Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Field Notes: First Interview
After you conduct your first interview, I'd like you to reflect on your experience. In as much detail as you can remember, tell the rest of us what you observed on your first visit to The Gathering Place. Tell us about your first impression of the space, the people you met, how your interviews went, who else you talked to, and how you felt about your visit to The Gathering Place. Be as detailed and descriptive as you can, as you will use these notes later in the quarter for your participant-observer study.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
When I first walked in to The Gathering Place I was very impressed with the facilities they had. The space was very clean and also very bright and colorful. All over, it presented a very warm and welcoming feeling. There was a small group of people gathered around the front desk, presumably there to ask for help. I was admittedly a little surprised when a man walked in to the front door and stood in line at the front desk, I suppose I had assumed they would ask him to leave immediately however we left the room before I could see what he was there for or what happened to him.
ReplyDeleteThe dining area where we did the interviews was also very clean and bright. Women served themselves to a continental style breakfast. Some sat in groups and talked and laughed and others sat alone. There was one incident that we observed where as Charlie and I were interviewing a woman, two women began fighting. Although I don’t know exactly what happened, at a table of four women, one black woman shouted at a white woman, calling her a “racist bitch” and telling her to walk away from the table. The white woman stood up and began to leave but then continued to yell. Workers at TGP promptly escorted the white woman first, and later the black women out of the cafeteria.
As I interviewed people I felt the most important thing I noticed was that none of them were the same, or in other words none of them should really be stereotyped or marginalized in the same groups. Some women were really eager to talk and tell their stories, and some required a lot more coaxing and questioning in order to get answers. Not all of the women were homeless, some of the women just needed the resources TGP had to offer, such as the meals, to help make ends meet. Many took advantage of the money management classes so they could be more responsible with what they had. And all of them went to TGP to find a sense of community, and belonging. One women I talked to had even been housed, and went back to TGP mostly just to feel that sense of community.
I was very nervous about my initial interviews. I feel as though my problem was that I was too concerned with being an interviewer that I was not a good listener. As the women talked I was always preoccupied with thoughts of what question I would ask next, and I relied too heavily on the question sheet. I feel as though had I just listened, more questions would have appeared to me. This has become clear to me as I have been listening to recordings of the interviews. I have noticed a lot of places where I could have asked the women to elaborate, rather than asking a new question or reverting to the question sheet out of fear of an awkward silence.
I did not get much of a chance to talk to anyone else at TGP, however from the few staff who I was introduced to, they all seemed very friendly. Overall, aside from how nervous I was about the interviews, I felt quite comfortable and welcome at TGP. It was clear that the women were open about sharing their stories and feelings, and they all had wonderful things to say about TGP. All of them commented on the sense of community that is created when you know you are in a place where everyone has been where you are. That being said, I never felt like the women there were exclusive or confrontational to interviewers for being “outsiders” so to speak. They all seemed willing to let people see what that community was like, and I was happy to get a glimpse of it.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOur interview with Erin was actually held here on campus in one of the study rooms in Penrose library. Despite the fact that Claire and I were not going to The Gathering Place for the first time, I was still nervous. Claire and I met at the library a few minutes prior to the interview in order to get our thoughts organized and find the room. Finding the room was rather difficult—we walked around the upstairs of the library for about five minutes before we finally found the correct study room, which was conveniently hidden behind the teacher’s offices. To our dismay, a group of about six people was already in the room we had reserved, but they were understanding and kindly moved into the room further down the hall.
ReplyDeleteThe room had a beautiful view of the blooming spring trees on campus, which helped ease the tenseness in my shoulders. Claire and I chatted about the ever unpredictable Colorado weather that had brought the light drizzle of rain that day until Erin arrived. We all shook hands and exchanged greetings. I noticed Erin’s blushed, rosy cheeks that complemented her brilliant blue eyes hidden behind her fashionable, thick-rimmed glasses.
