Park Slope Armory

Park Slope Armory was the second place we went to drop off items from the donations we had collected. There were about 300 cots all lined up in rows, with poster board paper marking the names of nursing homes that these elderly and disabled people had come from. I was told they were mainly from the Rockaways. The volunteer organizers told me, at the moment, they were overstaffed and had enough volunteers. So I didn't stay.

We delivered our things. It was quick and painless and again I only wished we could have done more.

There were several striking observations about this shelter. 

The level of organization it must take to run a shelter for the displaced elderly and disabled is enormous. I saw some guys lined up outside on folding chairs, seemingly waiting for a shower, from a shower truck. For those of us who have worked or do work direct care, the imagination quickly goes to the individual you serve who has the most disabilities and how you would maneuver to get that person up those six metal steps and both of you into the shower. The whole time you are imagining just how wet you will be after you give this person a shower. What these volunteers are doing is nothing short of amazing.

They have a wellness program going already. Various nail painting, musical guests, and exercise programs throughout the day to keep the population active. Various restaurants and synagogues are delivering over 3000 meals there daily to keep up with demand.

They still need things that aren't there yet: adult diapers (no one ever remembers adult diapers, everyone gets baby diapers, its a more attractive donation), plus size clothes (no one ever remembers fat people, they always donate the clothes that are too small for them), toiletries, diabetic socks, house slippers, and chapstick (oh of course, chapstick, that's a great idea). 

FEMA, the Red Cross, AmeriCorps were all at the site, it was very well organized, they even have a website for volunteers to sign up at so they don't get overloaded with extra people. They seem to be in constant need of Russian and Spanish speakers and men to help the gentlemen living there with showers. 

While they had enough volunteers while I was there, this is an ever changing scene of devastation and they use social media to get the word out. They had enough volunteers through the sign up sheet they offer http://www.volunteersignup.org/CXKEL. I'm certain that it will be much harder for them to get volunteers during the week than the weekend, they put out the list for two days at a time. Here is the ongoing twitter feed for "park slope armory" https://twitter.com/search?q=park%20slope%20armory&src=typd.  

This ongoing situation must be logistical nightmare for someone. Placing 300+ people into new nursing homes or new assisted living facilities across New York is the next task at hand. It is very unlikely that these individuals will be able to go back to their devastated neighborhoods without extensive rebuilding. The Park Slope Armory is their temporary island home for now. I pray for them and for the dedicated volunteers and staff working with them in such precarious situations. 

 

Occupy Community

Get out of the way, we are building a community.

Target the night before Hurricane Sandy

So, the thing is, I live a pretty cushy life. I go to school, I have a job, a wonderful home, and a puppy. Two weeks ago, DC missed a destructive hurricane that hit landfall 100 miles north of us. I am lucky. We are lucky. We went shopping to "prepare" for the hurricane Saturday night, there were no D Cell batteries or water. No bread left on the shelves. But we were prepared, I even filled a 5 gallon bucket with water (I never prepare). Nothing happened, we didn't even lose power. 

This weekend I took some donations up to Brooklyn to St. Luke and Matthew's Episcopal Church, the hub of Occupy Sandy. It was amazing, we got there and they told us it was a 30 minute wait to unload donations, cars went down the block. A bus of teenagers had just been unloaded and were in the process of orientation by Occupy volunteers. We unloaded our meager donations, some flashlights, baby blankets, batteries, winter coats, etc. and they were immediately loaded onto trucks, vans, cars to be sent out to where there was need. The whole time the parish was just getting out of Sunday services, sitting among boxes of supplies, extension cords, tables, and Occupy signs.  

One of three orientations happening, simultaneously, at Occupy Sandy.

I am so proud to be an Episcopalian watching this community in Brooklyn open their doors, allowing a bunch of extreme hippies, with masking tape name-tags, invade their space. What were the old ladies at church thinking about their pews, choir loft, and their kitchen? Yet, I bet, even if they are mad, they are secretly proud. It swells my heart to think of everyone praying among those boxes being delivered daily from the Occupy Wedding Registry. The rest of the church community can learn from St. Luke & Matthew Episcopal Church. They are truly living out their mission to "serve their neighbors and foster and strive for justice."  

I was very impressed with the openness of St. Luke & St. Matthew Episcopal Church in Brooklyn. It was really a beautiful site to see this church open its doors in a way I cannot imagine. I didn't know the church I was dropping stuff off at was an Episcopal Church until we arrived. Heartwarming to say the least. We can all be proud Episcopalians with this congregation. 

