the little things do count

Enjoy another great post from Krystle, one of our social workers...

I have learned that one of the most important aspects of a successful relationship with a client is building rapport. Finding commonalities has been a lot easier than I thought it would be with the clients I serve. I am very different from the majority of my clients; I am a different race, age, gender and socioeconomic status than the bulk of my clients. The majority of clients we serve are African American (Approximately 60%), followed by Caucasian (29%). Around two-thirds of our clients are male, and 77% of our clientele fall between the ages of 23 and 54. I am in my early twenties, so many of my clients are almost double my age. I have book smarts, they have street smarts.

Despite our differences, I can usually find at least one similarity with my clients. I have been working with one person on and off since I’ve started at The Salvation Army in May 2008. He works at the Metrodome and is a baseball fan, just like me. I joke around with him quite often about switching jobs with me because he has friendships with some of the baseball players, and I always tell him to say hello to Denard Span for me. Now that the baseball season is winding down, he has intensified his job search, because his position ends when the Twins’ season does.

I’ve started emailing him job leads weekly and meeting with him more often to email resumes to potential employers. I met with him yesterday and gave him several job leads. He came into my office today and said that as soon as he left my office, he received a call from a company that was hiring, and they set up a time to meet with him to fill out the paperwork required to hire him! He said that I was a big help to him, and he is excited to find out what type of work he will be doing.

It feels good to work hard with a client to find them a job that they will like instead of something that they take because they are desperate. In this case, I feel that my rapport with the client helped him to become more comfortable with me and tell me about his past work history, and life experience. He did mention that it took him quite a while to ask for help with job search and other services such as food or clothing.

Clients also teach us many things. I have learned a lot about the warehouse industry and how items are created. The client that this blog is about is from New York, and I’m planning a trip to New York City in the fall. I asked him about sight-seeing tips, and he gave me some great tips (go to Niagara Falls!). There are always commonalities among each person, whether it is the love of baseball or special memories, nearly everyone is able to connect on some level. This is the part of my job that I like best…learning who I serve, and where they come from.