Job Coaching

Location: Open Door Shelter

Date: Monday, October 26, 2015; 6:45-8:30 pm

I came early and was waiting in the lobby when the volunteers started arriving, including some familiar ones like Susan and Melissa.  Claire came soon and I told her that Wilson was coming over since she had many cancellations.  She asked how he knew and I said never mind.  I learned that the last session, which they had asked me to lead and I couldn’t, had eventually been cancelled since no one stepped up to lead.  Wilson arrived and Claire mentioned that she had forgotten to get nametags and treats and Wilson had a solution for both  - temporary nametags made with stock paper and scotch tape and some treats left over from his movie night with Seniors.  As he went to get the treats from his car, I told the others that they would be “sugar free”, and sure enough they were.

At 7 pm we went upstairs and I saw that almost everyone was new.  We had about 7 youth including a girl who looked really young.  We started by assembling and introducing ourselves.  Most were students and one said that he was a model.  When asked for what, he said “Underwear”.  “Male or Female”, I inquired!  The young girl said that she was 13 and in 8^th grade.  She said she was a bit young for this, and in all my years of coming here, that was certainly the truth.  When my turn came for introductions, I said that I did innovation for the “Power Industry”. 

Now where would I time travel?

For the “ice breaker”, Claire gave us some questions to ask each other.  The idea was to get around and talk to as many people as possible.  My question was, “What do you like to do in your spare time”.  Some of the responses that I got included things like “Sleep”, “Read”, “Play Basketball” etc.  One of the questions that I got from a youth was, “If you could go to any time in past, present or future when would it be”.  Well, as much as I love “Back To The Future”, I don’t care too much for past, so I said that I may want to know what’s going on with me 5 years in the future.  Another question was, “What is the first thing that you would do if you won the lottery?”  I said to the girl who asked me that it depends on how much it was - $2, $200 or $2 million.  She said how about a million.  I said that I would get a car.  It doesn’t even have to be fancy.  Just get a car.  Someone else asked me, “What’s your favorite quality about yourself?”  I said that it had to be my passion for things.

The energy was definitely up and Claire got us back together.  I said that we should share some good stories and the youth who has asked me the “time travel” question said that I had given the best response.  We then got paired up and I was with this young man.  My task was to prepare him for an interview, including things like “networking” and “professionalism”.  He told me that he had just received a college scholarship to ‘TCU’ to play basketball.  Wow.  Talk about a life changer.  But what was even more impressive was that his main focus was on education and he wanted to become an “Animator”.  I asked him some questions on that and learned that he has created an entire "comic book universe" with "superheroes" and has been working on it since childhood.  He said that basketball scholarship was good, but he was really looking forward to a career after that.  I said that maybe he should aim for the ‘NBA’, make his millions and then retire at 30 to do as he pleased.  We talked about his upcoming college experience – you will have no time for girls I said – and how he should stick with people who will be good influences.  Then, since he was after all a “comic book” fan, we had a discussion on “Marvel vs DC” and “Superman vs Batman”; after which our time for this part of the evening was up.

Before we had started, Claire had given each of us a question and I had picked “Tell me about a time when he had to deal with a conflict” – since no one wanted it.  The idea was for all of the youth to come meet with each of us and answer our questions.  We were then to rank them on a scale of "1-5" and the top scorer would get a treat.  I asked my question to the young man and he mentioned how as a “Captain” of his basketball team, he had to mediate between his teammate, who was on a receiving end of a “cheap shot”, and an opposing player whose team was losing.  I said that all you need to do is point at the scoreboard and the other team would get the message. 

Two others mentioned how they had mediated between their siblings and a couple of others mentioned how they had to talk to members of their class project team who were not pulling their weight.  The model guy mentioned how one of his coworkers wasn’t doing their job and how he had to bring their supervisor in the picture.  Finally, I was paired with the 13 year old girl and I was looking forward to her response.  I was surprised to learn that she was a “counselor” with little kids and often has to mediate between them.  I also learnt that she wanted to become a “Veterinarian”, and for a 13 year old, she had a terrific head on her shoulders.  I gave her the highest grade and though she did not win, I could see that everyone else had been impressed with her as well.  After the treats had been given away, it was time to leave.  I chatted with some of the volunteers before hitching a ride with Wilson.  I couldn’t help but think about the 13 year old girl.  What a personality and I wish someone gives her the opportunities that she needs.  It would be colossal crime otherwise.

