Survey for my final project

As part of my final project, which I will post to my blog when it is done, I decided to do a survey to help me gage the interest and need for the document I am planning on developing. I thought I would share the survey and the results because I think its informatie and interesting. The results are based on the response of ten low income and homeless individuals who live in the innercity.

Survey:
Support Services and Organizations Resource Book Responses

1) Where do you currently get information regarding support services and organizations?

-The majority of people get their information from word of mouth (friends, family)
-Asking councillors and service workers for information
-Bissell Center Co-Op (notice boards)
-Only one person I spoke to accessed information through the internet. This is because his sister has a computer at home

2) How often do you have access to the internet?

-The vast majority of the people I spoke to do not use the internet or have access to a computer
-One man said he has never gone on the internet in his life
-Several people said they don’t know how to use it properly
-If they want to use the internet the public library downtown is the only place they can go

3) Do you think there are problems or boundaries to accessing information you need?

-Some people commented that they have difficulty figuring out what exactly it is that they need and who to go to access it
-Not knowing what services are even available limits their ability and knowledge on the type of help they can get

4) Do you know of or have you seen any resource guidebooks available?

-There is one printed guidebook called “Tough Times Handbook”
-Only one person I spoke to knew about the book
-Everyone else I surveyed did not know of any other printed resource guides

5) How do you feel about the idea of a guidebook that had all the contact and resources in Edmonton all in one place?

-There was overwhelming support by everyone I surveyed for the creation and distribution of such a guidebook
-When I was leaving the center one of the women I had surveyed shouted out “Hope to see that guidebook out soon!”

6) If there was such a product available would you want one?

-Everyone said yes and they would use it
-They supported the idea of having a small, durable booklet
-Several people commented that it should be waterproof
-The one woman that knew about the “Tough Times Handbook”  commented that it was too big to carry around and that it was made out of this paper that would easily tear or get wet in their backpacks. She also commented that if there was to be a new book it should be hard covered to make it more durable.

7) Are there any specific particular services or organizations you would like to see in there?

-One woman commented that they should create a separate one geared towards women specifically
-Doctors and housing referrals and information seemed to be a common concern that people would like to get more information about
-One man commented that he would like to be able to have access to professionals to get advice (lawyers, doctors) rather than have to rely on third party advice
-There should be short descriptions of services that are simple so that everyone can understand. One person commented that a lot of people don’t have good reading skills and it may be hard for them to understand complicated descriptions

Additional comments:

-The “Tough Times Handbook” is typically provided to people by social workers (created problems among those who do not have or regularly see social workers)
-The one woman who was familiar with the book also said that they often run out of them
-Bus route information for key service locations would be useful
-Pictures or logos of services or organization signs would be useful to create more understanding or familiarity of services
-Bavie Sara commented that the BMHC does a lot of referrals and calling around for their clients rather than providing or directing them to where they can find contact information for services/information

 

BMHC Womens Group: Portrait Day

Background:

The Women's Group is a drop in event that happens every Thursday except for the last Thursday of each month. The group is open to anybody that wants to attend but typically attracts women aged thirty five and up. According to one of the BMHC workers, the Women's Group is attended by women who have homes but live in poverty rather than those that live on the streets.

 

Each weekly meeting revolves around different  event or activities which are intended to keep the women engaged and interested. These activities include doing group yoga, visiting museums and art galleries in the city, having guest speakers come in, getting beauty treatments done at local beauty schools, and much more. In addition to doing activities, the women are also treated to a full hot dinner or packed lunch made by volunteers that come to the BMHC and cook.

Some of the beauty products Sephora was kind enough to give to the group

 

Portrait Day:

The other week I had the pleasure of attending a weekly Women's Group gathering at the BMHC.  The activity for that evening just happened to be their annual portrait day where two professional photographers come in and take portraits of the women for free. This is a special day where everyone is encouraged to dress up and give each other makeovers in preparation for their portraits. The photographs, which will be printed for free and given to the women will often be then given to family members as Christmas presents.