Sorting items for delivery, Occupy Sandy

As my heart was warmed, I kept thinking there has to be more that I can do, I felt so humble watching all these people scurry around, loading diapers, baby wipes, cleaning supplies into boxes, awaiting transport. Groups of people were bring large aluminum trays of food to the basement for distribution to those home-bound, without power 13 days after the storm. 

I can only think how small we each are compared to this showing of community, love, need, purpose. All these small people just trying to make a little difference, all types of people. It was so beautiful how so many small people can make such a huge thing happen. I'm left wondering how come these things don't happen on a regular basis. How is that we only come together when there is a major life-altering change to our neighbors? 

I keep thinking, I'm not doing enough, how can I do more. None of us are doing enough, but at the same time we all are doing enough. We all must create community through these experiences. The Occupy Movement has shown how community building, collaboration, and social media have brought the world together to build a world where we can help each other in a real-time way. 

Loading a Uhaul for delivery

All day, all week, I followed Occupy Sandy's twitterfeed, trying to keep a sense of what they needed, what to collect, where they were going, what they were doing. It is a beautiful movement, so agile, fresh, quick. So much faster than more structured organizations. The flexibility of this type of "mutual aid" is awe-inspiring. They accept all types of volunteers, they find a way for you to contribute, ways to include, well, the community. When I walked into the church, it was littered with poster board, cardboard signs, tons of laptops, and slips of paper, everyone seemed to be on the phone taking messages, reading emails and text messages. It had the air of something real, something tangible.  

We are inter-connected, we are interdependent. We need each other, not just in emergencies, but always.  

Tons of supplies being distributed across the Rockaways, Staten Island, Coney Island, Red Hook.

Today, I am at the end of my semester. Kinda freaking out because I have so much to do. The amazing thing is that despite my crappy school-work ethic this semester, I am still getting A's, in both classes. I really like A's. They make me happy.

Staff engagement and recognition is the same way. Staff crave hearing that they have done well, that they are on target, that they did the best. It is something that I am not very good at doing. Staff recognition is hard for me to remember to do. My boss doesn't do it very often which isn't the example I need. I figure, if someone is doing their job, then they are doing their job. Great. What do I need to do, praise them for doing what they are supposed to do? It turns out the answer is yes. 

People crave attention, recognition, and praise. They want to know how they are doing, what they are doing, they even want to know what they can do better. All these things represent that a supervisor is paying attention to them and their work. They want frequent and consistent feedback. They also want intermittent reinforcers that say, "hey, I'm paying attention."   

This week I did a few things that recognized my staff, besides the regular "thank you." I bought cupcakes for the managers and gave a cupcake to every manager that was at the office at 5pm on a Thursday, when the other supervisor was on vacation. I also bought one staff their favorite chips and attached a note saying, "thank you for all you do to make our workplace a loving a caring place." I made sure each thing was very specific and that I could say it clearly. I also took the time to meet up with a staff who was having a particularly difficult time with his client, just to check in and see how he was doing.

I find saying, "good job, Team." Or "thanks for you hard work." does not make the impact as something very specific. Things like "I really like the way you interacted with that person," "Thank you for going above and beyond to turn in the paperwork on time," "I really appreciate that you talked to your co-worker in a respectful tone." 

The recognition item doesn't have to be something expensive, it can be very small or a thank you note. But being specific makes a big difference in how the staff feel. Keep a stash of stuff on hand, extra pens, sticky notes, candy, little wrist bands, dollar store items, thank you notes, etc. are all things that can be a small token of recognition. Sometimes local restaurants have really good coupons, and one can hand those out as a recognition for doing well.

You may worry about the other staff being disappointed that they didn't receive recognition but going through your list of staff and have a rotating "recognition list" can help avoid accidentally playing favorites. If you agree to recognize three people a week, mark off the date in which you recognized a certain staff, then the following week make sure that you recognize new people until your list of staff is done then start over.  This eliminates leaving people out. 

This brings us to the last point, what about the staff person you hate.  There isn't possibly anything they do well, is there? You have to find SOMETHING they do well.  Many experts say that we only compliment the top 10% of high performers. We also reprimand the lowest 10% of performers. It is crucial to recognize all staff, even if we don't like them or don't think they are performing well.  This encouragement can increase performance. Everyone does something well, it may take some time to think of something, but there is something. 

Recognize, encourage, and praise. Its like getting A's at work.