First Day of Work!

Hola,
So you'd think I'd have a huge update being my first day of work at a new job...but actually I don't have much to say!! It was a very uneventful day! I guess before I explain anything about my day I should say exactly what I do. I work for Salvation Army Social Services. I work at a tier two homeless shelter which means instead of community sleeping rooms and bathrooms etc, in my shelter each family has their own apartment with a full bathroom, kitchen etc. You must have children to stay in the shelter I work at as well. My job in a nutshell is to work with the adults and help them with whatever barriers are keeping them from being able to find or keep their own housing. I will mostly work with clients on education and employment. My job will also largely be about knowing resources for the families and referring them to whatever resources they need. Ok so now my first day....

I got to work this morning with plenty of time to spare...the commute wasn't too bad. I sat through what will be a weekly meeting to discuss all of the families in the shelter. There are about 90 families in the shelter so this takes about 2 hours. Then I sat with the girl that I will be replacing and learned about PA(public assistance...more well known as welfare). PA is very detailed and there are so many things that affect whether or not someone gets, how much $$ the get, how the keep it etc etc etc. I won't bore you all with the details. I also learned the whole process of an intake (or getting a new family at the shelter). After sitting with the girl I am replacing, I sat with some staff while they ate lunch and I just sat..who really has an appetite on their first day of a new job?!!? I was then shown basic things on my computer and phone and told I could spend some time cleaning my office....and boy did it need it. The guy that used my office before me was disgusting!! He didn't clean anything!!!! There was oatmeal packets, a brush, lots of hair, paycheck stubs, shampoo, used soap, a coke botttle all in my desk still...and this is just a few things!!! He also hadn't gone through files in years...as I began going thru then and cleaning I found things from 1999!!! He didn't know how to throw anything out!!! So my big goal this week is to clean my office!

After cleaning for quite a while I was suppose to go review the binders on our clients. Each family in the shelter has a binder with ALLLL of the information you could want to know about them...and my boss would like me to read them all in the next two weeks! I didn't get downstairs to do this until about 4:30 and didn't get very far...there was another staff person in the office and we ended up talking instead of me reading...which is fine...that just can't happen everyday!!

I then left at 5 as I was advised to do...I was told if you don't establish that you leave at 5, you'll be dragged into staying and never get out at a decent time! Then the most exciting part of my day happened...I know no one will be able to understand or appreciate this but that's okay. I left the office at 5...i stopped and got gas and still got home at 6!!!!!! Getting home in an hour is AMAZING timing!!! Trust me!!!