social security office

there is so many notable moments, it saddens me to no end that i cannot put them all on this blog.

today, i am reminded of the struggle of being a refugee/immigrant here.

situation 1: a client has reached a state of hopelessness and thus refuses to see the doctor, take medication and thus cannot become a citizen nor receive any financial support.

situation 2: the lovely ethiopian client came in today. he says because he has recently been to the hospital he has three months in which he can come back to the clinic (assuming for free). i hope this is true.

situation 3: two groups of refugee clients have come to see me in 12 degree weather only wearing a sweatshirt, no gloves and presumably only one layer under their sweatshirt. i wish i could buy them some cheap coats from a thrift store... but i can't set that precedence because of my limits.

situation 4: we go into set up direct deposit for a client's ssi (disability) and find out she's been denied. her last check is this december. she has rent to pay and a decision about whether or not she is disabled (and thus receives money) will take 3-4 months. she has rent to pay and three young boys. what do you do?

then i hear of this foundation that gives millions of dollars to people because they are "geniuses" (the "genius grant). they can do whatever they want with this money. this makes me so mad because there are hundreds of agencies trying to help deserving people (particularly refugee agencies) that desperately need one million dollars... and some smart, arrogant university of chicago professor is awarded it to "do whatever he wants." i hope he does do some good.

a hard, tiring day. sitting for over 2.5 hours in social security wipes one out. there were some lovely moments, though. like showing the client how to take pictures of his cell phone. naming the fish and penguins on the tv screen. laughing about yawning and being tired. generally feeling like we are 'in this together'. it felt very human.