exciting!

I've now had all of my classes, and I'm getting into the groove of the new quarter. Two of my classes are about working with individuals and families, and I'm already realizing how introspective I'm becoming with each class. In fact, I have two assignments in which I am to specifically reflect on my own family's experience. One is a Genogram, which is like a very detailed family tree. Not only does it show how people are related and the dates of their births, deaths, and marriages, but it also shows the relationships between each relative. Once that is finished, I will use that information to write a detailed paper about my family. I'm realizing that the more insight I have into my own family, the better prepared I will be to help others gain insight into their families, too.

And then there's my jobs. I'm now working regular hours at both Rape Crisis and House of Peace. It's great to have steady income, but the trade off is my down time. I now have one day off a week, if you count doing homework and housework as a a day off! So when you get a holiday like MLK Day, you really cherish it, especially when your life is already all about service.

So today I'm giving back to myself. I'm going to hang out with a friend I don't get to see nearly enough and then enjoy a lovely dinner with my husband. I'm learning that it isn't a bad thing to take time for myself, and I shouldn't feel guilty for taking a day off. Without a day off, it's hard to have good days on!