American Cancer Society Making Strides Walk

Location: Soldier Field

Date: Saturday, October 24, 2015; 7:00 - 11:30 am

Early morning call again

The skies were threatening when I arrived at ‘Soldier Field’ and it looked like we were in for a similar day like “Walk and Roll”.  I went over to "Check-In" and saw that several volunteers were already there.  I was in charge of “Luminaria’s” and there was a table for us just across the “Information Tent".  Kathryn gave me a sign to hold up so that my volunteers could find me.  I did that and sure enough 2 ladies came forward and introduced themselves as Carolyn and Xiao Mei.  It was a start.

We went over to the table and got our supplies out, which included some of the “luminaria bags” that had been made at the “Kickoff” event.  We had several empty bags and marker pens for people to make some more, though limited in colors with just a few pink and greens but mostly black pens.  Our biggest challenge though was the wind and I asked them to put some weights on the bags.  Unlike last year there were no “glow sticks” inside a tunnel, but rather we were going to tie the bags to a fence on the walk route.  We also had a pink ribbon and scotch tape and Carolyn suggested that we string 5 bags together before putting them on the fence.  I thought that it was a good idea and may help with the wind.

The registration opened at 8 am and people had already started coming in.  I told my team to go start recruiting and soon they were getting traffic in, as was I.  There were several families in attendance and I would ask them their team name.  Everyone seemed to be doing this for someone and one girl told me it that was for her Grandma who had recently passed from Colon cancer.  People were decked in pink and wearing all sorts of paraphernalia.  Despite the threat of rain, everyone’s enthusiasm was high. 

The "Luminaria Bags"

I got 3 more volunteers from ‘Target’, Mary, Eddie and Priscilla and I asked Eddie and Priscilla to start stringing the bags together while Mary went for recruiting.  I learned that Mary was in “HR” at ‘Target’ and I told her how much I appreciated their help for the “MLK Celebration of Service” project that ‘Chicago Cares’ runs every year and their overall philosophy towards volunteering.  Xiao Mei has a daughter in high school and she mentioned how she had found this opportunity on “Volunteer Match”.  I told her about some of the other projects that she and her daughter could do together, like “Pet Therapy”. I saw one of my Committee members doing “Scavenger Hunt”, where making “Luminaria” was one of the blocks.  I told her to send over people.  In fact, I even walked over to “Accounting” and told the ladies there to send people over.  Hey, I was trying.

I was chatting with Mary regarding the weather and she said that she would do a “reverse rain dance”.  I said that in case of rain we would move everything to the “Survivor Tent”, similar to what we did for “Walk and Roll”.  Lot of people were coming over and we were busy stringing the bags together.  The walk was starting at 10 am and I said at 9:15 that we should go over to the fence and start tying the bags to the fence.  It was some distance away and would take us a while to get there.  However, since we still had a crowd, I left behind Priscilla and another ‘Target’ volunteer who had joined us – with her 2 kids – and the rest of us left for the fence.

We had to go around ‘Soldier Field’ and it had just started to drizzle when we arrived at our fence.  We started putting the bags on the fence and in some cases it was difficult to tie due to shorter string.  But my team was doing a good job and soon we had the entire fence covered.  I was amazed that the tape was working, though Mary said that we should use stapler and thicker ribbon next year.  However, our main concern now was that the drizzle was getting stronger and bags were getting wet.  We weren’t done with all the bags yet, but I told everyone to call it quits and we started walking back.  We were halfway back when the rain stopped and my team said that we should return to our fence and finish the job.  They said that people had worked hard to make this and we owed it to them.  

