Insight from OFP Interns: Holly Kaiser, Metro State University BSW Intern

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What was your experience as an OFP intern?

My time spent interning with Our Front Porch has been filled with laughter, heartbreak, resiliency, and learning.  When I started in late August 2020, I jumped right into the reality of the impact home fires have on survivors and the community.  COVID-19 may have shut down the world, but human suffering had not stopped.  From the first day of my internship, I was full speed ahead with helping people who had been displaced due to a home fire.  I gained the greatest insight into the state of the housing market and how difficult it is to get people into affordable housing in the Denver metro area.  The greatest joy I experienced came when clients proclaimed that just knowing that someone was in their corner while going through a horrendous experience was uplifting to them.  Working with Heather and Maggie has been a wonderful experience.  Their love, passion, and dedication to Our Front Porch is obvious with each interaction I have with them.  Maggie has provided me with a wealth of social work knowledge while working through difficult cases.  I am happy that I chose to intern with OFP and was able to be a part of such a wonderful agency built by two unique women.

 

Insight from OFP Interns: Madeleine Veith, University of Denver MSW Intern

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What have you learned during your time at Our Front Porch?

The most profound sentence I have heard from a handful of clients these last seven months still resonates so deeply: “Thank you for not giving up on me.” I am learning from my clients how difficult it is to navigate after a home fire. They share about unwavering stress, profound grief, and a new need to rely on the people around them… something so difficult and humbling especially for my most independent clients. As people navigate finding new housing, recovering items/documents, and renegotiating boundaries with loved ones, it can seem like nothing is going well for them. I work with these clients in case management and therapy, and I am amazed. They navigate such profound difficulty with tremendous resilience, and they often experience a newfound softening towards leaning on others. That is where that sentence—thank you for not giving up on me—comes in. I am always caught off guard, in part because I can forget how exposed they feel in losing the four walls they could safely live behind. Yet, in calling our clients each week, listening to their stories, and empathizing with them throughout the highs and lows of rebuilding their lives, I see their resilience and courage to keep going. I cannot help but feel honored to enter into their stories and offer support in the small ways I can… but more than anything it has shown me the importance of offering support to my loved ones and receiving support as well. We are all so much stronger when we can lean on each other.

Insights from OFP Interns: Ashleigh Cherry, Walden University MSW Intern

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What is it like working with home fire survivors?

I have come with no background in trauma recovery, so coming into Our Front Porch has been a great experience to see what ways support can be given to those in my community. This experience has been eye-opening and has shown that this is an area where many need support. Losing one’s home to a fire is more common than I had thought and many people never think it will happen to them. This is a problem that should have more public light than it does. Everyone has their own experience, but many barriers that come up are finding personal identification lost in the fire, receiving clothes or food, finding somewhere to stay, or financial support. Working with someone who has experience locating these resources can save time and relieve some of the anxiety people feel.

Trauma affects us all differently and I have learned that while working one on one with each individual. A lot of the time people just need someone to support them and aid in their progress, and talking it out helps move forward. It is often said that we need to meet people where they are at and this is very true and is something I have learned in general about this work. We can lay out steps and ways to get back on track but something simple to someone like helping hang up pictures or go through boxes of items saved from a fire is what someone really needs.

Interview with Susan Mertz, OFP 2020 Intern

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Susan Mertz, DU International Disaster Psychology Intern

What was the most beneficial experience for you at OFP?

I think my most beneficial experience has been working with Maggie and Heather. A lot of times, people see problems and do nothing about them. The fact that OFP started in order to address a gap in services is amazing and a great learning experience. It’s actually really inspiring!

What surprised you about the recovery of home fire survivors?

What surprised me most was how few resources there really are for people recovering from house fires. Initially, I thought the Red Cross did a lot more to help out, but their assistance only last so long.

What are your next steps after graduation?

Hopefully, a job in Program Evaluation! I want to help design and monitor international programs that focus on mental health initiatives.

What was it like working at OFP?

I really enjoyed it! I like how welcoming everyone was and even though I was only there for a short time, I felt incredibly supported by everyone.

How has OFP helped you grow as a clinician? 

It has definitely exposed me to new populations. I had a lot of training and classroom knowledge about people surviving disasters, but I had never directly worked with the populations. Also, any experience interacting with and helping others is something that helps you grow as a clinician. Having a wide range of diverse clients really helps expand your knowledge as a clinician.

What was your biggest take away from this internship?

