Today is my 15th Anniversary for working at Covenant House. I remember the HR person telling me never to forget this date, 11/17/1997, because it means everything (?) Looking back, I think she meant it for HR purposes (when I could get coverage, what date to use to fill out future forms, etc) but for me it means much more.
I remember that first day, a Monday, with such clarity. I was about 90 minutes late, having an emergency doctor's appointment at 8:30 in the morning and hadn't been able to track down anyone at CH to inform them. I was wearing khakis, a dark salmon colored shirt, a cream colored cardigan, and tan leather flats I wish I still had. 2 black ladies at the desk told me to sit down and gave me the once over. I waited for the HR rep to come...Some kid came over, asked if I was new, and then declared, "I'm ___...I'm the worst one here". About 2 years later he ended up in prison to serve a 20 year sentence for a terrible crime, so perhaps he lived out a self-fulfilling prophecy. The HR rep finally came up and asked, "What happened!?" I told her about the doctor's appointment, that I'd tried to get hold of her or anyone over the weekend, and had left a message that I would be late (which she never got). What a way to begin...
I filled out forms, listened to rules and expectations, and then she passed me off to someone else who hadn't known I was starting. She sat me down in front of the mission statement, said she had some other things to do for a while, and stated, "Read this and memorize it--it's the only thing you really need to know", then left me alone in the office. I read the mission statement...I re-read the mission statement...I liked the line about "absolute respect and unconditional love". A while later I was passed off to 2 youth advisors who gave me the run down on other staff, the kids, and what to expect. It was a lot to take in.
I met some of the kids. 3 young moms with a total of 4 little ones among them, 2 of them pregnant again, many of the names I couldn't pronounce. Giant young men who used bad language. A hefty young lady who had a lazy eye and was prone to violent fits. A dark skinned kid who mumbled so I couldn't figure out what he was saying but the way he looked at me gave me a shiver. A girl whose neck was covered with rings of scars, from what I have no idea. A 17 year old who woke each morning to go to school and then worked all evening. A young man who was taking female hormones, wore eye liner, and didn't want to give me the time of day.
The Cov was a lot different back then. We had no clinic, no lawyer, my shift was 7am to 3pm, and we had a complete office just for intake. We would get groups of kids out of the Juvenile Justice Commission boot camp who addressed me as, "Ma'am, yes, Ma'am". Our chef used to made interesting things for the kids to try and not tell them what they were (I recall them gnashing out on "chicken wings" only to learn later they were frog legs). We had a weekly mass in the lounge were things slowed down for a bit and we all came together to pray, take communion, and regroup.
I was ready to quit in less than a month. I didn't write a lot about work in my journals during the first few months...I wrote more about my first few months as a wife. I actually secured myself an interview at Children's Seashore House a couple of months later but on the day of the interview we had a Nor'easter and the bridges were closed. I called to reschedule and they said, "Ms. Williams, your interview is TODAY and will not be rescheduled". I believe God sent that Nor'easter just for me...
So much was new and interesting and culture shock for me back then. The way the kids spoke, the differences in their morals and values, their music, their clothes, what was "normal" to them. I was only a few years older than they were but often I felt like they were the adults, many of them having to have grown up a lot faster than I. That first year was full of firsts...The first kid I met with mental health issues who wigged out in the library because he had to deliver newspapers in the rain and wanted us to buy him a rain suit but we could not...My first transsexual kid who I had the pleasure of intaking and got myself in a tizzy because I couldn't figure out if it was a male or a female...My first fight where I got trapped in the small space of our records room between 2 young men who were trying to destroy each other and all I could do was call for staff...My first prostitute who I brought to tears by singing "Silent Night" at our Christmas service while playing guitar...My first glimpse into the spectrum of mental health diagnosis I had only read about in college=schizophrenia, sexual addiction, depression, sociopathology, detachment disorder, conduct disorder, explosive disorder...My first introductions to serious addictions=heroin, crack, marijuana...
As I enter my 16th year, I'm grateful that I have indeed remembered that anniversary date. It's a measuring stick for me...I see how far I've come, how far Covenant House has come, and how the culture of kids has changed over the years. Out of all the jobs God could have directed me to, I'm thankful that he saw fit to place me within this community to seek and serve His kids...and I'm so so SO thankful that I have the opportunity to continue to keep that covenant.
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