The End

0: Speeding or parking tickets (woohoo!)
1: Sprained ankle
5: Tax clinics
6: Resource fairs
12: Trips to Columbus
34: Tax and benefit clients served
37: Lunches at Chipotle**
173: Counselors trained
12,109: Miles I put on my car
49,510: Pounds of food collected from the Holiday Food Drive
77,182: Pounds of food collected from Stamp Out Hunger
525,600: Minutes I served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA

**Number has been guesstimated

Well, the time has come. This is my last day as a VISTA, and I'm feeling bittersweet right now.

It really has been an incredible year. I've grown so much more confident in myself.
Now I can quite comfortably:
-Drive by myself in an unfamiliar area
-Give presentations to dozens of people without hyperventilating
-Make phone calls to strangers without prepping what I'm going to say for ten minutes
-Drive a large truck around with fond feelings

Thanks so much to everyone at Shared Harvest, to all my fellow VISTAs, and especially to everyone who kept up with my blog all year. Your encouraging comments really kept me going on those rough days.

But hey, this doesn't have to be goodbye! I have started up a new blog. If you're as curious as I am about where my life is headed, please feel free to check it out here.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Day 364

1: Day left until my VISTA term is complete

Today is my second-to-last day at the Shared Harvest Foodbank, and as an Americorps*VISTA member. Tina took Martha and me out to lunch to celebrate this afternoon (Acapulco's...nom nom nom), and Martha got a cake from Jungle Jim's!

Isn't it pretty? Thanks again, Martha!

Wow, what a year it's been. When I graduated from college I remember lingering over my regrets. I never ate at the Burrito Buggy. I never joined an intramural sports team. There was this newspaper vending machine I used to pass all the time on Court Street. The paper was called "Graffiti." I always wanted to spray paint the word "Okay" right on the machine. But I never got around to it.

Of course, I never would have done it. I have too much respect for newspapers (and the law).

My point is, I don't have any regrets about my VISTA year. I mean sure, it has definitely had its ups and downs. I was often frustrated with computer illiteracy. Callers nearly brought me to tears when they told me their devastating stories. I was physically and mentally exhausted this winter juggling my many, many projects.

But I'm so glad I stuck with it until the end. I've learned so much this year. And even though it didn't seem like it at the time, I really feel like I made a difference.

And now we'll take a break from the sentiment to focus on our parking lot. Check it out! LINES!

And this prohibits people from parking too close to the loading dock! Hooray!

Until tomorrow, kids. I plan on having a link to my new blog sometime soon. I still need a title for it. I'm not really sure what it's going to be about yet, but I know I want to start off each blog post with a quote instead of a number. Any suggestions?

Finals Week

1: The number of weeks I have left in Americorps.

And so the final countdown begins. This is my very last Monday as an Americorps VISTA member, and my very last week. I don't think it's sunk in yet. I've been looking through some of my older blog posts lately, and it's hard to tell if this year flew by or not. Driving Gus the Bus around seems like a million years ago, but it also feels just like yesterday. Does that make sense?
Anyway, it'll be nice to have some time off for a while. Hopefully not too long of a break, though, because those student loans aren't gonna pay for themselves, kids.

Personal note: Went to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky over the weekend and had a fantastic time. Came back with a cold. Boo.

The ceiling near "Frozen Niagra" at Mammoth Cave.

ALSO: The parking lot at Shared Harvest is finished! YAY!

Potholes

4: The number of hours I spent driving Monday.

Krupa and I ventured to Columbus a couple of days ago for the PIPP Plus training. By the way, PIPP stands for Percentage of Income Payment Plan. It's an energy assistance program that allows low-income families pay their gas and electric bills based on their own income, rather than the actual cost.

Anyway, they recently redeveloped the program and made it PIPP Plus. There are a lot of changes that will hopefully make it more simple and beneficial for applicants.

It was interesting to hear about the program, but to be honest it was sometimes hard to keep up. There was a lot of new information, and I didn't know too much about the program to begin with. We don't offer the PIPP application through the Ohio Benefit Bank; we just refer clients to their local Community Action Agency. And seeing as I have eight days left as a VISTA, I don't think I need to worry about it too much.

And now for some Shared Harvest news! I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it, but the driveway at our friendly neighborhood foodbank is ridiculously dangerous. It's full of cracks and potholes and random chunks of blacktop all strewn about. We've had delivery trucks get stuck on the hill on more than one occasion in the snowy months, and I admit that I've driven straight into a foot-deep pothole, splattering my car with mud.

This week was the beginning of a beautiful thing. Tina finally broke down and decided it was time to splurge on a new driveway and parking lot!

While this is wonderful news and everyone is pretty much thrilled about it, it does create some parking problems until they are finished with Project Pavement. Check out my story-telling pics:

Ready to leave for our Columbus trip. What a mess!

I don't think I've had a picture of Krupa yet! And that silver car behind her is my Dexter.

Some employees check out the progress of our beloved parking lot.

Splendiforous!

I'm excited for the parking lot to be all pretty. Too bad I won't be able to park on it for long!

Back to School event

21: The guesstimated number of Quick Checks Krupa and I performed at the Back to School event Saturday.

Krupa and I took a trip to Dayton on Saturday for a Back to School event that the Faith Deliverance Church was conducting. It was sponsored by their Urban Awareness Youth Group, and Krupa and I were really impressed with how smoothly everything ran. There were about 400 kids who showed up to collect backpacks, pencils, notebooks and other school supplies. Most of the booths for hot dogs and ice cream and such were outside in the church's parking lot, but Krupa and I asked to set up inside the church.

We figured we'd have more privacy indoors. I don't think anyone would feel completely at ease answering personal questions about their income and expenses out in a crowded festival-like setting. We also had a laptop with us for Quick Checks, so we needed an outlet

It went really well. A lot of people came by to talk to us about the Benefit Bank and take some brochures, and we helped more than 20 people by telling them what they were eligible for through the Quick Check program. Well, I think it was more than 20. We started off keeping a tally, but we got so busy that we lost track of how many people had stopped by.

The only problem we had was that Nickelodeon was playing in the church for the kids waiting for their school supplies, and it was incredibly loud. Then a few student groups came to the front of the church with their musical talents (see left). It was really cool and everything, but when the break dancing music came on, I literally had to scream at my client so he could hear what I was talking about. Fortunately, things settled down after that.

The best part was that we got to leave early. The event was scheduled to go until 6 p.m., or whenever all of the supplies had been handed out. It was so well-organized that we were able to pack up our stuff at a little after 2.

It was a really nice event, and Krupa and I had a good time. The women who helped plan it out thanked us profusely for coming out, and I'm sure the OBB will again play a part the next time they have a resource fair.

