Before
moving to New York, I lived in a small college
town in Minnesota, so my move here—and to my
site placement in the Bronx!—was a little bit of
a cultural shock! I work at McMahon Services, a
foster care agency for adolescents ages 13-21.
Though most youth I serve are spread all over
the city, there is a select bunch who spend as
much free time in the office as they can. This
is how I met Angie.
When
I began as a GSV, Angie was finishing her summer
internship as office secretary, and thus
spending a lot of time at the office. She was
reserved at first, but seemed curious about me
since she had known past volunteers. At the same
time, I was finding my niche at work and didn’t
really know what my role was with the youth.
The first day, I was sitting in the lunch room
eating my PB&J sandwich (a volunteer staple) and
was joined by Angie. We did not have a deep
conversation this day, but our curiosity
definitely piqued.
A
few months later, Angie’s caseworker asked me to
cover some of her home visits, including
Angie’s. I knew very little about why and how
long Angie had been in care, or what her current
living situation was like. When I arrived to
her home Angie greeted me with a hug. Her
foster mother was running late, which gave me a
chance to get to know Angie on a more intimate
level then we had already established. I did
not push Angie to talk about her past or tell me
anything she was not comfortable sharing. After
her foster mother arrived, the visit went
smoothly and wrapped up an hour and a yummy cup
of hot chocolate later. Angie volunteered to
walk me to the bus stop, which was a very nice
gesture, although the bus stopped right in front
of the house. Once outside, Angie wanted to
tell me something she had not told anyone yet
involving her schooling. She said she needed to
tell someone before telling her foster mom or
caseworker. I felt humbled that she was
comfortable enough to share something private
with me, that she trusted me. Angie soon began
to share many stories from her past with me and
really opened up each time we interacted.
Angie
was able to find a full time job, in which she
was quickly promoted to manager, and has
received her section 8 voucher and an
apartment! She has become very busy with her
new life and now makes very infrequent
appearances at the office. Recently, after
working an overnight shift, Angie came to visit;
she pulled up a chair to my cubicle, where we
talked for almost 2 hours before she became
exhausted and fell asleep. Angie was honored
when I asked her if I could write this story,
she was floored that I had been touched by her
during this year and did not realize that she
had made such an impact on my volunteer year.
Although this is just one of the youth I worked
with this year, I have many stories just like
this one that I will carry with me and cherish
for the rest of my life.