Despite the rain, my team did a terrific job

While my team put the remaining bags on another fence perpendicular to the main one, I had to go around the fence to a field in the back and collect all the bags that had come off and were now littering the grounds.  By the time I came back they were completely ruined.  We had done the best we could and came back to our table.  I said that around 11:30 am, we would all go back to remove the bags.  This way majority of the walkers would have seen and appreciated it.  We would of course have to throw all the bags away since they were now wet.  I walked about a bit to see the “Survivor Tent” and some of the other areas.  I saw the lady from two years ago, the one with the “Croatian” shirt.  Just as I came back to the “Information Tent”, the rain arrived, and it was a deluge. 

It was getting torrential and I felt bad for the walkers, most of who were still on the course.  No wonder I had seen some of them running the course, rather than walking.  Carrie told us to call it quits and asked the event to be shut down.  I was watching the radar on the phone and said that it would be fine in 15 minutes and it was.   But all the other tents were coming off, including one which flew away and turned upside down.  Fortunately no one was injured.  As the rain stopped, I went around to look for Mary so that we could take the bags down.  I saw her coming over and she was soaked.  She said that she had already done that and all the bags were thrown away.  Wow, what a lady.  I took Carolyn with me and we walked about the field at the back and picked up the bags which had flown away.  It took time to clean and we were doing our best to avoid the puddles.  Soon we were done and I said bye to Carolyn and left.  My team had done a great job…all of them.  Thus finished another year of me being on the Committee.  Who knows if I will be back next year.

Adler Advisory Council Meeting

Location: Eleven City Diner

Date: Thursday, October 22, 2015; 5:30-7:00 pm

It had been a long time since I had been to one of these, plus I had missed the “Adler After Dark” for this month.  In the interim, the council seemed to have grown to include several volunteers as well as another staff member.  Our email group, being hosted by something called “Minigroup”, was shutting down and there was lot of discussion around how we could find something else.  I arrived to see that Bob and Michael were already there along with 2 other volunteers, and the staff member Jola.  We were missing Carrie who was stuck in traffic and they refused to seat us till everyone was here.  This was ridiculous, but I guess the manager realized the folly and they finally did take us to our table.

We started by discussing which group to use for email and apparently there are 2 candidates.  It’s always amusing to me when most of the meeting is spent on discussing logistics around the meeting, rather than the important topics.  Next on the agenda was a review of the themes for next year and in particular, any ideas that we may have for specific programs.  Never shy for an opinion, I gave my inputs on some of the themes, including ideas for experiments.

"Romulan Ale" anyone?

Michael asked if there was anything other than facilitation that we should be trained on.  I asked what about “sales”, so that we could get repeat business from guests who are in attendance.  Now, I would never describe myself as being a salesperson or even remotely enthusiastic about doing sales.  But, if we could learn some key phrases that could help out, then why not.  We talked about having a “refresher” training program for us and the only day which looked feasible was “Valentine’s Day 2016”.  Sure thing I said.  One of the themes being proposed was on “New Inventions” and I said that it would be cool to do that program with young scientists.  Another theme was to celebrate 50^th anniversary of “Star Trek” and I said that rather than volunteer, I may attend that one – especially if they were serving “Romulan Ale”.  

The owner of the restaurant came over and very nearly threw us out, saying it was a busy time and if we wanted to meet, he could open up the conference room on the top floor for us.  Chalk another one for great customer service at this place, but that did force us to wrap up and leave.  Michael said that the December event would go on till midnight since it was the night new “Star Wars” movie comes out.  Apparently there would be special programming that evening and I totally expect to see several “Storm Troopers” and even “Darth Vader” in attendance.

American Cancer Society Making Strides ELT Meeting

Location: American Cancer Society Office

Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2015; 6:00-7:00 pm

I had missed the previous meeting, which had actually been at ‘Lou Malnati’s’ over some pizza pot pie.  This evening’s meeting was supposed to be our last one prior to the walk and it was to discuss “logistics”, meaning we would probably be working.  We still had over 10 days to ago and in previous years this meeting had been on the week of the walk, so it was good that we were preparing ahead of time.  I arrived to see that some of the usual suspects were there, including Le’Loni and Vikki.  Kathryn and Allyson were busy, handing out some materials to the walk-day participants in the lobby, and so the rest of us moved to the smaller conference room.

