Michelle Lozano Dr. Green UNIV 291 15 Oct.

2012

Reflection C It is difficult to know exactly what one is getting into when it comes to doing service in a new community. This is especially difficult when the issues of the community are different than what is expected. In the case of Little Village, it was assumed that the problems the community members would be going to Taller de Jose for would be related to immigration and poverty. This assumption was not from ignorance, rather a misunderstanding of the demographic and needs of the community. These assumptions were made based on the amount of Latino population present in Little Village. Of this population, most are immigrants. When serving a community of immigrants, it may be common to witness issues of immigration, legal issues and language barriers. While this is not completely wrong, the issues that I found since starting service at Taller were unexpected and surprising. When inputting data of surveys, I read the cases of clients that came in for consultations. This was requested of me in order to further understand what Taller de Jose offers its clients and what is actually being daily. While inputting this data and reading the stories of these people, the issue of domestic violence was prevalent and recurring. According to this data, the victims of domestic violence were women who were coming in to seek resources from Taller de Jose, and also in need of Emotional/Conversational Services, as was listed as a category in the services provided. Based on this information, my thinking changed dramatically in

regards to what this community needs. My first thoughts were those of surprise because domestic abuse is widely unreported, especially in cases involving immigrants. This is so because of fear for deportation from the abuser. Secondly, I felt as though people coming to Taller for this issue was unexpected because of the other issues that may be present in their lives. This thought was proven incorrect. While other issues may indeed be very real to these people, they go to Taller in search of assistance for domestic violence because they feel like it is the only place they can turn. If it werent for actually working with the case files, I may have gone through the rest of service work without the knowledge that members of the community suffer frequently from domestic abuse from their partners. Moreover, I wouldnt have known that Taller de Jose is so well respected that vulnerable strangers instill their trust in seek of assistance. Not only has this caused me to think differently of the organization and the community, it has also shifted my consciousness to the reality of the struggles that people endure in general, and how desperate they are to seek help. Before seeing this data, I believed that people only turn to help when it is convenient and when resources reach out to them. After my experience at Taller de Jose, Ive realized that this simply is not true. The people of Little Village, and even in a broader spectrum, turn to help when they have no where else to go, no one else to talk to, and little to no strength left to fight their own battles. This isnt a sign of weakness, this is a different kind of strength that allows these people to push their pride aside and acknowledge that there are people that sincerely want to help. By doing so, relationships between the community members and Taller de Jose are formed. This realization came from two experiences: the inputting and reading of data, and speaking to my first client of Taller de Jose. The first time I went to participate in service at Taller, I was placed as the desk receptionist because the organization is short of staff. In this position, I

was mentally prepared to communicate with new clients that are in very vulnerable states. The reason I knew this was beyond research and speaking to Lisa about how new clients feel; it was because Ive witnessed this my whole life with my mom. I am so drawn to the service Taller de Jose provides because my mom has been in life situations where she had no where to turn and felt helpless. I know that when resources like Taller exist and a person discovers them for the first time, their feelings are of skepticism, vulnerability, and hope all tied in one. These were the exact expressions of feelings I felt from the first and only woman I interacted with that first day. This woman came in with her son, a likely scene from my past experiences with the son position being filled by me. It could have very well been that the woman was too afraid to go by herself, so she brought her son for moral support. My job was simple, explain the pre-consultation survey to the client question by question and wait until after she met with the companera to present the post-survey. At first, I explained the survey and gave her the spanish version to complete at her seat. When I identified the very familiar confused expression on her face, I called her back over to the desk so we could complete it together via my translation. It was then that I truly understood the level of her worry and helplessness. When I asked questions such as whether she knew where to go in search of help for her problems, her answer was filled with emotion and were always no. That day with the lost woman was very important to my understanding of how important Taller de Jose is to the lives of community. It is easy to believe that an organization that has good intentions with a community of need would be accessed by vulnerable populations, but witnessing it first hand allowed me to see that our work is powerful. At the beginning of the semester, I thought I has a solid understanding of what I was getting into, but after being active in service, I

realized that it is much more than what is written on paper. It is acknowledging the struggles of others and reaching out to help them live with ease and tranquility.