More about Paige, Homeless Shelter Intern

Paige eats lunch at the shelter and eats the donated food that the homeless eat.   Since the shelter relies upon donations, the food varies from day to day:

day old pastries from a local cafe, homemade casseroles dropped off by a church group, chocolate covered strawberries leftover from the mayor’s ball, canned goods way past their expiration dates, and lots of mashed potatoes, enchiladas, and sandwiches of questionable hygiene.

Interns at the shelter work 40 hours a week, starting wage $6 an hour.  The interns also receive room, board, and health insurance.  Paige is not a member of a union.

Paige describes her boss as amazing, trusting, and accommodating, a boss that gives her responsibility and autonomy.  Paige also has high praise for her clients, the homeless, stating,
“the homeless are the most inspiring, loving, hilarious, and frankly amazing people I’ve ever met.  They are like my family and I’m so in love with them.”

Paige says that the hardest part of her job at the homeless shelter is that about 20 homeless people die each year and that the average life expectancy of a homeless person is around age 48..  Recently, one of Paige’s favorite clients, who was camping in a low lying area, drowned in a flash flood. 

In response to the question, are you a typical American worker, Paige responds:

I do feel that I’m a typical American worker in that I am working my butt off to earn money and make a living for myself.  And since I earn maybe $15,000 a year I join in solidarity with other low income wage earners! 

But I don’t feel like a typical American worker in that I really, really, really enjoy what I do and I have little to complain about.  I am fulfilled by what I do, challenged mentally and physically, still have lots to learn, and I have enough money to lead a simple but quality lifestyle!

Paige is a modern American worker who has worked in a variety of jobs and clearly finds satisfaction in her work. Her resume includes backstage hospitality for the performers at Wolf Trap; professional dog poop scooper for DoodyCalls; manning the overnight shift phone lines for a suicide and crisis hotline, environmental organizer for The Wilderness Society, and work at a holistic retreat center and at an oil change shop. 

Why does Paige seem so happy about work – her words sum it up:

I generally only engage in employment that I’d be willing to do for free.  This doesn’t mean that my jobs aren’t challenging and stressful at times, but really, life is too short to spend the majority of it doing something that is unfulfilling!... But I think that working with the homeless is my calling.  It just makes me feel so alive!!!