My role at the Women's Group was to help the ladies get ready for their pictures and help them apply their makeup. It was a really interesting experience and fun experience having a bunch of women wait in line for me to do their makeup. It was funny because several of them asked if I was a professional makeup artist (which I'm not). While I had fun playing around with the different color lipsticks and eye shadows, it was a bit nerve wracking because although I thought I did a good job on everybody I was nervous about them disliking their makeup. Thankfully nobody said anything bad and only had good things to say about it.



Ready for her snapshot (I didn't do her makeup)

 

My experience:

 

I have to admit, I felt really out of place and awkward during the Women's Group. Although I think I did a good job at hiding it, inside I had no idea what on earth I was suppose to be doing apart from helping the women with their makeup. The majority of women that attend the group are regulars and know each other so they are able to socialize between themselves. I expected Bavie as well as one or two other people from CSL to be there which would have made me feel more comfortable, but it turned out that I was the only one able to attend that night. I'm wasn't intimidated to be on my own, but I was a bit lost because I had not been given any prior instructions or guidance on what it was they wanted me to do for the duration of the evening.

 

The whole situation in fact reminded me of a classic high school cafeteria movie scene where you have different groups of people sitting at different tables chatting away while there is one "loner" (me) sitting at a table all by themselves. It was actually quite interesting. You had a group of seniors in their sixties and seventies talking amongst themselves, two Aboriginal women sitting together, a group of women in their forties grouped together, and two blond women with lots of makeup and who appeared to be desperately clinging on to their youth chatting away with one another. I don't mean to be rude or judgemental in making that last comment as they were really nice people, but if you saw them I'm sure you would understand where I was coming from. And finally there was me. Just to make myself clear I did not sit in the corner alone the whole time and stare off into space. I was able to engage with several of the women and had nice little chats. However, I often found myself sitting there observing the women and eavesdropping on their conversations quite a bit. I just wasn't able to shake the feeling of "OMG what are I suppose to be doing? I don't know! I feel so useless!"



Portrait time

I feel bad for portraying a rather negative experience of my time with the Women's Group? I didn't have a bad time, just an awkward one. I just don't really know how else to describe it. I found it a bit disappointing because I think I felt this way only because I had no idea what was expected of me that evening and it caused me to feel insecure.

Nice hot dinner to end the night

Meal Time

 



Coming into the Women's Group that evening I had no idea that they provided the women with a full healthy dinner. It was actually a really cool concept and I know that they women truly appreciated being able to come here for a weekly hot meal.

Meals are cooked by volunteers

Each week volunteers come in and cook different meals and dessert for the women. As you can see, tonight the women were treated to large servings of spaghetti and meatballs, salad, bread rolls, and berry flan for dessert. The importance of these weekly meals to the women struck me the most when I saw how many of the women brought containers with them to bring extra food home. For some reason it kind of saddened me that these women were so dependant on tonight's leftovers for their other meals. I don't mean to pity them, but perhaps I just lost sight of how much I take things such a food for granted.

Berry flan for dessert

Snapshot #2: Where do I stand?

In my CSL placement so far, I do not recall experiencing a “trigger event”. While I agree with Dunlap’s argument that “understanding one’s own identity, including dimensions such as privilege and lack thereof, race, culture, etc., can be important to an accurate conception of oneself and crucial to functioning in a diverse and ever-changing world” (pg 19), I personally do not believe that I nor must everyone experience a trigger event to realize the disparities between oneself and a less privileged group of individuals.

In an increasingly multicultural society I feel that many of us are exposed to the realities of different socio-economic conditions and challenges that many people face. While I understand that looking at it from the outside does not automatically translate into ones full understanding or appreciation of the disparities that may exist between yourself and the particular demographic you are working with, it can however minimize the shock, or as Dunlap describes as the state of ‘cognitive disequilibrium’. This state of ‘cognitive disequilibrium’ that occurs after a trigger event is said to create confusion and discomfort in the individual. Taking from Dunlap’s comments on white privilege,  I can see how this process might apply in a situation where you place a white, wealthy, highly sheltered child in a desolate and poor African village, but I think that for the most part, particularly in my situation, that many people for the most part have been educated about the disparities and conditions that exist in the world.

