Humanity and Safety

    Today was something else, we started off short staffed due to people taking off and people needing to go to conferences and stuff. This would normally not be a big deal only having four staff, because we are low on numbers and our ladies have been getting along for the most part. However, things weren't meant to go perfectly today. I can't go into a lot of details, but around noon an argument took place and some things were said and I was forced to take action. By the end of my eight hour shift I had helped one of my residents pack  and move her out and then packed up another resident's stuff and kick her out of the shelter.

   I've had bad days at work, but today was the worse. I never saw so much fear and sorrow in a day. The part that was the hardest was to be someone's support when I didn't know what to do or say. I know that working here was gonna be hard and I have been there for many women and talked to them about many different choices and life changes, but I never though I would have to deal with something like this. I remember coming home and feeling so drained and tired. I am so thankful for my coworkers, because without their help I would have died or broke down so many times. I've seen people who are older than me make mistakes and seen other fall apart. Then again I've never had to be the adult in the situation or the one who needs to keep everything going when things are tough.
    I was gonna write about how I realized that sometimes we have to disregard some of our residents humanity and focus on other resident's safety, but I am unsure of how to explain it correctly. I learned that it made seem cruel and heartless to pack up a family's stuff while they are gone and tell them they must leave the minute they return. Then again when one of my residents are in danger I am willing to do anything to keep all of them safe. One of my coworkers did not like that we were being so cruel, but after thinking about it I had to disagree. It made seem inhumane and cruel, but we try to do what is best for all of our women. We would never throw someone out who didn't have somewhere to go. We also do not want there to even be a chance for any of our workers or residents to be harmed. It may seem cruel and unfair, but thanks to working at this shelter I learned a lot about how sometimes you have to be the bad guy. Of course I am only being the bad guy when needed and hope I don't have to be for a very long time.
    To cap it all today sucked, but overall it ended well with lots of love from some babies and having a relaxing night at home. I watched Megamind (and fell a sleep too, must be tired), watched Bride Wars, and ended with How I Met Your Mother.  This upcoming week I'll be at Workfest and working hard in a different way. Hopefully this break from the shelter will help me get emotionally pumped for another couple of months of shelter work. Please, keep my ladies and their children in your prayers over the next few days, things are kind of crazy right now.