Of course, I will most likely not be there, because I have 10 days until the end of my VISTA year. Crazy!

Krupa and I are going to Columbus this morning for an updated training on PIPP (Percentage of Income Payment Plan), so I will try to remember to take pictures. Stay tuned!

S-U-C-C-E-S-S

14: The number of potential OBB sites Krupa and I visited.

Krupa and I ventured to Middletown Thursday for some Butler County site recruitment action. It went a lot better than our Greene County adventures, for which we could not find half of potential sites we had in mind. We went through our spreadsheets this time and Googled each place to make sure we had the correct address.

It did pay off, for the most part! We still couldn't find one or two sites, so maybe those places are gone for good or haven't gotten around to updating their websites yet. Anyway, we actually got to sit down with several people this time around, and it felt great. Our favorite experience by far was Lifeskills, a place that helps young adults get their high school diplomas.

The people we met with were incredibly friendly and welcoming. Their enthusiasm was contagious. We sat down with the principal as well as the family advocate, who is like a guidance counselor at Lifeskills. The family advocate actually had a stack of benefit applications with her, and said she already worked with the students there to help get them on food assistance. She was really excited about the OBB, because it is going to make that process so much easier!

Is this a perfect match or what? I'm really glad we were able to talk with them. They're going to be a great fit with the OBB, and I'm sure they'll actually use it. We were even able to show them the training site and the Quick Check program, and they just got more excited about it the more we talked. Success!

Bad Computers, Good Computers

25: My days left as an Americorps VISTA.

I'm typing away on a different laptop than I am used to today. Whenever I turn my own on, it freezes up as soon as I log in. Even after restarting it fifteen times and making many a phone call to IT.

I'm guessing my old laptop is sensing that our year together is almost complete, and has decided to retire early. You couldn't wait another three weeks, Bob the Laptop?

Anyway, Bob decided to quit on me Friday when Krupa and I were in Dayton for a Smart Money event--a resource fair, if you will. I hadn't gone to a resource fair in ages, and I really do enjoy them. We weren't able to do Quick Checks for anyone, on account of Bob's poor work ethic, but we did talk to 40 people about the Benefit Bank and 50 people took OBB pamphlets and flyers. Yes, that's right. We kept a tally.

We should have kept track of all the people who came by just to eat some candy but alas, we did not.

So the resource fair went really well. It was long--we had to leave at 6:30 a.m. and I didn't get home until a little after 4:00. But I feel like we really got the word out and helped a lot of people realize what kind of help is out there.

Moving on, I had a benefit training Thursday in Lebanon. It was at a new training location--The Warren County Career Center. And I will start by saying that the people who helped set this up were incredibly helpful and amazing.

The career center was a lot bigger than I was anticipating. There were several buildings to choose from, and I couldn't find the tech center for a long time. Eventually I went into a small office building and a woman kindly pointed out where to go. I was worried people would get lost--the tech center was down a long private drive and literally looked like a ranch house. But everyone made it there fine, and the computer lab was faaaaantastic. No internet issues at all. It was actually a pleasant experience.

Well, except for one guy, who kept crossing his arms and leaning back during the scenarios, asking me when the next question was going to pop up. I had to remind him to click the "next" button more than once.

I was going to have a training tomorrow in Dayton, but the computers at our training location are down so we have to reschedule.

Personal note: Our AC is broken. The lowest high this week is going to be 86. Woo.

Vacation Relaxation

6: The number of personal days I used over the past couple of weeks.

I'm back from my extended mostly-at-home vacation. And while I'm feeling nice and relaxed, it was definitely not easy waking up at 6:30 this morning when I had just gotten used to waking up at 9:00. Good news, though--no sprained ankles.

There's a lot to catch up on at work (not just my blog, you sillies), but fortunately I've been checking my work e-mail periodically to make sure I didn't miss anything too significant. I have a training in Franklin tomorrow and a resource fair in Dayton on Friday (for which we must leave at about 6:30---hoo boy), and aside from returning a few phone calls, I don't feel too far behind at this point.

Is anyone as surprised as I am to find out that in just over four weeks my year as an AmeriCorps VISTA will come to an end? How did that happen?

P.S. Just helped a client fill out her 2009 taxes (a bit late, but meh). She had SIX W2s! Hopefully I am completely done with taxes now.

Knock-knock!

8: The number of times I had to restart my computer today until it stopped freezing.

Last week, Krupa and I sent out letters to various organizations around Greene County letting them know that we were going to be in their area to talk to them about the OBB. So after our conference call Tuesday, we grabbed some marketing materials, our directions courtesy of google maps, and my trusty GPS Rita and headed north.

Site recruitment is exhausting no matter how you go about doing it. Being in a car for that long really takes a toll after a few hours of driving, especially if you don't have some breaks to stretch your legs. And unfortunately, we didn't spend much time out of the car.

We couldn't find a lot of the sites from our spreadsheets. My GPS led us to dead-end drives, abandoned buildings and residential homes. We left information at a few places, but were not able to actually speak with anyone about the program. It was a long, somewhat frustrating day. But it was fun to spend some time on the open road with Krupa!

We didn't want to have to go through a day like that again, though, without having recruited any OBB sites, so we spent most of Wednesday updating the contact information on our spreadsheets. Tedious, yes, but it must be done.

P.S. The title of my blog post today reminds me of a joke my brother, Zach, told me:

Knock-knock!
Who's there?
To!
To who?
To WHOM.

Hehehe!

Time, Time, Time

5.5: The hours of sleep I got last night (on account of the fireworks). (Happy 4th, by the way).

I only have seven more weeks as an Americorps VISTA, as well as three days of sick time, eight days of personal time and a little more than six days of comp time. I'm taking seven glorious days of vacation next week (woohoo!) and I have trips coming up for the next several weekends to visit various friends around Ohio.

I'm glad Krupa is here so my last couple of months at Shared Harvest aren't lonely. I think she'll make a great VISTA! Last Thursday we went to an OBB event in Troy and collected several cards from interested people wanting to become sites. Which means we'll be making a lot of phone calls in the next couple of days. We're also planning to go out to Greene County later this week to do site recruitment, and I'm sure that will spark some interesting blog posts!

Speaking of blog posts, Krupa started her very own blog already! Check it out here!

Also speaking of blogs, I briefly considered changing the background of my site, but seeing as I am only going to be posting (to this one) for another seven weeks, it seemed kind of silly.

Krupa has her first training this week, and she's pretty nervous about it (even though I know she is going to rock). We spent most of this morning going over the benefits guide. It's a funny feeling to watch someone go through the same anxieties and experiences I went through about a year ago. It's an odd way to wrap up my own VISTA year.

I'm been doing a lot of reflecting lately. It's making me all sentimental.

Welcome, Krupa!

50: The number of hours of comp time I have built up.

