heat

All across the land people are saying, "Brrr! It's so cold!" I see news reports of people without heat in their apartments. They turn on stoves and burners in the kitchen to stay warm even though they know the hazards. I think to myself, "that is so dangerous. I hope they do not have small children or pets in the house. I hope they do not burn their entire house/apartment complex down to the ground."

I stay inside as much as possible because we have insulation in our house now. It is warm. When I do go outside I wear Cuddl Duds and I bundle up in my ridiculously warm Marmot jacket (I'm a poser. I do not ski. I search for warmth, water proof, and wind proof and am willing to pay large amounts of money for my own comfort). I pull on my knit cap and my warm mittens and run to my car and wait for it to warm up. I drive to my internship and sit in my car and call the office from my cell phone to make sure someone is in the office. I do not want to get out of my warm car if nobody is in the office. When I establish that someone is in the office, I hurry from the car to the office building. It is cold but since pretty much just my nose is exposed, it's not too bad.

Now I sit in the warm office. It is actually a little too warm. I shouldn't have worn the Cuddl Duds. I'm annoyed because my supervisor sucks and is never here on time, and when she is here, she usually ignores me or gives me some inane task just so I'll have something to do. She completely misses the point that I am here to learn and am not her secretary. I think things like, "Why me? Why do I get such a shitty internship? I can't believe I had to go out in the cold for this."

Someone comes in my office and tells me I have a phone call. It is a woman I have been speaking to on the phone for about 2 weeks now. She is Nigerian and has been in the U.S. for almost 3 years. She came here to be with her husband. He beat the shit out of her on a regular basis so she and her two young children left him 8 months ago. They lived in a domestic violence shelter for a few months and then were placed in a transitional housing program. Things have gone very wrong for this family. Two weeks ago she was told that even though they told her the rent was $475 and included utilities, they were wrong and it is actually $625. Oh, and she has to make up the difference for the three months she has already lived there. She cannot afford $625 and does not have the money to pay what they say she owes. This is illegal. She did not sign a lease. They cannot raise her rent and evict her for not paying it. I try to address this with her but the illegality of the situation is not her concern. Her concern is finding a place for her family to live. I have been doing my best to try to figure out what this transitional housing program is and why they suck so badly. I have made phone calls on her behalf. I have talked to her on several occasions and we have begun to establish a relationship. I am hopeful that I can help this family even though this is not what my internship is supposed to be.

This morning I say, "Hello! How are you today?" and my heart drops when she says, "The landlord turned off my heat on Saturday. I have a small heater but it isn't enough. I am scared." I want to throw up. I will do all I can to help her but I am not familiar with the programs in this county. Nobody returns my phone calls. This is so illegal but she doesn't care about that. The legal system is slow and she needs to find a place to live now. My supervisor still isn't here.

I am warm. I hope you are warm. Lots of people are cold right now because apparently, poor people don't even deserve heat. Even though I am warm, I am not comfortable. I have so much. It isn't right that I have so much and people are shivering inside their homes, if they have homes. Ah the guilt of a social worker. I was going to tell you to go forth and help people. That just sounds cheesy and social work-y and like I just attended a war protest or something. So instead I will tell you that I hope you can stay warm through this cold spell.

Doing what I can to help this family will help me stay warm. And comfortable.