Disclaimer: Today at work we had an ice cream social (for which I have been waiting excitedly for the past month) and I just fell down from my sugar high, so I don't want to make any promises that what follows will make any sense. For this I apologize.
As many of you know, I have not been a runner for a very long time. I'll tell that story some other time, though.This weekend I ran a total of 20 miles (13 Saturday and 7 Sunday). How do I do that? Well...
1) I'm actually dancing the whole time. Not literally, just in my head. I blast dance music and run with the beat, pretending that I am actually dancing. Those who know me know that if there is catchy dance music and I am in a place where I can dance, I will dance. I sometimes find myself dancing accidentally--a move will work its way into my run, but mostly I find myself dancing when I get excited in everyday life. when they were dishing out my third scoop of ice cream today, for example. Now, some of the dance moves I do in my head are dance moves you may see me do on an actual dance floor, but for the most part they are either moves that I cannot do or at least cannot do as gracefully in real life as I imagine it. I often get lost in my run, because I am so lost in choreographing a dance routine. So now you know.
2) I remember all of my awesome clients from Taller de Jose. I think about how my running the marathon can help them get assistance going to court and finding resources, even if sometimes it is just a sympathetic ear. How can I not run those miles when I know they are going to such a great place? It's sad that accompaniment is a phenomenon rarely seen outside of this amazing organization. I wrote the book on being a companera (literally--part of my job last summer was making a staff handbook) so I can tell you that it is truly honorable and necessary work. I am very grateful to those who have already contributed to my fundraising campaign. I know everyone who reads this will share what they are able, and for that I am extremely grateful. (There are still 2+ months until the race, so don't feel rushed!).
Thank you for accompanying me on this journey!
Friday, July 27, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
What happened to the twins from the elevator?
I wanted to post a follow-up to my last post---not because anyone asked but because I wanted to share. The following paragraph is from the entry I wrote December 2010 about the court date we were given when we filed for guardianship. I believe I had three clients with court dates that day--it was a little crazy. I gave one away and balance the other two. One of the clients just wanted me around for moral support and her case was just a check-in, so I stopped by her court room a couple of times and called her later. She speaks English perfectly (and became a citizen last March--she was supposed to swear in in February but was delayed a month due to the Snowpocalypse). Anyway, I felt like I had to spend most of my time with the client who had the twins because I identified with her case--the twins have autism, like my brother. To top it off they were the same age as my brother--There was NO way I was giving up this accompaniment even though I had spent more time with the other client. Here's what happened:
On Monday I had two clients with cases and went to court with one of them but we were early so I was able to stop by the other client’s court room. The client I went to court with was there to get guardianship of her adult twin daughters who have autism. They are very shy and do not like direct questioning but the judge had to ask them if they objected to having their mom named as their guardian. One of them nodded but then burst into tears so the judge quickly decided to grant guardianship and let them get out of there. But let me back up—in the courtroom of the client I visited there was a lawyer with the build and beard of Santa Claus. He had a cast on his foot and instead of crutches, he had a large wooden walking stick and was holding it up while he sat. Then, I went back to the courtroom with the client with whom I came to the Daley Center and noticed the clerk—who looked like a leprechaun. At first I was thinking he was an elf because I had just seen Santa Claus but then I heard his Irish accent and noticed his leprechaun dolls. He was very helpful, if a bit irritated that we were missing a couple of papers. After we walked out of the court room, I went back to get a copy of the order the judge signed, the clerk told me that, because of the crying, despite his many years of working as a clerk in the Daley Center this was the first case that truly touched him. I touched a leprechaun’s heart!
I would also like to thank everyone for their donations--I'm already a third of the way to my goal!
Thanks for accompanying me on my journey!