Our new VISTA has arrived! Her name is Krupa. She's really nice and she seems to like it here so far.

I remember my first day at Shared Harvest. I was pretty nervous about starting my AmeriCorps year and had no idea what to expect. I remember hearing everyone in the office casually throwing out acronyms to programs I didn't even know existed. I'm glad Kaitlyn was there to show me the ropes and help me out with everything. Hopefully I can do the same for Krupa. The first few days at any job can be incredibly overwhelming.

I think next week we're going to start on site recruitment in Greene and rural Montgomery. I wanted to give her a few days to settle in before we get started on a big project!

In other news, I still have 17 days of comp, personal and sick time to take before my term ends August 20. I am therefore taking a much-needed week-long vacay in July.

Kaitlyn's Last Day

1: The number of VISTAs at the Shared Harvest Foodbank.

Friday was Kaitlyn's last day as an AmeriCorps VISTA member, which makes today my first day going solo at Shared Harvest. Tina treated everyone to a great lunch at A Taste of Julia's, and Martha brought in a cake from Jungle Jim's. It was a really nice day. Kaitlyn got to talk about all of the high and low points of our many many projects, which I think was a great way to wrap up her year.



I'm going to miss having Kaitlyn around! I might be a little lonely until our new VISTA comes in.

On the plus side, I may be switching over to this side of the table. I don't think it squeaks as much, and it has a window! Hello, outside world!

Wild About Americorps

More than 500: The number of animals at the Cincinnati Zoo.

This post is going to consist of several photos of our trip to the zoo! Please enjoy.

By the way, I tend to speak several octaves higher than my regular voice when I see cute animals. Let's just say be thankful that this is not a video blog.

Sand cat! So preshy-presh. The cat house is one of my favorite things at the zoo.

There happened to be a bunny in this exhibit, and my friend Amanda was pretty excited about it. I was like, "You do realize we're standing mere feet away from a giraffe, right?"

This is Amanda, one of my closest friends from high school! She is being a wilderness explorer.

White tiger. I've always found them really pretty.

Tigers! Kyle and I went to the zoo last summer to see the baby tigers. These are the very same kittens; they already look fully grown.

Amanda, with Jomo the Gorilla in the background. The gorilla exhibit is another one of my favorite things at the zoo. If you go during their feeding time, they come out and you can get some great shots.

See? This is Jomo, the silverback gorilla. I've taken a ton of pictures of him this summer. I feel like we've become good buddies.

Bonobo! Seen in the Jungle Trails. He's chillaxin'.

A crazy bird whose name I do not remember. But he's taking a sip of water.

White lion waking up from a nice long nap. He's all tuckered out.

We all had a fantastic time at the zoo, as you can probably tell. I hope everyone enjoyed my pictures. Comments are much appreciated!

By the way, my car wouldn't start when we were trying to leave. I'd like to take this moment to send a shout out to my dad, who came to our rescue and jump started my car for me. Thank you, Dad!

Ups and Downs

85: The temperature outside right now (+humidity).

Tomorrow is the day we have all been waiting for. It may very well be the most important day that I will have experienced in my year as an Americorps VISTA member. It is a day that forces us out of our cozy offices and into a whole new wide world of adventure.

Yes... We are so going to the Cincinnati Zoo.

I am going to take an insane number of pictures while I'm there in order to create a fun, glorious, colorful blog post later. Our VISTA leader, Martha, said we were welcome to invite friends and family to come along, so one of my very closest friends, Amanda, will be joining me.

I'm really excited to just take a relaxing day with my fellow VISTAs and reflect on everything we've accomplished so far (while looking at gorillas and elephants). Thank you again, Martha!

On the other side of the spectrum, I'm feeling really bummed about Kaitlyn's term ending on Friday. It's just not going to be the same. But our new VISTA is going to be taking her place next week, and I'm excited to meet her and show her the ropes at Shared Harvest. Kaitlyn and I have pretty much finished our binder. We started from scratch when we began our VISTA terms. I definitely didn't have a clue what the Ohio Benefit Bank was until I was a week or two into my year of service. Oh, the things you can learn in a single year.

A Year in Review

1: The number of weeks until Kaitlyn's last day :(

A couple of days ago, Kaitlyn and I went to a fellow VISTA's presentation about her year with AmeriCorps. It was called "A Year in Review," and was put on by Jessica Reading, who is the VISTA at Miami Hamilton's campus. It was a really impressive presentation, and it made the binder we're putting together seem kind of lame. Not very lame, though. Just kind of.

We did have the opportunity to talk to Jessica after her presentation for a while, and VISTAs are never wasteful of golden photo opportunities.

Kaitlyn, Alex and Jessica doing a Rosie the Riveter-ish stance for AmeriCorps!

Last night I went to a presentation by Shannon Teague, the director of the Benefit Bank, in Hamilton. She basically went over what the OBB is and talked about the advantages of using the program. Even though there weren't a lot of people there, those who did attend were very interested in implementing the Benefit Bank in their organizations, and I gave out a lot of business cards and marketing materials. Which is a ginormous success in my books, ladies and gents.

I've been thinking about the end of my service coming up in August. And I think I'll really miss being a VISTA. It's been a crazy year filled with good friends, crazy clients and incredible experiences.

And I'm going to miss my blog! I've really loved having a blog this year, and having an actual theme to work with. I might even create a new, more personal blog once I finish my VISTA year. Hopefully my life won't be so terribly dull that I have nothing to write about. Which may very well happen if I don't find a job.

Speaking of which, if anyone happens to find a journalism/communications job in the Cincinnati area, do not hesitate to let me know.

Learning

6: The number of people at my Saturday training.

At a training in Mason. Someone just said, "See, now I made a typo here. I guess I can't go back and fix it?"

Lesson 1: The backspace key.

Might post more today, depending on the funny things I hear.

Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

11: The number of weeks until my VISTA term ends

Less than three months to go now, and it is starting to feel a bit strange. I also feel like, as it is summer, I should be lounging around at home drinking lemonade and playing cornhole. I drove by a middle school on my way to work today and no one was there. And all of a sudden, I started experiencing strong feelings of dislike toward all those people who still get summers off. Yes, even the children.

They're mocking me.

Anyway, the sad thing about me only having 11 weeks to go as a VISTA is that Kaitlyn only has two weeks to go as a VISTA. So when she leaves I might not update in a while, seeing as I will most likely be crying in a corner somewhere.

Not too much has been going on here lately. I have started putting together a guidebook for the next VISTA who comes in, filled with tips and suggestions for how to handle their goals on their VAD (VISTA Assignment Description). I've just finished up the section for food drives and Gus the Bus. It brought back all kinds of fond memories. I even included some pictures. It's actually kind of fun to put together. I feel like Rick Steves.

