Building Community Amidst Crisis

Kristy Rodriguez

Social Worker, Flagship Campus The Bowery Mission

Challenges Faced: One of the major challenges has been staffing shortages. But even through that, teams are supporting one another and working really hard to make sure we fill in gaps wherever they need to be filled. And we're coming together like a Bowery Mission family to make sure that we are serving our guests the best way we can.

What Keeps You Going: I think one is my faith in God. If he has chosen me for this role, he is going to make sure that my needs are met. It's definitely not easy all the time. There are moments when you do feel mentally and emotionally exhausted. But I was just with a client for a couple hours, hearing him talk about his stories and challenges, and I was reminded that he probably hasn’t had many people sit and listen to him. And while he was talking, a lot of the time I was praying: “God, I need you to give me the strength to get through this. Help me continue to listen and make sure he feels cared for as he walks out of this place.”

Examples of Resilience: Resilience is not something new among our clients. They have always been resilient. This city presents a lot of challenges on a regular day, and even more so right now, but they have proved time and time again that they're resilient. They're able to find many resources on their own because they are so willing to go out there and ask questions and find what they need for themselves.

Moments of Hope: In the midst of a crisis, we have seen so much creativity from our staff. They’ve created educational videos and launched tutoring over Zoom. We’re finding ways to stay connected even when we can't be with people physically. Just because we have to be socially distant doesn't mean that connection has to be broken. Even with our staff, we haven't necessarily been able to be together in the same way, but we're still choosing to have lunch together, sitting six feet across so we can still talk and build connection and community.

On Self-Care: I think even more so now, our responsibility is to make sure we continue to provide radical hospitality. But if I'm not in a place to do that, then I need to do some inner searching, making sure my cup is being filled up so I’m giving from the overflow and not from a place of need. So I think radical hospitality not only requires knowing what to say and how to say it, but making sure we're filling ourselves up. It’s giving ourselves time for self-care so we can care for others well.