Are you Helping?

Ever feel like you’re not really helping? I know I have, and I know my partner has, too. Julia (the aforementioned partner) works with homeless teen parents (it’s just not challenging enough for her to work with homeless teens -- she has to be an overachiever and work with homeless teens who have kids). About a month ago, she had a major crisis of confidence. Was she doing enough to help? Was she doing anything at all? Sure, she believed in them, and was lending her support and encouragement, but was she helping?

As if on cue, during the past month she’s been getting her answer. One of her clients quietly slipped her a card at the end of one of their sessions. It was a simple ‘thank you’ that almost demonstrated clairvoyance. “You may not realize how much you have helped me”, the card read, “but remember that to me you are a guiding angel”. And that was only the beginning. A few short weeks later, she was visiting with one of her former clients who went out of her way to express how much Julia had helped. “You always believed in me”, she told her, “and that helped me more than I can say”.

This is not intended to brag about Julia (though I have no hesitation in doing so), but rather it is intended as a reminder to us all. Trust in yourself and trust in the young people you work with. If that’s all that you do, you’re probably doing well.