Safety Nets and Choices - Two Lessons of the Fall

I attended a New Attorneys Orientation training held at the DC Bar in the fall - the training focused on learning about the District of Columbia government and court system, as well as giving new attorneys insights into the clients they will be working with. While I am not an attorney, the training was both enlightening and practical for my work at Bread for the City.

Patty Mullahy Fugere, executive director of Washington Legal Clinic for the Homless, gave a presentation on Safety Nets. By asking us a series of questions about our personal lives, she invited us to reflect on what our own safety nets look like. Then, we did the same exercise with a hypothetical client of the Legal Clinic. While our net was full and would catch us should we fall, the hypothetical client's net had such wide gaps in it that she would probably fall through in a situation of trouble. Reflecting on both the given aspects of our lives, as well as the choices we have some control over, it is clear that we are often more blessed than that hypothetical client.

Later in the training, Rebecca Lindhurst, one of our Landlord/Tenant attorneys at Bread for the City, spoke about insights she has learned through her own client relationships. Standing clear in my mind is her message about judging clients: Sometimes, we tend to judge the decisions our clients make without thinking about their safety nets - often they are coming from a poorly built safety net, and their choices make sense given their prediciments. Yet - we must let our clients make their own choices. I as a middle class college graduate am able to make the choices to move to DC, the choices to have the friends I like, the choices to work where I'd like, and the choice to make a mistake. If we are to really see our clients as on the same page as us, we need to let our clients make their own mistakes, and be there as part of their safety net instead of another member of society to judge them.

This incident makes me think of the article, Staying for Tea*, one that was a staple of my college service experiences. Staying for Tea discusses what it means to accompany others, to walk with them and be present in their lives. Author Aaron Ausland describes this process as becoming "mutually indebted" - recognizing that when we serve others, we are interdepedent. We both grow because of the service, and this growth ties us together.

Reading this article and reflecting on it through college helped me grow into a more mature servant. However, I believe my time at the Bread for the City has helped me deepen my understanding of what it means to stay for tea, especially in terms of safety nets and client choices. My clients have made choices I wouldn't make but also have safety nets with holes larger than I can imagine. Rebecca's comment has stuck with me and helped me understand my clients, especially as I understand their past and who they are as individuals. While I think that I might make different choices if given the opportunity, I know that I must allow my clients to make their own choices, and accept the choices they make.

Coming from a middle class background with a thick full safety net, I think this is something I'll continue to reflect on this year. Hopefully this reflection and action will help me better accompany my clients, housemates, co-workers, family, and friends this year...