Moving on, our regional VISTA meeting with our fearless leader Martha is coming up soon (June 17th). We usually have these meetings in a board room at United Way, but this time Martha pulled some strings and we're all going to the Cincinnati Zoo instead. Believe me, I am going to miss that stuffy board room with the uncomfortable chairs, but I will try to enjoy eating a picnic lunch and looking at polar bears instead.

By the way, if you've never been the Cincinnati Zoo...you should go.

Speaking of things you need to do, see that "follow" button? On the left hand side of my blog? Right above a bunch of photo icons? No, scroll down a little...yes, there it is. Click it. Thanks.

Nightmare at Hillcrest Baptist Church

2: The number of days I've missed work this week.

This is on account of I am ill with some mysterious new sickness that turns all my bones into rubber, my muscles into Jell-O, and places what feels like double-edged sandpaper down my throat, therefore making it incredibly painful to swallow. I've been exhausted all week, and spent most of the last two days buried under my comforter while entire seasons of "Friends" played on my computer.

But we're going to put all of that aside, because I did promise everyone an explanation of that little side note on my last blog post about my rage subsiding over an incident I had at the beginning of this month. I know it has been intriguing all ye invisible readers since I mentioned it, so here it goes. Nightmare at Hillcrest Baptist Church (In Carlisle, Ohio).

Kaitlyn and I have been doing site recruitment; that is, we've been going out to our seven counties and knocking on doors to places we feel might make good Benefit Bank sites. This includes foodbanks, churches, whathaveyou, any place that reaches out to promote available resources for struggling families.

Which brought us to Hillcrest Baptist Church. We went in and asked for the name on our contact sheet, who was the person who mostly worked with food distribution and whatnot. She wasn't in, but the man there (we assumed he was the pastor) and his secretary or assistant or whoever, offered to sit down and talk with us anyway.

So at first Kaitlyn and I thought that this was a nice guy, because we don't come across a lot of people who are willing to take time from their schedules to sit down with strangers (even though we send out letters ahead of time). The first thing he asked us was "Is this a government program, or is this faith-based?"

"Well, actually it's a little of both. See, the Ohio Benefit Bank was implemented through a public-private partnership of--"

"I don't want to be involved in any governmental program."

"...Okay, well with the Ohio Be--"

"Let me repeat myself, are you hearing what I'm saying? I don't want to be involved in any governmental program."

It turns out that Hillcrest used to be a partner of Shared Harvest. Used to be, because once they realized they couldn't distribute God-fearing pamphlets in addition to the bags of food, they cut all ties (it's USDA government food). Hm...Who Would Jesus Feed? Well, no one apparently, because they shut down the whole thing.

We tried to convince this guy that we were there that day to represent the Ohio Benefit Bank, which does not deal at all with food distribution, but it was hard to get two words in. It turned into this whiney little wannabe pity-party, in which he and the woman with him complained about a couple of people who had come in to ask for help and either hadn't said "Thank you" or had continued to come in for years. Okay, sir, well a bag of food isn't gonna get a family through a few years, it's going to get them through a few days. These government programs help with actual sustainability.

But again, he just would not hear us out. They had too many judgments about people living in poverty, which is just incredibly disappointing. Because he's probably feeding that stigma to everyone who comes through those doors. After about a half hour of this, Kaitlyn said something along the lines of, "This is what we do, we find new sites to use the Benefit Bank so people are aware of what help is available wherever they go to eat, work or pray--" and Mr. High and Mighty said, "Oh, your job today, that's pretty easy."

This guy has no clue. We were so incredibly offended. We finally grabbed our stuff, told them we could tell they weren't interested and not to expect a follow-up call, and left.

So that's the story about the Hillcrest Baptist Church that still has me fuming. I did realize that if this had happened to me several years ago, I don't think I'd be as fired up as I am now. I mean, I would still be incredibly annoyed and offended, but I don't know if I'd feel as passionate about it as I do now. That's what a year in Americorps will do to you. And I'm glad it did.

Americorps Appreciation

11: About the number of hours of sleep I got Friday and Saturday nights.

Being an Americorps VISTA can sometimes be a thankless job. Not a lot of people understand what it is we do, and some don't even know we exist. We put in a lot of hours without a lot of pay. We come in at night and on the weekends and are still considered to have an "easy job." (This is actually a long story that I have been avoiding while my rage subsides. I'll try to write about it in the next couple of days).

I try not to let it bother me, and honestly, it usually doesn't. I feel like the point in being a VISTA isn't to get recognition or applause. The point is to help as many people as I can.

Still, appreciation is much appreciated. Last week was National Americorps Appreciation week, and Friday morning the VISTAs from all around the state of Ohio met up in Columbus to work together on a different kind of service project. Some people sorted clothes at homeless shelters, some promoted the VISTA program to local high schools, some planted gardens. Kaitlyn and I were each assigned to pick up trash in the town of Linden, which is one of the lowest-income neighborhoods in Ohio. We split up into groups of four or five and were given a supply of work gloves, trash bags, and those handy litter-picker-uppers (I'm pretty sure that's the technical name).

The day went by pretty fast. My group had a lot of fun getting to know one another and trying to find the most interesting piece of litter (I won't get into some of the things we found. Let's just say I'm glad we had gloves). And once we finished our block in the neighborhood, it really did look much nicer.

After about two and a half hours of cleaning up the neighborhood, all the VISTAs met at a movie theater called Studio 35 and were given free pizza and popsicles while we watched "The Princess Bride" (INCONCEIVABLE!) All in all, it was a really fun day. I love meeting up with the other VISTAs to see what everyone else has been up to.

Unfortunately, I did not take a single photo while I was in Columbus. It's not easy to carry a heavy bag of trash and trash-picker-upper anyway. I didn't want to have to carry my camera around, too. But I did want to include a photo in this blog post, so at the risk of getting off topic and delving slightly deeper into my personal life, here's a picture of my cat, Albert. Work-related note: This photo is now my desktop picture for my work laptop.

The Results are In!

11,125: The pounds of food we collected in Fairfield Saturday for the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive!

Yes, I would say the food drive this weekend was an enormous success. We had several enthusiastic volunteers helping out, and the time went by pretty fast because we were unloading trucks so often.

Today's blog post will be told through the use of pictures.

We got to the post office a little before 2:00, so not a lot of mail trucks had come back yet. We used that time to lay out about a dozen enormous boxes provided by Shared Harvest. We still had some down time when we finished that, so we went for a group shot inside the box. On the left you'll see my sister Jen, my mom Debbie, Kaitlyn's husband Taylor, Kaitlyn, and Adam, a volunteer from Lakota East High School. And that's me in the middle.