The cards we had to assemble

I was told that our task was cutting “volunteer cards” and then stuffing them in plastic lanyards, followed by clipping to something that can be worn around the neck.  I liked that, much easier to manage.  Le’Loni was cutting and I was stuffing in the plastic things and Vicki was clipping them – though she had some difficulty in the beginning, for which we were giving her some good-natured hard time.  After we had been doing it for some time, Kathryn came and said that we shouldn’t be clipping the blue strings for volunteers since they were for staff and volunteers were in fact wearing pink strings.  Poor Vicki now had to take everything out and wasn’t too amused.

We continued this activity while chatting and I said it that seemed more under control than last 2 years, where we appeared to be scrambling at the end.  Plus, we weren’t stuffing bags, which is always tedious.  Le’Loni asked me to keep quite else they would give us that task!  Kathryn came over and started asking people where they wanted to be posted on walk day and some were on “Family Zone”, “pink hair braiding” - Vicki said that last year more adults were involved in this rather than kids.  When Kathryn said where I would like to be on walk day, I said “California”!  She asked if I could do “Luminaria”, and I remembered our experience from last year.  This year they have changed the walk route and it was going to go North around “Museum Campus”.  It meant that the “luminaria” would not be in the tunnels but were going to be tied to a fence on the route.  I agreed to do that and joked that Katie had quit the committee because of that – maybe it was the truth.  However, having done the tribute wall for “Walk and Roll”, I knew how important and enriching this activity is. 

Some of the other things that would be going on were “Scavenger Hunt”, where instead of answering questions, people would just need to “check-in” with a volunteer.  The prize was a “$0.10 off gas” card from ‘BP’.  It was around 7 pm and we were done with the stuffing.  Some of our teammates were collecting wrist bands for their teams - or drink coupons as I called them - and then we left.  This may be the last time I come to this office since I may not do it next year.  But I do like our team and we were already planning a committee get-together in November, after this is all done.

Bingo Fun At Britton Budd…and Lakeview Nursing

Location: Britton/Budd Apartments & Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

Date: Monday, October 12, 2015; 6:30 -8:30 pm

This would have helped

Chicago cares wanted me to lead “Job Coaching at ODS” project, but I turned them down since I wanted to come here.  I was late than usual in getting here and arrived just before the start.  I was looking forward to seeing my buddy Elvina but she was absent this evening.  I looked at the prizes selection for today and Veronica had done a great job, as is usually the case each time.  Besides the usual things, we had earphones and an apple shaped green cutting board, as well as a purple tote bag.  I joined 2 ladies who were happy to welcome me to their table.  Very soon I realized that one of those was the lady who translates every number into Spanish.  The gentleman for whom she does this was sitting behind me and was repeating the numbers.  When he won and started repeating the numbers in Spanish, the lady at my table said that he usually knows enough English when it suits his purpose!

Needless to say, as the game progressed I wasn't doing so well on my board.  The ladies at my table were struggling as well.  So when Veronica asked if anyone wanted to call the game, I volunteered and the ladies immediately said that I may change the luck – not sure if they meant by my leaving or calling!  I started calling and I usually try to include the people in this activity. For example, when a gentleman got a call, his ringtone was musical and I said that we should leave it on.  He told the caller to call back in 20 minutes and I said that we would still be playing in 20; else we could hurry so that the gentleman can take his call.  Later on when the lady who translates got a call, I told her to tell them that it would be 20 minutes as well! 

The balls over here are tiny and I dropped them a few times and had to run after them.  When some of the residents would ask for a specific number, I would say "coming right up".  One of the volunteers was the only person who hadn't won and she said that she desperately wanted to yell "Bingo".  I said that if she didn't win till the end, she should just sing the “Bingo song”. However, she did get her chance when one prize was remaining and everyone applauded…only to learn that she was kidding.  The gentleman who required translation was in good voice and yelled out loudly when he won.  He picked up a bottle calling it shampoo and Veronica corrected him by pointing out that it was body wash.  I said that we should double-check to make sure it wasn't dish washing detergent instead.  Yeah, I was on a roll this evening.  I was commenting on the prizes, saying that no one was picking the cute purple tote bag.  Soon thereafter one lady picked it up and I said, “Good choice”.  The great thing about this place is that everyone wins and people really like each other.  Soon the last prize - earphones - was picked and we were done.

