Faith Olson does not get to relax once it’s 4:30 p.m. and she leaves her full-time position as Job Opportunities coordinator at St. Vincent de Paul’s Ministry to the Homeless program. In fact, for her, the day is far from over.
As a student at Estrella Mountain Community College, Faith attends night school three times a week. After completing her Associate’s degree, Faith plans on transferring to Arizona State University and eventually getting a Master’s degree in criminal justice.
Since September, Faith has been at SVdP helping our guests secure employment. As a Notre Dame AmeriCorps intern, she has to complete 1,700 hours of work by the end of July.
“When I found out there was a job opening through AmeriCorps to work one-on-one in assisting the population who are in great need, I truly wanted to become a part of it,” she said. “Luckily, (Ministry to the Homeless Coordinator) Janie Perdue decided I was a good fit, so here I am.”
This isn’t the first time Faith has worked with the homeless, as she had experience through her church.
Twice a week, Faith goes through an orientation with the people who sign up for the job program to explain what the goals are: to help them with resume creation, prepare for interviews and, of course, to get employment. To that end, Faith also attends networking events to find potential job opportunities for guests and she tours some shelters in the Valley to meet the people who might benefit from the program.
Working and going to school full-time can be difficult, she said.
“It’s during mid-terms and finals that it’s most complicated because you want to study, but you also want to be here for your clients,” she said. “But I think I have found the right balance.”
She has. Faith started as a part-time student and has continued to add classes to her schedule once she felt comfortable with it, until she was enrolled full-time.
For the Job Opportunities program, Faith works with up to eight people a day. For them, there are four computers available to polish their resumes and apply to jobs online.
“The main point of the program is for guests to get that one-on-one support,” she said. “They get that personalized help. This is not just a cookie-cutter program where one size fits all. Each person gets attention based on their needs.”
Some of the guests’ needs include first passing the GED test. For them, Faith and Peter, the GED tutor, develop a personal strategy and offer resources such as online courses and prep books.
“The focus is, what can we do to help you pass this test?” she said. “We don’t want to focus on what they already know.”
Olivia is one of the guests who decided to work toward taking the GED test before looking for a job. When she first came to St. Vincent de Paul, Faith said, Olivia felt like she would never pass the test. Now, a few months later, she has passed the English and science portions of the test and is preparing for social studies and math.
The success she has had in this position wouldn’t have been possible without the knowledge she gets from school, Faith said.
At school, she learns about working with people from different backgrounds, especially those who were incarcerated. At St. Vincent de Paul, she applies that knowledge.
“It’s really opened my mind on how to interact and how to better help each person,” she said. “Without the schooling I’ve been getting, I don’t know how well I would be performing here.”
With a 100 percent success rate (as long as guests commit to the program), Faith said she has learned many lessons from her work at SVdP. The biggest is perhaps a different perspective.
“They are not ‘the homeless,’” she said. “They are Robert or Mario… They each have a story and they are human. A lot of people don’t see them. They ignore them. What I have learned is to recognize their humanity.”