We actually had a lot more volunteers than this. For some reason, my brother-in-law Dan isn't in this picture. My dad took the picture. The five volunteers from Fairfield High School showed up at 3:00, and my boyfriend Kyle came over at 4:00.

Whenever a mail truck would come back from it's delivery, a few of us would meet it outside with one of those carts and plastic storage bins to unload the food. Sometimes a truck came in with two bags of food, but most of the time the back was completely filled with non-perishables.

Meet my dad, Chris! He's preparing a dolly to go out and load some more food!

Check out all of those volunteers stamping out hunger!

Once a box was completely full, we would use the dolly to wheel the skid into the enormous truck to go back to Shared Harvest.

Meet my boyfriend, Kyle!

Meet my brother-in-law, Dan! These guys were really helpful in getting all that food into the truck.

At the end of the day, Fairfield had collected a total of 11,125 pounds of food!
And the grand total of Butler County came out to be (drum roll, please)....

77,182 pounds of food!

That's 2,730 more pounds of food than last year! Hooray! Thanks again to everyone who helped out on Saturday by unloading and reloading boxes, donating food, or getting the word out! We made a huge difference this weekend!

Welcome to Indiana!

2: The number of states Kaitlyn and I were in on Monday.

Kaitlyn and I spent Monday out in Preble county visiting seven potential Ohio Benefit Bank sites. And oh, what adventures we had.

The first place we went, the Higher Heights Church of God, was a huge success. We were able to meet with a few people who seemed extremely interested in incorporating the Benefit Bank in their church. It was actually quite refreshing. They didn't hit us with illogical concerns and excuses--they saw that it was a good program with huge potential for their services. We'll probably get back with them in the next day or so to get them started on becoming a site.

After that, though, things kind of went downhill.

Two of the places we visited were residential homes. I don't know if we had the wrong address or we had somehow gotten the supervisor's home address or what, but we didn't bother going in. We left information at three other agencies. The GPS and Google Maps couldn't locate the address of another. And for the last one, we ended up in Indiana.

That wasn't our fault, though. The agency used an Ohio address for all of their mail, so that's where we sent our notice letter and where the GPS took us. We pulled into the driveway of a quaint little ranch, which was located on acres upon acres of gorgeous scenery--horses, a lake, even a barn. There was a man working on a tractor in the front yard, so we asked him if we were at the right place.

He explained that the agency was actually like a day camp for kids, and that the actually office buildings were located a mile or so up the road. We tried to leave after that, but he was kind of a chatterbox. He asked us if we had a minute to talk and, thinking he wanted to discuss the letter about the OBB we had sent, we said of course.

"We've got about seven horses, see, you can see them up there."

"Oh yeah, that's great."

"The lake is right over there, it takes up about 70 acres."

"Wow. It really is beautiful up here."

"Now you see this statue over here?" *Gestures to statue of a horse*

"Yes."

"He's painted to look exactly like that horse over there, that brown and white one. He was born about 11 months ago."

"Mm." *Back away to the car*

"Now the colors are a little different, see it's a little darker now."

It went on like that for a pretty long time. Eventually, we thanked him, got in the car, and drove about a mile up a steep, dirt drive. When we finally found the building though, we decided not to even stop in. We can't recruit sites that are in Indiana.

But at least we proved that Kaitlyn and I are dedicated VISTAs -- we're willing to go out-of-state to locate new OBB sites!

Home sweet home

Recruitment

74,452: The pounds of food collected for Shared Harvest from Stamp Out Hunger in 2009

Now that tax season is over, VISTA community trainers like Kaitlyn and I are going through what feels like an extended lack of activity. It's odd not having to pick up the phone every ten minutes to schedule tax clients, and quite nice to have most of our weekends free again. And now that we have so much extra time on our hands, we're focusing our energy on recruiting more Benefit Bank sites.

Today we'll be going to Preble County with a list of several potential sites we've been compiling since the start of our service. We sent out a letter to all of these sites a little over a week ago, letting them know what the Benefit Bank is and that we are going to be in their area today. Hopefully we'll be able to sit down with a few people and convince them to get started on becoming a site.

In other news, this Saturday is Stamp Out Hunger! I've got the post office in Fairfield covered when it comes to volunteers, and I have seven people willing to help out in Middletown (though that has been a little iffy) but we're having some trouble finding enough people in West Chester. So if you're willing to donate your time to a good cause, PLEASE let me know and I'll be happy to sign you up to go to your local post office this Saturday to help us unload, organize, and reload boxes of food to go to the Shared Harvest Foodbank. It's for a terrific cause, and we can use all the help we can get! Go here for more information!

The Job Readiness Program

18: The number of days I could take on vacation right now if I were to use all my sick, personal and comp time.

For the past several weeks I've been in contact with Stacy Keys, an employment specialist at the Greene County Adult Probation Courthouse. She has also been working on the Job Readiness Program, which is geared toward assisting probationers overcome barriers to employment.

The class occurs three times a week for three weeks, and she wanted a Benefit Bank employee to appear as a "guest speaker" for the first day of the program. So yesterday I loaded my car with my laptop, Quick Check cards, and several marketing flyers and drove out to Xenia.

There were five people in the program, and I went ahead and gave a brief presentation about what the Benefit Bank is and how it could help them. Everyone in attendance was interested in applying for health care. Unfortunately, they were all middle aged single men, and the Benefit Bank mostly helps the elderly, disabled, or families with children. While doing Quick Checks for everyone, I realized that they were mostly living with friends or relatives, and none had acquired a job yet. Everyone was at least eligible for food stamps and prescription assistance, so at least there was that. But I still felt kind of helpless because no one was eligible for health care. It was especially frustrating when someone told me that he thought he could be proved disabled, but he couldn't afford the hospital bills for the technology it would require to prove it. What do you do in that situation? Completely stuck.

It was frustrating, but I'm glad I was able to go. At least they're a little more aware of what they can apply for and what they're eligible for.

Cover the Uninsured

12: The number of people who applied for medical benefits at Cover the Uninsured.

I'm happy to report that I am in a much better mood this week than I was last week. For one thing, the spyware that had infected my computer is completely gone, thanks to our IT person in Columbus, Rebekah Moser. You have no idea what a relief it is not having to close those tiny warning boxes every five minutes.

Also, this is just a four-day week for me. My boyfriend, Kyle, is buying a condo and is going to start moving in this Friday. Yay! I took the day off so I could help him out.

AND, while working on a Saturday is never really a fun time, participating in Cover the Uninsured this weekend was not as bad as I thought it would be. I had fully expected to arrive only to have no idea what I was doing. I had planned to follow the lead of whoever was sitting next to me. But by the end of the day, the other volunteers were looking at me whenever our customers had questions.