I stopped at Lakeview Nursing on my way back and saw that Bingo was on.  I said hi to Jim and Jack and saw that Jack had picked up the “Peanut Butter Cookies” for his lady friend.  Jim, as usual, was scowling at Kenny and at the fact that his hated ‘Cubs’ were winning.  Emma looked like she was asleep and after the game I went to say hello.  The volunteer with her said that she had won a pair of socks, at which Emma said, “Socks are good”.  The volunteer was telling me about her pets and told Emma a funny story about how her cat drinks from the fish bowl.  I said the cat is just trying to get lucky, at which Emma laughed.  The Volunteer leader came over to give Emma some cookies at the end and she held on to them tightly.  I took Emma upstairs to her room - after she said that it would be nice - and Jack also got off at 2^nd floor to go meet his lady friend.  Talk about getting lucky! 

*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy

Lakeview Seniors Pet Therapy

Location: Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

Date: Monday, October 05, 2015; 6:00-7:45 pm

I arrived early to see that Charta was already there, as well as a new enthusiastic volunteer who had just moved here as an “Americorp fellow”.  A new dog came in and Charta got all excited to see him, though in reality she was just trying to be friendly.  I went over to say hello to Emma and she was looking cute with a red sweatshirt and matching red nail paint.  She was talking about some tablecloth that was missing from the table while organizing her Bingo chips by color.  Somehow the conversation turned to sweet foods and we talked about jelly and pies and cookies, a topic that she is always keen on.  It seems like she is particularly fond of strawberry though she also talked about other fruits like orange, blueberry, blackberry and banana, but kept coming back to strawberry.  She looked really happy as she talked about this, smiling all the time.  She mentioned something about whipped cream and I said let’s make it a strawberry milkshake.  I asked what about chocolate chip cookies and her face lit up.  She said "chocolate is nice" and I re-plied, "Amen to that"!

This cutie is a boy!

Maureen, who was leading Bingo, said that she had some cancellations and I was welcome to stay. But we had 5 dogs now so I would probably be needed over there.  I left Emma with a volunteer and said that I would be back to pick her up, joining my group in the hallway.  Before I left, I heard Kenny say that there were a lot of guest stars coming up on “Hawaii 5-0” and I looked at Jim who was growling.  I saw that one of the pups was a little creature whose hair was dyed in pink -and he was a boy!!  Everyone immediately took a liking to him and he was friendly as well.  Fran, who was leading paired everyone and I was with Charta's new friend, and whose owner reminded me that we had indeed walked together before.  I then remembered that it was my old pal Alvie.

We started on the 2^nd floor and stopped over to see David, who is always in a good mood.  Every time you ask how he is, his answer is "fantastic".  We discussed his photography, especially some pictures of the ocean, and he said that he loves living near the water.  He also mentioned that he was leaving this place in a week.  Whether this is true or not, I wished him well.  Next, we stopped at the lady with the pearls and she was looking sharp as ever.  Her roommate was lying down and was looking at Alvie from the other side of room, smiling as she did so.  We stayed for a bit and then continued, though we weren’t having much luck today.  We saw the usual gentleman who hangs around in the corridors and he was waiting to go in his room since his roommate had a lot of visitors.  I told him that he should go inside whenever he wanted and “reclaim his room”. 

We went over to Polly’s room, but she wasn’t there and Odelia mentioned that she was outside somewhere.  I asked Odelia why she wasn’t downstairs playing Bingo and she said she had the allergies.  We went over to see Loritta, but her roommate was getting changed and so we couldn’t stay.  That was it for 2^nd floor and so we moved upstairs.  We went to see Linda, but she was on the phone, though as is always certain, there was an open book next to her.  We chatted with another lady in her room who loves dogs and then moved on.  Jerry was getting his treatment and Charta was in Hannah’s room, meaning there was no place for us to go. We came down to 1^st and walked around, but did not see anyone and so were done in record time at 7:15 pm.

