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Overloaded with Cases
By Joel | June 30, 2011
In the middle of June, I was “promoted” as a Program Manager for a homeless prevention and assistance program that we have at Catholic Charities. As a JV of simple joys, I was excited and thankful to have been entrusted with the program. The title change, though the lone incentive of this promotion, is nonetheless an honor and acknowledgment of my efforts in the past year. I love it and I really like helping people avert homelessness. The problem, however, is that ever since I have taken the lead in the program, I have also been overloaded with cases. In short, it’s been crazy.
One of our intake specialists told me one time that on average we receive almost 100 calls per day. We screen the calls and decide which ones to take and ones that we can refer to other agencies. Due to strict program requirements, we are only able to qualify a quarter of the calls. That may not be much, but for one person to meet with all the clients and know the nuances in each story, that adds up.
At the end of the day, I look back to my activities and realize how busy I have been. I ask myself, “What keeps my battery charged in all this?” And the answer that comes to mind is the knowledge that I’m doing God’s work and am able to keep my clients from being a homeless statistic. I wish I could do more, but I’m limited. And I’m okay with that.
Lately, I’ve been coming home exhausted, thinking to myself that I’m completely drained of energy. By God’s grace and the efforts of my clients to better their situation, I’m encouraged and motivated to keep doing what I’m doing at the volume I’m doing it at. I may be overloaded with cases but at least I’m filled with the joy, peace, and grace that comes with the mission. So though my promotion didn’t come with monetary increase in compensation, it’s okay since I’ve been rewarded in other ways.
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