a sampling

I get asked often what I do, for work. My job description is...non existent. One time several months ago when I thought I was going to have to clean out a bed bug infested apartment, I sat at my desk with my head in my hands, near tears (because bed bugs are something to be afraid of), and I asked my supervisor what my job description was. Her answer: "Do what has to be done to keep your clients housed." Thankfully that day I was able to access other resources which then paid a professional to go in and clean the apartment. Praise the Lord I am fairly well connected to a good amount of resources.
I do my job well, this I know. But I find explaining what my job is, as a housing specialist for a behavioral healthcare company, to be a difficult task, because it seems to vary so much from day to day. I started thinking more about this not too long ago, when I realized how often I was trying to explain it to people. And so I made a list. A list of 20 things I've done at work over the last few weeks. And now present this list to you, in case you would like some idea of what a day may entail in my work world. But know that any given day could involve nothing on this list, as it was simply the first 20 things I could think of when I thought about the past few weeks.

*Picked up food boxes and delivered them to people who have a hard time getting out of their houses.

*Researched whether, in Oregon, a felon can ever be in possession of a firearm for any reason.

*Picked up a 4 week old kitten, put it in a box, put the box in my car, drove 10 miles, stopped the kitten at least 10 times from escaping the box, dropped off kitten at it’s new home.

*Attempted to fight an eviction based on fair housing laws being broken.

*Sat through 16 hours of training to become an instructor for Rent Well, a tenant education program.

*Went to a social security appointment, assisted with an appeals process for two hours.

*Rearranged the trunk of my car so that a box of donated “hygiene kits” can fit in it, so that I have them with me when I’m seeing clients and can give them to those in need.

*Stared at the bags of yarn and other crochet items in my trunk to decide if it’s necessary for it to all be in there for my small little crochet group. Decided it is, mostly because there’s nowhere in the apartment or at my cubicle to store it.

*Tracked down a missing rent check.

*Led a training about Oregon Medicaid and how to assist people with getting on it.

*Called a prepaid cell phone customer service line in India to activate a phone. By the way, that customer service representative definitely did not know how to pronounce Oregon.

*Talked about the necessity of monthly urinary analysis reports.

*Moved someone, in the rain.

*Prayed that the ancient 15 passenger van I sometimes have to drive around doesn’t break down while I’m the one driving.

*Watched a moving and emotional documentary about a family’s struggle to move on after their dad committed suicide. The movie was the closing event at an all day Suicide Prevention conference I attended.

*Led a crochet group. Listened to stories about how this little skill is greatly helping with anxiety. Repeated myself at least 10 times in as many different ways in an attempt to teach a basic and simple skill-and somehow maintained, at least outwardly, a patient and understanding spirit. Spent days pondering how I can make this one simple skill even simpler in the hopes this one person is able to catch on.

*Talked a moving company down from it’s 3 hour minimum and got a 30% discount.

*Calmed someone down, on the phone, before they exploded on their neighbor.

*Explained the word “obligation” in a couple of different ways.

*Returned a call simply to clarify what day and date it was.