Since there was no one else to visit, Alvie left and I went back upstairs to Hannah’s room, where Fran was present.  Hannah had not yet heard from her lawyers and said that “No news is good news”, though I am not sure that’s accurate.  She said that she was hoping that this meant that they were still reviewing.  She was a bit down on herself, saying that she came here on her two legs and was now leaving as a “cripple”.  She said that it wasn’t the fault of people who worked here since they were “under paid and over worked”.  I said that the fact that she could understand and say it, meant she was still sharp.  She herself said that she could be “eccentric but not crazy”.  I came back down and learned that Emma had won 3 games.  I said she should be careful where she spent her fortune, which was all of $3.  As I took her upstairs, she talked about her daughter visiting and how she hadn’t had dinner.  As I dropped her off, I said perhaps she could have a “Strawberry Milkshake” with her daughter.  She had certainly earned it.

*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy

Dinner At The Wells Street Cafe

Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church

Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2015; 5:45-8:30 pm

Since I couldn’t go on the 1^st Wednesday for this month and the next, I had asked Marianne if I could come some other week and she had requested this one.  I arrived to see that there were more volunteers than 2 weeks ago, but there was no sign of Marianne.  I had bought my new apron and wore it instead of the flimsy plastic one.  I asked the Chef if he needed any help, but it looked like he had enough people.  So I went outside and helped with the distribution of plastic cutlery instead.  Looks like the dishwasher was still broken

Tonight's Menu

Marianne arrived and after greetings, she immediately allocated duties. She asked me to stack the trolleys with trays and for this task I was being helped by another volunteer.  We were done soon, and then it was a lot of waiting around.  The menu was rice, “creole chicken with sauce”, “creamed spinach” and “apple strudel”.  Marianne said that she didn’t like apples and I said me too, unless they were in a cider!  Marianne talked about her grandchildren in Pittsburgh, and it was the first that I had heard about her being from my old hometown.  She said that she loved them the most and I said that grandparents always view grandchildren as being a way of correcting their mistakes with their kids.  I chatted with Chef Dan and his wife Kathy.  They are both nurses, do catering on the side and are grandparents.  I also learnt that the chef was a son of German immigrants; explaining the presence of “apple strudel” on the menu.

The room outside was quite full and Marianne said that she was glad that all of us had shown up, considering that she had forgotten that there was a 5^th Wednesday this month.  There was one new volunteer, and so Marianne did her speech, and then we prayed.  I was on plating as usual, but before that we had to fill up the big orange colored juice container.  After filling it to the brim with ice, I took it outside and filled it up with bottles of grape juice.  We took our positions and some of the volunteers served the salad bowls, as Marianne made her announcements.  Although we had lot of guests, I couldn’t see my usual friend.  One lady did come and chatted with me, asking where I was from and then inquiring about the menu.  I said that we should look at it together and so we walked to the front of the room where the menu was posted.  A gentleman who was with her shook my hand and introduced himself.  New friends already!

The food was brought out and I was on the “apple strudel”.  Initially we were going to plate it in a bowl, but there was room on the plate and so I just put it there.  We were soon out of the initial 75 plates and 10 additional ones.  Plus we were going through a lot of the food and were soon down to our last trays.  I knew there wouldn’t be enough for seconds.  Sure enough, only chicken and sauce were remaining and we were now rationing portions.  It was sad to tell our guests that we were out of food, especially since earlier we had to tell them there was no coffee since we had not brewed. 

Soon the food was over and some people who had been with the nurse had to be turned back.  Marianne was looking sad but there was nothing that we could have done.  The chef was looking sad as well and he said that he would get proper measuring spoons for serving, since there was a lot of “creep” in our serving i.e. uneven portions.  I stacked chairs and pushed away tables and then bid Marianne farewell.  I said that I couldn't come next week, but would be back the following month.