HC: When did you graduate from Kent State University? What did you study?
Becky Barnes: I graduated from KSU in December of 2015. I studied Public Health with a concentration in Promotion and Education and a minor in Health Communication.
HC: How do you think your Kent State education benefitted you in your career?
BB: Kent State showed me what my lifes passion is. I didn’t know what I wanted coming out of high school. The only thing that I was sure of was that I wanted to help people. KSU helped me discover that my deepest passion is to relieve the world of social injustices that affect minorities and other marginalized populations. Public health was the perfect fit for that and I never knew it existed until I came to Kent as an Exploratory major. Now, I get to use those skills and knowledge and actually apply them to situations involving those who have been failed by “the system.”
HC: Where do you work? What is your job title? How did you hear about this position?
BB: Because I’m sharing some of my political affiliations here, I can’t disclose the name of my organization. However, I can say that I work as the Consumer Liaison at a social service organization in Pittsburgh. We focus on housing and homeless relief. I heard about this position through the AmeriCorps program that I did in Pittsburgh in the summer of 2015. I gained a huge network through AmeriCorps, and I connected with one of the higher-ups of my organization who was also an AmeriCorps alum. I interviewed for a couple of different positions until I was hired as the Consumer Liaison.
HC: You primarily work with homeless people. What is that like?
BB: I can describe my job in one word: humbling. You’ll never understand the value of your privileges until you meet people who have never had them. People facing homelessness have been branded with a stigma that is so difficult to undo that many believe them to be lazy, poor decision makers, addicts, “crazy,” and the list goes on. How would you feel to have the entire world believe a rumor about you that wasn’t true? That’s how I imagine the stigma feels. So many of those I serve are just like you and me in countless ways; some have degrees and advanced degrees, some have worked the majority of their lives but have fallen on hard times, some have been abandoned by their families, and some have a mental health or addiction diagnosis. It’s extremely eye-opening to hear these stories; it gives human faces to issues that, in general, society knows little about.
HC: What is the most difficult part of your job?
BB: I’ll start with the worst part of my job, the part that I struggle with the most: Addiction. I’ve seen people’s stability destroyed by addiction; they were too hooked on whichever substance and it just snowballed until the addiction owned them. On the other hand, I’ve seen people who have been in an environment so full of substance use that they can’t see another choice but to use as well. When your only support is from users, you become a user. I can’t stand comments like, “If he really wanted to, he would stop,” or, “Why would she keep hanging around him when all he does is shoot up?” Those comments don’t begin to take on the complexity of addiction. The bottom line is that preventing and overcoming addiction is about an individual’s support, coping skills, and access to resources. It’s this defensiveness I feel for the people I serve that makes me hurt the most.
HC: What is the best part of your job?
BB: By far, the most lovely and rewarding part of my job is seeing the progress, even in the seemingly small victories. A lot of the time, all a person needs are little steps toward stability in order to make huge gains for the rest of their lives. I’ve seen people come into the shelter program and leave with their own apartments. I’ve seen people finally have the opportunity to seek psychiatric help after hearing unexplained voices for the majority of their lives. I love to be a part of this transformation and to be one of the “good guys” in a social system that has failed so many. In the same capacity that I feel defensive for the people I serve when they are disparaged, I feel just as proud of them when they succeed.
HC: You are writing a blog that focuses on what you have learned at your job. Tell us more about it.
BB: My blog is called “Watch With Glittering Eyes.” The title is based on a quote in one of Roald Dahl’s stories, called The Minpins. I explain the title more in the first blog post. I wanted to write the blog for two reasons. One reason was simply to do my own research. I’m not currently working on an advanced degree but I actually miss researching a topic and having somewhere to put that information. The larger reason for the blog is to advocate for the people I serve and to educate on the misconceptions of the population I work with. Especially in the current (terrifying) political climate, I worry that the people I serve will face even more discrimination and neglect than they already do. Several of our housing programs are funded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (also known as “HUD”), and given the inexperienced leaders that have been elected and appointed, I foresee any progress that we’ve made derailing sooner rather than later. The plan is to choose a different topic every week and to circulate the posts to as many outlets as possible. I hope to send it on to my contacts at the College of Public Health at KSU as well.
HC: Do you have any stories you want to tell about any of the clients?
BB: I’m going to be very vague here but there is one man in particular who I am constantly in awe of. He’s an immigrant to the US, originally from a country that was run by a cruel, fascist leader decades ago. My organization heard his story from a third party and we learned that he was extremely respected in his native community; so much that he was the target of much violence and psychological torture. He escaped the regime and was brought here to Pittsburgh. However, his family went to another city in the US far away from him because he was convinced that they would be harmed by the regime just by being with him. To this day, he still has moments of PTSD during which he believes the regime is after him. Before coming to my organization, he spent time on the street, in jail, in the psychiatric hospital, all while his mental health severely deteriorated. When he came to my organization, he became trusting of us and was convinced that the man sent him here to get help. Other people don’t understand him because he dresses in a peculiar way, he can’t communicate well, and the customs he practices are different than ours. Despite the occasional stares, I’ve witnessed him being so kind and generous to people who do nothing for him. He’s the first to give people food, money, and cigarettes simply because he believes it’s the right thing to do and he expects nothing in return. He inspires me daily for being kind when so much evil has been done to him. I hope I show others half the genuine goodness that he does.
You can read Becky’s blog, “Watch with Glittering Eyes” soon!