I think my biggest takeaway has been the importance of social work. Don’t get me wrong, I always thought it was important, but people in the field of psychology have a tendency to look down a bit on it. Why? Probably because they are jealous 😉  After working with amazing social workers, I can see that the skills social work brings to a situation are so incredibly important. I also got to learn a few of those skills, which will be great for my clients and own personal development for years to come!

What did you learn most from the clients at OFP?

From the clients at OFP, I learned a lot about resilience. Most of them suffered one of the worst things of their entire lives, and yet they still keep on keeping on. I think a lot of people could completely shutdown after a traumatic experience, and yet the OFP clients continually strive to better their lives and work towards recovery.

Interview with Nicole Dryanski, OFP 2019 – 2021 Intern

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What was the most beneficial experience for you at OFP?

Nicole Dryanski, DU Masters of Social Work Intern

The most beneficial experience for me was having this field placement becoming an opportunity with so many roles and duties I took on as an intern. The experience itself helped me grow, especially being able to work with this particular population of home fire survivors and wanting to become more evolved in this work. Thus, I would like to thank Sheila Babyak for telling Maggie to call me back for an interview.

What surprised you about the recovery of home fire survivors? 

Even though everyone might be different, every survivor shares the same struggles and barriers to overcome.

What are your next steps after graduation?

To move to the city of Chicago and officially be a working member of society.

What was it like working at OFP? 

Through all of the madness, it was such a perfect joy. I loved working with Maggie and Heather; I was more excited for my internship days than school.

How has OFP helped you grow as a clinician? 

I don’t think I could thank OFP enough for how much they have helped me grow as a person, leader, and social worker. During my time at OFP, I was everything from a maintenance worker to a case manager. Overall, I was very fortunate that OFP allowed me to work on interpersonal, case management, leadership, and non-profit management skills.

What was your biggest take away from this internship? 

That this population is so overwhelmingly underserved and overlooked, and unfortunately, I don’t think people understand the impact a disaster can have on a family or individual, and the lack of services being provided to them.

What did you learn most from the clients at OFP?

That we all are pretty simple people, and we all want the same thing: shelter, connection, and security in our lives.

Favorite quote

“If Heather and I ever had a baby, it would be you!” – Maggie

Beyond the Lights and Sirens – An Emergency Manager’s Perspective

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Guest Blogger: Dr. Enessa Janes, Community Resilience Coordinator

When people hear the words “disaster” or “emergency management,” they typically think about first responders (police, EMTs, or firefighters) or the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Although these groups are crucial to response efforts, when it comes time for families and communities to begin recovery, it takes a diverse group of partners and expertise to be successful.

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How to Effectively Get Out From Under Credit Card Debt

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Credit card debt is unfortunately a likely outcome for people who are affected by disasters as the recovery process is long, expensive, and can put a significant financial strain on a family. Our friends at LendEDU put together this great resource on real solutions for getting out of credit card debt… it is possible!

Credit card debt is a means to an end for millions of consumers each year. The ability to quickly pay for an unexpected expense, such as a car repair or a medical bill, is one of the biggest benefits of having available credit. However, without a plan to pay off credit card balances, many people find themselves drowning in high-interest credit card debt.

Over the last year, the total amount of consumer debt hit a peak. As interest accrues on revolving debt balances each month, it can seem like there is no end in sight to paying off what is owed. This is especially true when interest rates are over 20% on some credit card accounts, and only the minimum monthly payment is being made.

Fortunately, there are ways to dig yourself out of credit card debt and get back on track with your financial life through one or more of the following strategic methods.

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How to Get the Most Out of Renters Insurance

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In the last blog, I discussed the nuts and bolts of renters insurance and how affordable it is… so there’s no excuse not to have it! And while renters insurance can be very helpful, if you don’t know how to use it, it can end up being a tremendous headache.

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Average Cost of Renters Insurance

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Guest Blogger: Jeff Gitlen, LendEDU

Renters insurance is highly underrated and often overlooked. So when we came across this blog Jeff Gitlen wrote, originally published on the LendEDU blog, we just had to share his straightforward explanation and research on just how little a policy actually costs (HINT: it’s about the cost of a pizza!). When disaster strikes, having a renters insurance policy in hand can be helpful – read on for more!

 

At a Glance:

The average cost of renters insurance across the United States can change depending on where you live and how much coverage you need. Given the low cost – on average about $16 per month – and high value, a renters insurance policy can be a wise investment for renters.

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