Lessons from the rejected

Lesson 2

Community.  This is something that we all desire in some form or the other.  I have been a part of some incredible communities over the last few years and through these communities I have realized that they are essential.  Last Friday I completed the 6th week of my internship.  As I interact with the homeless population of Duluth in the drop in center and at my house I have seen some beautiful communities.  For example, there is a couple that moved to Duluth and into the shelter the same week that I started my internship.  They knew no one.  That same week another single guy moved into the shelter after spending a number of isolated weeks living out of his truck.  Throughout the last six weeks I have watched these three people find a community, a support system, among one another and with others in the drop in center.  This community can be bad, pressuring people into bad decisions, but it can also good.  When healthy, community can be the support system that people need to make it out alive.  Similarly, this past week our house of hospitality grew from 4 people to 10 people.  These new guests have all experienced some pretty traumatic events prior to coming here.  Abuse, addictions, violence, and homelessness has brought this group of people together and their budding friendship could be a huge factor in helping them to get out of those situations.  It has been such a joy to see these communities forming and I am so thankful to be a part them!

I know full well the importance of community and I desire it in my life.  One thing that I am learning though is the amount of trust needed within communities.  It is so easy for me to close myself off to others, not allowing them to really know me.  Without this openness I am closing myself off to truly being in community with others.  Trust and community go hand and hand.  Time and time again I find myself in conversations with people who are homeless.  These conversations are far from surface level.  Maybe, this is why the communities that they form seem so much deeper than most of communities that I see.  This level of trust allows them to go so much deeper in their relationships.  As a social work student I also understand the importance of boundaries within the relationships between myself and the folks that I interact with at the drop in center.  Although, I am learning a lot from seeing these relationships form.  As I see community in this setting I feel more pressure to apply these lessons to my communities of support.  I am learning the importance of being open and trusting, especially among those who I love. 

I hope that no matter where we are we can find communities that care for us, energize us, teach us, and love us.  We need this more than we realize.  Where do you find community?  Are they supporting you?  Do you support them?  And most importantly, how much do you trust this community to truly know you, care for you, and love you?