After we received Erin’s permission to tape our interview, I fiddled with the recorder and the interview began. Erin’s clear, articulate answers gave away the fact that she was a graduate student. At some points during the interview, I thought I saw Erin’s eyes start to glisten as we touched on the more emotional aspects of volunteering at a homeless shelter.
After Erin left the room and our interview was concluded, Claire and I tried to figure out how to turn the recorder off without pressing the feared “delete/stop” button. Once that was sorted out, we packed up our things and quietly exited the library.
The day of my scheduled interview time, it was horribly raining outside. Leslie drove that day. We parked about a block away and made our way through the puddle maze along the sidewalk. As we walked in through the doors I was startled by how modern and nice that the facility was; I am happy that women have such a beautiful place to relax but it is a lot nicer than some of Gateway Battered Women facilities. After attempting to dry myself off from the rain, Geoffrey came to the door and told me where to sign in so that the hours counted. Then we headed up the stairs to the second floor, which is where they serve meals. There we met Devon sipping on coffee. I sat down at the table with Leslie and Devon while waiting for lunch to commence in order to interview clients. After a few minutes of talking to a volunteer I was paired up with mothers to interview. The interview was very laid back and I did not have to ask many questions. In both of my interviews with clients I did not have to ask many questions. I had a long wonderful teary eyed conversation with a woman who was curious to know about me as much as I was curious about her. When the interviews ended, lunch ended as well. I sat back at the table with Devon, Leslie, Geoffrey and the volunteer, to listen in on an interview that Leslie was conducting. I remember feeling good about the interviews and feeling that I had a lot of information. It was nice to just sit around and have conversations with these women.
ReplyDeleteThe photo of The Gathering Place on its website was taken on a sunny day; I hardly recognized it in the rain. I pulled open the door at 7:15. A woman inside: "They open the doors at 7:30." We waited in the space between doors; I listened: a woman slept on the side of a building, another dried her sleeping bag at Smiley's, another was quiet. The doors opened.
ReplyDeleteTwo smiling women waited behind a brightly lit desk; I got in line, then took my "VISITOR" sign. I sipped coffee from a Styrofoam cup and talked with a woman who was going to become a Pastor's assistant; she lives in the pastor's house and wakes early to study the Bible. She left with a van going to the 9news Health Fair. I refilled my shaking Styrofoam cup and sat with Tracy. She ate cereal and we talked about Beyonce's Sweet Dream video. Professor Bateman and Priya arrived.
We interviewed her together. Tracy has attended The Gathering Place for 8 years and vividly answered our questions: she loves that the cooks use herbs grown in-house. The staff asks about her kids by name. She goes to church with the activity coordinator and really feels that The Gathering Place is a family—clients and staff make her "day a little brighter." I enjoyed interviewing Tracy; she calmed my anxieties.
On reflection, there are two classes of rain.
The day we visited The Gathering Place there was dew in the air. It wasn't raining at the time but damp with a fresh breeze streaming around the buildings at the corner of Colfax and High. The clouds were the same dark gray as the shiny metallic outside of the wall advertising The Gathering Place building. As we opened the door to The Gathering Place, it was as if we were walking into the video we had watched in class. Two or three women waited patiently at the front desk and we got in line behind them. The woman behind the front desk kindly told us to take a seat while we waited for Amy to finish up what she was doing. The room had a pleasant atmosphere, very modern and decorated in light green and other springtime colors. It was interesting to finally see the place I had heard so much about. Women were gathered in the waiting area, sitting, reading, or quietly talking amongst themselves. As we waited for Amy, James and I glanced at fliers advertising different classes and programs that the Gathering Place was currently offering. Amy came up to us after a few minutes, she had been handing out some kind of “prizes” at the back of the room to women who had earned them, I can't remember exactly what they were called.
ReplyDeleteWe made our way upstairs to the dining area where we conducted our interview. James and I sat catty corner to Amy on two couches in a corner of the room nearest the door. A few women were scattered about the tables, reading or sipping on warm drinks. Periodically someone would get up to leave, and others would enter either from the stairs or from some other rooms off to my right, but for the most part it was a quiet day.