On Monday I had two clients with cases and went to court with one of them but we were early so I was able to stop by the other client’s court room. The client I went to court with was there to get guardianship of her adult twin daughters who have autism. They are very shy and do not like direct questioning but the judge had to ask them if they objected to having their mom named as their guardian. One of them nodded but then burst into tears so the judge quickly decided to grant guardianship and let them get out of there. But let me back up—in the courtroom of the client I visited there was a lawyer with the build and beard of Santa Claus. He had a cast on his foot and instead of crutches, he had a large wooden walking stick and was holding it up while he sat. Then, I went back to the courtroom with the client with whom I came to the Daley Center and noticed the clerk—who looked like a leprechaun. At first I was thinking he was an elf because I had just seen Santa Claus but then I heard his Irish accent and noticed his leprechaun dolls. He was very helpful, if a bit irritated that we were missing a couple of papers. After we walked out of the court room, I went back to get a copy of the order the judge signed, the clerk told me that, because of the crying, despite his many years of working as a clerk in the Daley Center this was the first case that truly touched him. I touched a leprechaun’s heart!
I would also like to thank everyone for their donations--I'm already a third of the way to my goal!
Thanks for accompanying me on my journey!
Friday, June 22, 2012
A Not-So-Unusual Day at Taller de Jose
Most people don't really understand what accompaniment really is, which makes since because it is a service pretty unique to Taller de Jose. In order to illustrate the concept, I am re-posting an entry I put in my old blog last October about an accompaniment I had with a client:
"Yesterday I went with a client to apply for guardianship of adults who happen to be twins. This involved going to the Daley Center (where a large number of Cook County's civil courthouses are housed) and riding 19 elevators.
the breakdown:
-arrive, ride from floor 1 to floor 12 to Adult Guardianship Pro Se Help Desk. wait 45 minutes for law student to arrive
-go to 18 to courtroom 1803 for fee waiver. wait 45-60 minutes while court is in session
-return to 12 and finish paperwork, attempt to file but wait! you only have one fee waiver for the two people! it does not matter that they are twins...
-go back to floor 18 and ask the clerk in 1803 if the judge can sign a new order--now don't be silly, you must fill out two new applications for fee waivers, and they don't have them on this floor
-return to floor 12
-return to 1803 to submit forms. clerk is upset that they didn't take the forms downstairs and doesn't know if the judge will sign the form again
-return to 12th floor with proper forms. file the forms. They send you to 1812 to get a court date
-return to 1812. the clerk is frazzled but manages to give you the same date/time for both twins. she sends you to get a seal for the sheriff's summons
-return to 12th floor. the cute, friendly male law student has been replaced by a middle aged lawyer who is switching from another type of law so she has less experience in this matter than the law student. You need to make copies but the copy machine behind her costs $0.25 per page while in the law library it costs $0.10 per page. Client says no thank you, I will pay. Go to the lady at the far end of the room for a seal of the court. she sends you to see the sheriff so you can give them the summons to serve.
-go to the seventh floor. the cashier at the sheriff office is confused and you don't have enough copies, but it gets taken care of and you are free to go.
-return to lobby and leave.
Now wait, you may be wondering how my math adds up to 19 elevator rides. Well, you see, the Daley Center has 30 floors and they are all very busy, so not every elevator goes to every floor. You can take an elevator from the 12th floor to the 17th floor, but to get from the 12th floor to the 18th floor, you must first go to the 7th floor (or the lobby but it is usually faster to switch on the 7th floor) and switch elevators. So each of the four times my client and I were sent to the 18th floor from the 12th, that took four elevator rides round trip.
I googled elevator fatalities, and there are one in 12 million. think how close I came in one day..."
"Yesterday I went with a client to apply for guardianship of adults who happen to be twins. This involved going to the Daley Center (where a large number of Cook County's civil courthouses are housed) and riding 19 elevators.
the breakdown:
-arrive, ride from floor 1 to floor 12 to Adult Guardianship Pro Se Help Desk. wait 45 minutes for law student to arrive
-go to 18 to courtroom 1803 for fee waiver. wait 45-60 minutes while court is in session
-return to 12 and finish paperwork, attempt to file but wait! you only have one fee waiver for the two people! it does not matter that they are twins...