The event lasted from about 9 a.m. to noon. We (me and two other volunteers) had a table set up near the pharmacy at the Kroger in Forest Park, equipped with applications for programs like food stamps, prescription assistance and Healthy Start. We had a pretty good stream of people coming through all day, and we ended up filling out applications for a dozen people.

I was starting to feel pretty good about myself when I was able to answer questions that no one else had an answer for. The one really frustrating part of it was not being able to use the Benefit Bank. It would have made the whole process so much easier. It was difficult hearing people say how redundant and confusing the applications were without giving everyone a pitch about why they should just come to Shared Harvest on Monday to use the Benefit Bank.

Okay, I even handed out a few business cards.

Anywho, it was a lot better than I thought it would be. At least my experience went a lot better than Kaitlyn's did.

Celebrate You

1.6 billion: The number of times my computer has told me I am infected with spyware (or so it seems).

This has not been the easiest week so far. This Saturday Kaitlyn and I will be going to two different area Krogers to help people apply for Medicaid (without using the Benefit Bank, those sillies) for this event called Cover the Uninsured. It's only a few hours in the morning, so it's not really a big deal, but no one likes working on Saturdays.

Yesterday I went to a training in Troy, where for some reason or another they were not aware that the OBB had reserved the computer lab there. Fortunately, it was only booked in the morning. Unfortunately, we had to start the class about 20 minutes late until it freed up.

Today my computer has been popping up messages every two minutes telling me that it has been infected with spyware. Not really sure what to do in this case. I'm not going to pay to install the security system it keeps recommending. And other than the annoying pop-ups, it's running completely fine. So I'm going to go ahead and pretend all is well.

So, enough complaining. I just wanted to share something that always cheers me up when I am down. I got this poem(?) when I was at a conference for the Ohio Benefit Bank. We were supposed to be learning about customer service. It turned into some kind of hardcore, confidence-boosting hugfest. You'll laugh, you'll cry, your heart will melt into a pile of warm goo.

Or you'll just laugh.

Enjoy.

CELEBRATE YOU
You are worth celebrating.
You are worth celebrating.
You are unique.
In all the world, there is only one you.
There is only one person with your talents,
your experience, your gifts.
No one can take your place!
You are precious.
You have immense potential to love, to care,
To create, to grow, to sacrifice,
if you believe in yourself.
It doesn't matter your age, or your color,
or whether your parents loved you or not.
(Maybe they wanted to, but didn't know how.)
Let that go, it belongs to the past; you belong to the now.
It doesn't matter what you've been, the wrong you've done,
the mistakes you've made, the people you've hurt. You are
forgiven. You are accepted, you're ok.
CELEBRATE YOU.
Begin now. Start now. Give yourself a new birth. Today.
You are you, and that is all you need to be.
You are temporary. Here today and gone tomorrow.
But today, today can be a new beginning, a new thing, a
new life. You deserve this new life, it is given freely. That
is the miracle called life.
So celebrate the miracle and CELEBRATE YOU!

I hope that made everyone who reads this a better, well-adjusted and confident individual.

Happy Easter!

74,452: The pounds of food we collected from Stamp Out Hunger last year.

It seems like most of the world got to stay home from work for Good Friday, but Kaitlyn and I are still here at Shared Harvest. It reminds me of when we had 11 inches of snow and my car was the only one on the road.

I know I haven't written in a while, but that's because not much has been going on. I had a very crowded training in Dayton last week. If one more person asks if they just completed a taxes or benefits training I am going to scream. We had our regional VISTA meeting with Martha on Wednesday, which is always fun. It's great to see how the other VISTAs are doing. Plus, Martha always brings in a ton of food.

And I had my first Stamp Out Hunger meeting with Tina and Bob, two fellow Shared Harvest employees. We're going to need to recruit a lot of volunteers in Butler County, so if you want to help out with a good cause, please let me know! We need some strong people to help us transport thousands of pounds of food from one truck to another.

I'm really glad it's the weekend. I can't decide if this week went by really fast or if it dragged. Everything is starting to blur together.

Stamp Out Hunger

49.1 million: The number of Americans living in food-insecure homes (in 2008).

Things are definitely slowing down around here, mostly because the end of tax season is finally in sight. We haven't had many more calls from people who want their taxes done, and I am officially DONE with tax trainings! It brings us all an odd sense of relief, having tax season out of the way. I definitely feel like we accomplished something over the past three months.

But even though tax season is almost over, I'm still going to be busy around here. I'm about to get started on the Stamp Out Hunger food drive, the nation's largest single day food drive. It is done through a collaboration of the National Association of Letter Carriers, the Campbell Soup Company, the U.S. Postal Service, Feeding America, Valpak, the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, the AFL--CIO and United Way Worldwide.

On the second Saturday in May, people across the country will hopefully assist the hungry by placing canned goods and other non-perishables in or around their mailboxes. The mailmen collect the food in a single day, and it all goes to local foodbanks and pantries.

My job in this is going to mostly focus on recruiting volunteers to help us get all these boxes of food out of the trucks. We're going to need some serious muscles to get this going. I also want to help get the word out, so I plan on designing flyers and handing them out to various apartment complexes and local businesses.

I'm excited to get this thing started. It's nice to have a new project to focus on!

Food stamp stigmas

1.2 million: The number of people who access the Food Assistance Program in Ohio

Every once in a while Kaitlyn or I will get a phone call from prospective clients wanting to know what kind of services the Ohio Benefit Bank provides. I've had to answer this question hundreds of times before (from friends and family, too) so I pretty much have my response down to an art form.

"The Ohio Benefit Bank is a free Web-based program that allows you to apply for multiple benefits, such as food stamps, cash assistance, medical assistance and child care. It is essentially a bank of applications that we can fill out for you, because we understand that the process can be really overwhelming. We also provide a free tax assistance program...blah blah blah..."

I may have that part memorized, but the other day I had a phone call that had me drawing a blank.

The call was from a woman who wanted to know what the Benefit Bank was and how it could help her. I started going through my monologue, but I didn't get too far before she burst into tears.

She had been in a car accident a few months ago that left her unable to drive or work, and buried under thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills. Her husband and mother recently died, and she had no other family she could turn to.

She said she used to make pretty good money, but she never actually put it away. She used to be the type of person who was disgusted by people who used food stamps or needed other kinds of assistance. She told me, "Karma finally caught up to me."

It was an exhausting 30-minute conversation. All I could really do was listen to her and try to reassure her that help was out there and that there was nothing to be ashamed of. That federal money is there for a reason. But I think she just had too much pride to do anything but call.

She made it clear that she didn't want to be on food stamps. She didn't want to be asking for help. She was just terrified of not being able to pay her bills or rent. She had no food in the house, and couldn't really wait 30 days for the food stamps application to go through. I gave her the contact information for a nearby emergency food pantry, but she couldn't make an appointment to come in and see me to fill out some applications because she needed to ask a neighbor if she would be willing to bring her here.

