February 11, 2009 San Francisco, CA
On a drizzly spring day, 15 of the Latin America and Caribbean Sales and Alliance team put down their headsets, and ventured out 12 blocks due south from HQ to the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium to the Project Homeless Connect. Though the rain might have dampened some spirits, ours remained untouched. As we walked in, through a stream of volunteers leaving after their morning shift, we immediately were put to work.
We were amazed to find a popular concert location transformed into a series of make-shift booths and staging areas filled with people receiving medical care, state id cards, food and drink, but most importantly, receiving what that would usually not get: human interaction. With this in mind, the Latin America Team was organized into 3-4 groups. Some were asked to be chaperones, and helped take people to particular booths where they could get the attention they needed. Others were put in charge of handing out food and drink to people, helping to add a friendly smile during what is a trying time, and some, using our bilingual speech, were asked to help translate for those that did not speak English well. Some of us were even put in charge of talking with people that came in, not knowing where to go and what to ask for.
While helping out was important, the thing that was most enjoyable for all of us was the connections formed with people that we would not have met otherwise. The simple and human interaction that many times we take for granted. We met people both old and young, mothers who needed someone to play with their child as they went to get a check up, people who needed someone to push their wheelchair, the list goes on….and all of them met our smiles with smiles and gracious grins of their own. As we walked outside, sunshine leaking through the gray cloud cover, walking as a team back to HQ to continue our work, we all looked forward to doing it again. - George Hume, Alliance Manager