Amy, a young woman with curly blonde hair and light blue eyes, was very friendly and easy to talk to, partly because she is close to our age. It was interesting to see what one could accomplish, or become a part of, right out of college. Amy is a full time volunteer for The Gathering Place as part of a year long Americore program and talking to her reaffirmed my desire to take part in the same or a similar program once I graduate. She was very genuine in describing both the good connections and the difficult situations she encountered while working for TGP. There were times where her eyes became a bit red and blotchy. She wasn't crying but I could feel the emotion behind her words and the genuine love she felt for this unique place. At one moment, Amy was explaining some of her relationships with the women at TGP and a middle aged Asian woman walked by us and waved hello to Amy with a warm smile on her face. Amy's charismatic character seemed to unfold at this moment where she described how this women had asked her earlier what this (making quotation signs with her fingers) meant. How do you explain that to someone?! And we laughed at the humanity of it all. Because that seemed to be just it, just human. A woman sat down on the couch next to Amy near the end of our interview. She just pleasantly chilled while we talked, not seeming particularly interested but just simply relaxing, like she was at home and had just as much right to be sitting there as anyone else, which of course she did. It struck me that this was beautiful in itself. There was no hierarchy or reason for any of the women to feel uncomfortable, and to me that says something.
James and I worked together to ask questions and we aimed to make it feel natural, like a conversation. In the interview I found myself a bit nervous, mostly because I can never seem to stop fidgeting and I became conscious of my facial expressions. Its hard to look at one person and stay in one position for such a long time, and sometimes I felt that I hadn't blinked in ages. It wasn't even that I was that nervous, but I think I just wanted to make a good impression, stay attentive, and show interest throughout the interview. Otherwise, I thought the interview went really well and I'm excited for our next one on Tuesday.
Melina and I interviewed Erin from TGP on a somewhat cloudy Saturday afternoon. Because Erin is a DU graduate student, we met on campus in Penrose Library to conduct the interview. I had no idea what to expect. We had only exchanged a few e-mails between us, so naturally I was a bit nervous for this interview. Melina and I met a few minutes before the scheduled interview time to discuss the important questions that we wanted to ask. We both agreed on a majority of them. Our main priority was to find out why Erin decided to work at TGP and what services she provided there. She finally arrived, and we began the interview with a brief talk about the weather. One we began the questions, the tension eased up and the conversation became easier. After a while, we were able to hear from Erin not just why she was at TGP, but also what her passions in life are and how she sets about doing them. By the end of the interview, she had revealed much about her love for children and TGP and how she wants to continue work there next year. We thanked her for taking time out of her busy graduate student schedule to be interviewed and we all left Penrose.
ReplyDeleteAs I drove in the rain to the Gathering Place, I glanced frantically around looking for the sign. When I finally arrived, I quickly ran inside the modern looking gray building. I was received warmly by some women who surprised me when they informed me there was another student waiting upstairs. When I saw Devon, my anxiety disappeared as we started talking Tracy, a women sitting at the other end of the table. The three of us talked like we were old friends. When Professor Bateman arrived, he told us we could interview Tracy first together. Her gratitude for the Gathering Place beamed through all of her answers. She had been coming to The Gathering Place for so long, and every single time it amazed her that the staff was able to identify her and her five children by name. In fact, she repeated this several times still in disbelief. As we moved on to other interviews, I absorbed the atmosphere provided by The Gathering Place. The walls were a natural green lined with plants and windows. Even in the midst of the horrible rainy weather that day, I almost felt as though I was in a nice garden or greenhouse. With the incredible friendliness Tracy emitted, I instantly gathered the confidence to interview another woman. In her, I saw so much passion, which almost reaffirmed that these women were just like you and me. Then, Devon and I talked to an entire table of women. I then, realized and understood what Professor Bateman had explained prior to the interviews; there will be some women ready to talk the day away, while others will be more reluctant. One woman in particular really stood out because she looked just like a typical college student. If I had seen her in another setting, I would have never guess she was facing poverty, or had prior drinking problems. It was amazing the kindness these women radiated after being in such unlucky situations. I definitely enjoyed my experience at The Gathering Place. I definitely felt like an interviewer surrounded by some amazing people. My interviews turned out pretty good as well. I got interviews from people who had been there for a while, as well as newcomers to The Gathering Place, and these different perspectives helped me understand The Gathering Place on a deeper level.