I've never felt so helpless. For people who need help, all we can do is present them with all of the resources that are available for them. It's up to them to actually follow through with it.

I gave the woman my work cell number so she could reach me at any time, but I haven't heard back from her. And unfortunately, I don't think I will. We can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped.

I hope everyone reading this understands that there is no shame in applying for benefits. They are there for a reason! I'm going to pull a Myth-Busters now and give you some common reasons why some people might not apply for food stamps.

1. Resources and assets count against you. FALSE! The only things that determine your eligibility when applying for food stamps is your income and your household size. The government understands that you can't eat your car or your house.
2. Food stamps are welfare. Nope. The Food Assistance Program is a work-support program. You must be in an approved work, training, or educational environment to be eligible. So you can apply for food stamps if you are volunteering or receiving job training. (Or if you're retired, or have a disability...)
3. Shopping with food stamps is not simple and inconspicuous. This used to be true. However, we have done away with those little scraps of paper that used to hold up the line. We now have what is called an Electronic Benefits Transfer Card (EBT), which can be used just like a credit or debit card. You can swipe it and no one has to know that you just accessed your food stamp money.
4. The amount of food stamps a person qualifies for isn't worth the time to apply. The smallest amount of money you can get a month for food stamps is $14. If I handed you $14, would you take it? I thought so. Also, those dollars roll over to the next month if you don't use them. They don't just go away. So you can get your food stamps in January, save up all year, and buy your family a nice Thanksgiving dinner come November. That's just one less thing to worry about.

Spread the word, people. Fight the stigma. Goodnight.

Chaos at Miami Hami

50: About the number of people who participated in the poverty simulation yesterday.

Yesterday at about 1:30, Kaitlyn and I drove out to Miami University Hamilton, but for once we weren't doing a training! We were asked by the VISTA there, Jessica Reading, if we would help them out with a poverty simulation, like the one I went through in December. This time, though, I had a chance to be on the other side of the frenzy.

My booth was the General Employer's office, so it was my job to check everyone in who was fortunate enough to have a job, take their transportation passes, hand out their "job assignments" and distribute their checks at the end of their shift (which was seven minutes long).

Kaitlyn sat at the table next to me. She was the schoolteacher, and she was in charge of taking in people grades K-college, handing out assignments and homework, and giving them slips of paper telling them to bring in a few dollars for field trips, class projects, school supplies, etc.

Kaitlyn sits at her "classroom" and waits for her students to arrive

Did I ever mention that my sister works at Miami Hamilton? She has the extremely awesome job of coordinator of student activities. She gets to plan student events, like cornhole tournaments and pizza tastings, in her day's work. But today we got to work together, because she was participating in the simulation as the owner of "Big Dave's Pawn Shop"!

Meet my sister, Jen Moning! (I mean Jen O'Brien!)

Anyway, as the General Employer, I had a lot to keep track of, so I might have been a little overwhelmed at times. Only six people out of eight showed up on time to work in week 1, so I had to fire two people right off the bat. (My rule was that they had to be at work for at least half the time). Fewer people showed up with each week, and by week 4 I had only two employees, though I had more applications than I knew what to do with. Only one person showed up to work on time every week.

It didn't take long for me to recognize the feelings of anxiety, despair and panic that I felt when I went through this simulation back in December. The entire room was chaos. I really hated firing people, especially the people who lost their job for the same reasons I lost mine when I was playing Cindy Chen (not enough transportation passes). The sad thing was that most people didn't really put up a fight when I told them they lost their job. The conversations would mostly go like this:

THEM: I'm here for work!

ME: Well, work just ended, so I'm afraid you're fired.

THEM: Fired?! Well, crap. *scampers off*

Everyone just had too much to keep track of to actually fight for their career. There was one girl who was late in the first week of work who I had to fire, but she showed up the next day anyway and begged for another chance, so I cut her some slack. She was always on time after that, though she did try to steal a stack of my transportation passes. Strike two.

Everyone scrambles around the room trying to get their bills paid, their families fed, and their homes secure. This is the room where we had the simulation.

I was a little surprised by the amount of theft that went on in this simulation. In the one I was in in December we had a little, but this was insane. People were yelling "SHERIFF!" all over the place. The "thief," played by my sister's friend and co-worker Annie, actually tried to rob the bank. There was some kind of shoot-out at the school, but I didn't really get a good look at it. People were stealing from their neighbors and taking up jobs as drug dealers left and right.

And of course, most of the chairs in the room were turned upside down by the end of the day.

Chairs that were turned upside down symbolized that that family has been evicted

This crowd is the line for the homeless shelter--which quickly became too full to accept anyone else.

At the end of the simulation, everyone righted their chairs and sat in a circle for a group discussion about their experiences, led by Amanda Cowgill, National Service Coordinator for AmeriCorps*VISTA.

Amanda leads a discussion about what everyone experienced in the simulation

All of the participants were constantly reminded that this was not a game; it was a simulation, meant to increase our knowledge, understanding, and awareness of the challenges of living in poverty. I think everyone got it. I think it was around week 3 when one of my few employees looked around at the chaos in the room and said to me, "This is heartbreaking."

I'm glad I was able to do this simulation again, because it's always good to see the effects of what you're doing. I think by the end of the simulation, everyone had a better idea and respect for what people living in poverty have to go through.

In closing, here's a video of the participants near the end of the simulation, picking up their chairs and such to get ready for the group discussion. Is it just me, or do they look kind of exhausted?

The Other Side

12: The number of days until Kaitlyn's wedding! (And the first day of spring!)

Remember back in December when I went to In Service Training and went through a poverty simulation? Today, Kaitlyn and I will be traveling to Miami University Hamilton where we will be on the other side of the experiment as social services case workers #1 and #2.

I'm pretty excited about this! When I went through the simulation the first time I was participating as a woman living in poverty. I was running around from place to place in such a frenzy that I really didn't have the time to soak it in until it was over. Today, I'll have a better idea of what to expect and I'll be able to observe the chaos, rather than be stuck in the middle of it. It'll be really cool to see how other people react to being placed in that kind of situation.

Anyway, Kaitlyn and I will be leaving for that this afternoon and it will probably go until at least 5:00 p.m. (Hello, comp time!) But I'll be sure to post all about it tomorrow or the next day. I'll also try to remember to take pictures this time.

IN OTHER NEWS: Our site supervisor, Meredith, is back at Shared Harvest after about three months of maternity leave! Welcome back, Meredith! And welcome to the world, Minerva Abigail!

Benefits Training, Take 2

2: The number of days in my weekend (For the first time in a long time!)