-go back to floor 18 and ask the clerk in 1803 if the judge can sign a new order--now don't be silly, you must fill out two new applications for fee waivers, and they don't have them on this floor
-return to floor 12
-return to 1803 to submit forms. clerk is upset that they didn't take the forms downstairs and doesn't know if the judge will sign the form again
-return to 12th floor with proper forms. file the forms. They send you to 1812 to get a court date
-return to 1812. the clerk is frazzled but manages to give you the same date/time for both twins. she sends you to get a seal for the sheriff's summons
-return to 12th floor. the cute, friendly male law student has been replaced by a middle aged lawyer who is switching from another type of law so she has less experience in this matter than the law student. You need to make copies but the copy machine behind her costs $0.25 per page while in the law library it costs $0.10 per page. Client says no thank you, I will pay. Go to the lady at the far end of the room for a seal of the court. she sends you to see the sheriff so you can give them the summons to serve.
-go to the seventh floor. the cashier at the sheriff office is confused and you don't have enough copies, but it gets taken care of and you are free to go.
-return to lobby and leave.
Now wait, you may be wondering how my math adds up to 19 elevator rides. Well, you see, the Daley Center has 30 floors and they are all very busy, so not every elevator goes to every floor. You can take an elevator from the 12th floor to the 17th floor, but to get from the 12th floor to the 18th floor, you must first go to the 7th floor (or the lobby but it is usually faster to switch on the 7th floor) and switch elevators. So each of the four times my client and I were sent to the 18th floor from the 12th, that took four elevator rides round trip.
I googled elevator fatalities, and there are one in 12 million. think how close I came in one day..."
At Taller de Jose, they don't joke around when they say they physically accompany people to places. And when they do, they don't just drop people off in court and say "Good Luck". I spent six hours on elevators that day, and this story isn't even rare--just something all the companeras do every day at Taller de Jose.
I would like to thank all the well wishes as I have begun my marathon training--which is going pretty well! I would also like to thank those who have donated so far--I'm up to $200!
Thank you all for accompanying me on my journey!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Why am I Running for Team Taller?
Hello Everyone!
As you know, I am running the Chicago Marathon this fall. I
have wanted to run a marathon for several years now but registration is so
early, this is the first year I have felt that I knew where I would be come
marathon time. I am excited to finally
be fulfilling my dream, but I wanted it to be more than just a personal
journey, I wanted my race to count. That is why I am choosing to run for Taller
de José. As you may know, last August I started my year of service with Amate
House and my service site was Taller de José. I was fortunate to be hired on
this summer until I started school late September. Not only was working at
Taller de José a life changing experience, I truly believe in the mission of
the organization and the power of its accomplishments in the community.
Taller de José is a sponsored ministry of the Congregation
of St. Joseph—a group of nuns who enter a community and ask what the community
needs and how they can help meet those needs. In the Little Village community of
Chicago, predominantly populated by Mexican immigrants, they saw a need for
helping connect people to services. You see, there are a lot of services in the
neighborhood and throughout the city, but brand-new immigrants might not know
where they are, how to get there, or how to sign their kids up due to language
barriers. They may have court dates to file for child support or an order of
protection or even immigration interviews but need someone who speaks the
language to feel more comfortable going to these daunting buildings. This is
where Taller de José and the mission of accompaniment comes in. Taller de José does
not replicate the services of other agencies, it bridges the gaps between them.
Compañeras (companions) at Taller de José make calls for people, take them on
the train to court and sit with them to explain what is going on. If clients
cannot afford to pay for their train ride downtown, Taller de José will cover
that for them---that adds up pretty quickly. In fact, each accompaniment costs
$9 ($2.25 each ride and with both the compañeras and client going both ways…).
The word has gotten out about Taller and they are constantly
busy. When I left in September I thought we were swamped, but they have only
gotten more and more clients—which means more and more accompaniments. Most of
the compañera staff is made of volunteers so every dollar really counts toward
serving clients. I have decided to accompany Taller in my journey for the
marathon, would you consider accompanying me to the finish line by making a
donation to Taller de José? Every little bit is appreciated!
I hope to use this blog as a way to update everyone on my
journey and to share more about my choice to run for Taller de José. Feel free
to subscribe and you will get emails each time I post so you don’t have to keep
checking. Thank you for accompanying me on my journey!
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