ReplyDeleteI knew I was headed to a "homeless shelter," but what I saw when I arrived was much to the contrary. I had envisioned old, musty, unwelcoming surroundings – pale yellow carpet and dim, concrete walls. What I had come to was a community, a shelter in all meanings of the word for women – some experiencing homelessness, others trying to avoid it. I had, for once, come to a dignified community center (more than merely a “homeless shelter”) which took pride in its surroundings. The clean and kept-up facilities reinforced The Gathering Place’s communicated philosophy that the women do matter and are a part of something greater than Denver’s homeless community. I first sat down with Kathy, both a client and a volunteer (and a self-proclaimed role model of sorts for the women). This was a trend I found to be quite common among those who came to eat at TGP. Kathy is a 20-year veteran of The Gathering Place, who does not shy away from commitments. She is involved in just about everything within a five-mile radius of the neighborhood and takes pride in her role as a mentor to many of the other women who come to TGP. I continued my visit by talking with Caroline, who came to Denver from Chicago last year to escape her second abusive relationship. Again, Caroline is another woman who’s homelessness did not stem from her individual actions, but from an unfortunate situation, but who nonetheless needed TGP to get back on her feet. She sang praises for TGP, noting the many programs and was pleased to say that after 6 months of being at TGP, she was able to find her own housing, but still comes to TGP because she cannot see life without it. She may have housing, but she comes for the food, the other clients and staff, and for the classes. To her, it fills a void – the absence of substantive and positive relationships in her life. The talk then continued with Gerri, a woman who lived and breathed The Gathering Place. Recognizing her own faults in her path to homelessness (somewhat of a different case than the previous two women I spoke with), she was nonetheless adamant about confronting the stereotypes and judgments passed on to women experiencing homelessness. She was so grateful for her second chance at life, mostly due to the services of TGP. As she held back tears, she wanted to ensure that whoever it was that would be getting my message knew about the importance of TGP’s services to women – the ability to obtain bus tokens to find work and in turn get into one’s own housing, the importance of The Closet and the food pantry to women who were trying to stay off the streets, because, “by the grace of God, without [the services], I’d be back on that corner.”
ReplyDeleteThe Gathering Place is unlike any other shelter that I've seen. It seemed much more accommodating. All the people I talked with there were very friendly. It was a helpful, clean, and friendly environment, something that people experiencing homelessness need. My interview went more smoothly than I am used to. It was very laid-back and there was no tenseness whatsoever. Sunne was very willing to teach us about The Gathering Place and she gave us a lot of information of the services offered at and her personal experience with the clients.
ReplyDeleteAs me and Brooke walked up to the Gathering Place, I was impressed with how nice it looked and I understood why this place would women would probably feel more comfortable coming to such a nice facility. When we walked in and took a seat as we waited for Amy, I could not help to feel that a bit uncomfortable and out of place. Not because the women that waited in the lobby with us were in need of help like this, but more of the fact that I was the only male in the room. Then Amy walked in and showed us to the thrid floor where the cafeteria is at, here there were not many people. Amy also made a comment on our way up the stairs how she was glad it was not a busy day due to the weather. I was curious as to what she could have meant but later on in our interview she clarified that she appreciated the more one to one time she was able to have when there were not so many women there to stretch out here attention. We learned that Amy is very appreciative of service learning, and has a passion for such work. This lead her to her one year commitment to the Gathering Place. During our interview, I was a bit anxious as to what to ask and most of the time I studdard whenever I spoke. I believe it was the fact that we had a voice recorder with us. However, our voice recorder did not record the interview. Overall our interview was decent, and Amy showed much enthusiasm and seriousness in her answers. She really cared for the community and the ladies of The Gathering Place.
ReplyDelete