Today was Part II of that benefits training we had to cut short this week. Kaitlyn and I were a little nervous, but determined to make it through the class unscathed. We needn't have worried. The site administrator had had a chat with everyone in the class before they came in, and he even said a few words about turning off cell phones before we started. Everyone was very courteous and attentive, and it went a lot more smoothly than Part I.

They did have a lot of questions, but Kaitlyn and I had been expecting that. The first half was so chaotic; people were talking over me and their internet kept cutting out. So it was like they were retaking the training today, in half the time they should have been. But everyone did catch on and completed the scenario without too many problems. I'm really glad that's over with.

Some more good news is that Kaitlyn and I were finally able to find someone to take over the Greenville class tomorrow! We e-mailed Jess with pleas for help, and she told us that she knew plenty of people who owe her a favor. I'd like to take this moment to thank Jess, and a big thank you to Suzanna Witte for taking over that training tomorrow! I'll be able to go to Kaitlyn's bridal shower; we're both really relieved!

IN OTHER NEWS: It is going to be in the 50's this weekend and next week! WOO! I have had an extreme case of cabin fever for the past couple of months, and I am so excited to be able to get out of the house.

Meet me Halfway

15: The number of minutes I was stuck in traffic this morning (and therefore the number of minutes late I was to my training).

Don't worry. I always arrive at 8:30 for my 9:00 classes. So today I was here at 8:45, and I still had time to set up.

Today is my first full benefits class since before Christmas. I'm currently on my lunch break in Dayton, for a class of seven people. Things are going really well. Benefits classes are pretty much the same as tax classes, except there aren't as many errors in the book and we go over the different programs we offer with OBB instead of tax credits.

I haven't even looked at my benefits guide in ages (I should probably be doing that now, but I am feeling a little frustrated with myself for having such a lame blog post yesterday and I have a strong desire to make up for it). I think I'll be okay, though. I know the program. I know the benefits.

That training that was snowed out in Greenville Saturday needs to be rescheduled soon (they have their first tax clinic on the 13th). The problem is that they can only do a Saturday training, so it would HAVE to be this Saturday, which is the same day as Kaitlyn's bridal shower. We have been scrambling around, trying to find someone else to take the training, but we haven't had any luck yet, so I might have to miss the shower. Which is bad news bears.

We might have to become as flexible as some of these other sites we've been working with (i.e. MUCH LESS FLEXIBLE). I know it's our job to train as many people as we can, but these special trainings out of our region and working on weekends is really starting to take a toll. You've got to meet us halfway.

Don't wake me, I plan on sleeping in

4: The guess-timated number of times I wake up every night.

I'm having a problem with writer's block today, so today's blog is going to be in bullet point format.

• I have a bad case of the Mondays.
• I drove halfway out to Greenville Saturday for a training only to get a phone call from the site administrator telling me they had a level 2 snow emergency. The farther north I drove, the more slick the roads were. The time it took me to find a side road clear enough to turn around solidified my decision to cancel the class.
• I have a training tomorrow in Dayton, Thursday in Eaton (which I think will be canceled, as no one has signed up for it yet) and Part II of the Training from Hell (see "Alexandra's Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day") on Friday.
• I have had to work, in some capacity, the last 3 Saturdays in a row. I miss two-day weekends. I miss sleeping in.
• Being an insomniac is really getting on my nerves.

Alexandra's Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day

3: The number of hours Kaitlyn and I spent in a training today until we snapped.

Kaitlyn and I have been collaborating with a local business who wanted to train 23 members of it's staff on benefits for the OBB. We don't usually plan extra trainings, but because there were so many people who wanted the training, and because they all had laptops and wireless internet, we decided to make an exception.

We rarely both attend a training, either, but as there were so many new counselors, in an unfamiliar place, we made another exception.

Kaitlyn had had an enormous class last Friday at Miami Hamilton, so we both went to that one, too. Kaitlyn did most of the talking while I went around to people who were struggling and helped them catch up. We were going to switch roles today; I would lead the training and Kaitlyn would make sure everyone was on the same page. With our system from last week, we figured today's trainng would go just as smoothly as that had. It did not.

Although we were told that all 23 counselors would have their own laptop and reliable internet access, this was not the case. In fact, only about 15 people showed up, and two of them hadn't brought their laptops. The internet was a complete disaster; it took forever for anyone to get signed on, and even then it was erratic. Someone's internet died every 10-15 minutes.

Sadly, this wasn't the worst part of the class.

The entire time I was there, I felt like I was babysitting a bunch of sixth-graders. I think that, because everyone already worked together, they were all really comfortable just goofing off and chatting to one another. I literally did not have their attention for more than 15 seconds at a time. When the third cell phone rang I was just like, "Okay, everyone. Can we turn off the cell phones, please? That's the third one that has gone off." I mean, really? When you heard the first one ring, didn't that REMIND you to turn off you own? I didn't think I'd have to remind them. They're adults.

Everyone was so disrespectful. My voice got steadily louder and I was much more firm, but it didn't sway them. It was completely out of control. I don't know if it's because they thought we were too young to know anything or what, but I have never been more frustrated in my life.

Some examples:

• We asked counselors--several times--to pair up because we were having so many problems with the computers. We still ended up with a group of one and a group of three. They just weren't grasping the concept of "pairing up."
• One man stood up in the middle of the scenario and went back to his own computer. When asked if there was a problem, he said he was done. They had been working for 15 minutes. They weren't done.
• I don't think we had everyone in the room at a time throughout the day. People were wandering in and out constantly. Could you not have gotten your coffee during that 20 minute break when we were trying to get everyone online?
• Kaitlyn overheared one person say there wasn't a social security number for the woman in the scenario. She interceded, and said that she did have one. The man then said that he thought they were supposed to just make someone up. Why? Why would I have gotten you through the first few steps of the Alice Nelson scenario and tell you to keep your books open on page 73 if I wanted you to BS the whole thing?

It was, without a doubt, the worst training either of us had ever been to. No one heard a word I said because they NEVER STOPPED TALKING. We eventually called Jessica and let her know what was up. We talked to the site supervisor. We discussed it with each other. And we decided to pull the plug on the training at noon and finish it another day, at a place with reliable internet access. This is why we don't usually set up special trainings for one agency. We already have reliable training sites. We're going to stick with them.

It was awful. I am not looking forward to seeing them all again to finish the training. Kaitlyn and I have already decided to go together for part II. If I had been by myself today, I would probably be cowering in a corner somewhere.

And now when I send them the next class announcement for round II, I'm going to have to remind them to turn their cell phones off, tell them not to talk when I am talking, and to take this seriously.

Or I could just say, "This is not a 3rd-grade field trip. This is a business-related training. Please behave like adults, or you will be asked to leave the class."

Tempting.

Necessary.