A New Perspective

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

People talk about “ivory tower academics.” You know the type – they sit in their office all day pondering great existential questions and never come out and interact with the real world. I’m discovering that it’s easy to become an ivory tower non-profit worker too. EECM is housed at a variety of locations. Our admin offices are housed in one church. Our homeless shelter and soup kitchen are in another. Our Children & Youth staff have work space in a third and our Drop-In Center is at yet another location. You get the picture. Most of the time, my job doesn’t require that I leave my office all that much, so I don’t have very much contact with the work we are actually doing. But every now and again, a situation arises that takes me over to one of our program offices and I am always so grateful for the experience.

It is rejuvenating to spend some time working directly with the clients that we serve. And it forces an often-needed change in perspective. Yesterday I was interviewing Food Pantry clients who were signing up to take part in our Christmas Gift Program. After being there for a few minutes, I realized that my attitude toward these people had been unfairly colored by the phone calls we sometimes get at the office – angry complaints from people who got left off the list or exasperating individuals who try to reschedule for inconvenient times. When this is the extent of your contact with the program, it’s easy to get frustrated.

But when you leave the ivory tower and enter the Food Pantry, your perspective changes. The people this program serves are poor. They worry about food. They worry about rent. They worry that on Christmas morning they will have to look at their children, shake their heads, and say “I’m sorry, there’s nothing for you.” And they are so very grateful to be included in our Christmas program.

These encounters are, for me, both inspiring and humbling. It is wonderful to see that the work we do is making a tangible difference in someone’s life. But I find myself feeling guilty, too. How could I have been irritated with Donna for wanting to reschedule – she didn’t get paid until later in the week and couldn’t afford to put gas in the car until then. And Shawn missed his appointment yesterday because there was a death in the family – why did I immediately assume he just forgot or didn't care enough to show up? Lorraine had called about being left off the list and she was right – it was our mistake. And she wasn’t really angry about it, just frustrated by what she saw as still more evidence that “the system” never seems to be on her side.

I will try to make a point of interacting with our clients more in the future, even if only briefly. Because you can’t stay in the ivory tower all the time. Sometimes, you need to step outside and get a new perspective.