by Ahren Cassinari-Foster
Almost a year and a half ago, our world was turned upside down. The pandemic forced all of us to make changes to our daily lives. At the OAC, we had to rethink the ways we provided services to our guests, including a full two-week shutdown, as per City of Atlanta guidelines. While this shutdown impacted all of our guests dramatically, it also meant we had to shut down the Main Frame program mid-class. As we are all painfully aware, the pandemic has continued to grow, which means we have not been able to reconvene our regular Main Frame classes. For most people, including the majority of the people in that interrupted class, a pandemic-driven shut down of the class was enough to push them to move on and forget about the program. And who could blame them? But this was not true for one student, Ms. D.
Ms. D kept in touch with me via email throughout the pandemic, regularly asking when and if the Main Frame would start again. Soon after we started the new, socially-distanced workshop version of the Main Frame, she contacted me to inquire how she could be a part of it. Due to her persistence, we quickly got her scheduled for the next Main Frame workshop sessions, and she completed all three sessions in one week. Shortly thereafter, she scheduled multiple appointments with me to work in the computer lab on her résumé, talk about possible employment certifications, and review her job options.
At the end of each Main Frame session, we talk a bit about the character trait of resilience and how to cultivate it. In retrospect, if I had thought about Ms. D.’s incredible resilience while trying to talk to her class about it, I would have felt fairly silly. I might have even asked her to tell the class what it means to be resilient. She’s shown time and time again that she’s not going to give up on herself. Despite all she’s endured, even in a pandemic, she continues to use all the resources that are available to her. She jumps at every chance to try something new, learn more skills, or seek opportunities.
Ms. D. has not yet found employment, but the OAC is able to financially assist her in earning her alcohol service certification in the next few weeks to broaden her opportunities in the service industry. I’m excited to continue to offer her support as well as hopeful because I know her next success is just around the corner!