Name, title, and program: Ella Dempsey-Blair, Case Manager for Preble Street Health Services at the MaineHealth-Preble Street Learning Collaborative. I’ve worked here for over a year and a half.

 

What do you like best about your role? Working at the Learning Collaborative has allowed me to build relationships with a large portion of our unhoused community. As part of my role, I help run the Outreach Room, where clients can come daily to access harm reduction supplies, toiletries, socks, and other basic needs items, as well as access light-touch case management that supports people in enrolling in benefits, ordering vital records, making phone calls, and accessing mail.

 

The Outreach Room is the space where I first realized that the best part of my job is the clients: getting to advocate and collaborate with/for them are the best parts of my day. I learn something every single day and look forward to getting to our neighborhood each day, where I am always greeted with good mornings. With this job, there can be very hard and sad days, but through it all, my clients give me hope and teach me to approach things with curiosity. My clients and this community mean more to me than they will ever know, and they have taught me so much about myself.

 

What is a favorite memory you have at your current program? It’s hard to pick a favorite memory, as there is a lot of joy in the work that we do, but my favorite thing is seeing my clients and the people we work with experience a moment of relief and joy in their day. This was highlighted the most when Health Services hosted the Bayside Health Fair over the summer. We collaborated with other Preble programs and community partners and took over the parking lot of 55 Portland Street (our administrative office), where we tabled with various resources providing education to our community. We also made sure there were opportunities for fun. We had volunteers providing haircuts and manicures, a tie-dye station, music, and a massive cookout. It was an amazing day for providers to collaborate with each other, but we all agreed the best part was seeing our clients experience true joy and dignity. They got to hang out all day with their community and didn’t have to worry about being told to move along or being stepped over. They were treated the way they should always be treated: as a human being deserving of love and positive regard, and an equal member of the greater community.