I think that one of the reasons I have not experienced a trigger event during my placement at the BMHC is because I have been exposed to both the ‘type’ of people that primarily use the BMHC as well as the neighborhood itself. I put the word type in quotations because the people that use the BMHC actually come from a variety of different backgrounds and ethnicities and I want to refrain from generalizing them as one category of people. While the majority of the clients at the BMHC are First Nations people, the only real similarities between them and the other clients is that they are predominantly low income individuals and typically from what we would consider as being marginalized groups (new immigrants, low-income seniors, young mothers etc). I included my familiarity of the Boyle McCauley neighborhood as part of my explanation because this neighborhood is quite unique to Edmonton and really does reflect some of the social issues that are going on. Someone visiting the neighborhood for the first time might be surprised by what they see; fenced housing, random homeless people walking the streets, shutters and bars on storefront windows, people waiting in lines outside the Mustard Seed and so on. While I do not think it is a bad or dangerous neighborhood, it does however reflect a different socio-economic class and situation compared let’s say to an upscale south side suburban neighborhood. The reason that the Boyle McCauley neighborhood did not cause a trigger event is because I’ve been to this neighborhood several times and none of what I saw shocked me. The same can be said for my experience with the clients of the BMHC. I spent most of my life living and traveling overseas in developing countries so I’ve seen what it is to be marginalized, to be poor, to be sick, to be homeless, and to not have access to everything you need. While I will never be able to truly identify with the situations these people face, I think that it’s fair for me to say that I at least am able to recognize, understand, and be respectful to the challenges they face. I lived in Indonesia for most of my childhood so I’ve seen what poverty looks like. I’ve also unfortunately seen what being ignorant to poverty looks like too. I feel that my exposure to all of this neutralized any trigger, shock, surprise, or guilt that I might of felt if I was coming into this with a sheltered mind.

Dunlap argues that once a student has gone through a ‘trigger event’ and reached a state of ‘cognitive disequilibrium’ and the ‘divided self’ that they would either go through a process of assimilation or accommodation. Assimilation being a process where the individual dismisses the trigger event and is seen to be in denial of their privilege and results in little or no attitude change (portrayed as a negative approach), while accommodation is seen as the process where one engages in self-reflection, accepts and changes ones beliefs/views, and can allow for increased participation (seen as a positive path). I personally disagree with these two approaches because I don’t believe that you have to go through one or the other. I know that for myself I didn’t fall into either process. Whether this is because of my gradual exposure to similar conditions I saw at the BMHC or not, I do not feel as if I shifted towards either direction. Ideally I would like to say that I learned a lot by interacting with people at the BMHC and that they have exposed me to new things, but the fact is I haven’t. I feel that my involvement at the BMHC thus far has primarily been one of an outsider looking in. I haven’t had the opportunity to engage with any of the clients at a personal level and to be honest I don’t think that people would be comfortable with me just approaching them for a casual conversation about their life. Next week though I am meeting with the Women’s Group at the BMHC for a photography event so I think that will give me the opportunity to finally interact with clients. Perhaps then my opinion will change. But in all I feel that I have yet to identify with either process.

The photo I took for my snapshot of the view of people behind the wire is meant to reflect my experience with Dunlap’s concepts of assimilation and accommodation. I took this picture from the second floor looking down into the waiting room through a wired window. I think that the wires in the window which look like a fence metaphorically represent the divide I feel between myself and the people I am working with. The images of blurred people behind the ‘fence’ reflect the disassociation and unfamiliarity I have with them. As I have already mentioned, I have not had the opportunity in my placement so far to be involved with any clients at the health center. I feel like an outsider looking in and I feel there is a disconnect between the clients and I. I sincerely hope in the coming weeks I am able to work more closely with the clients and that it will allow me to grow and gain new experiences and knowledge that way.

BMHC Community Outreach Program

Last week when I was visiting the BMHC I was given the opportunity to have an impromptu interview with a BMHC community outreach worker named Billy. Listen to the clip above to hear about the work that Billy does.

 

Note: I apologize ahead of time for the poor sound quality of the clip, I did the best I could with the resources I had.