SOCIETY OF SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL How to Conduct a Quality Home Visit WELCOME

1. SOCIETY OF SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL How to Conduct a Quality Home Visit WELCOME

2. Tell me about yourself……. HowI became Involved with the SSVP? Howhas my time of Service affected me? WhatI hope to learn today?

3. Warning – The following presentation is rated – MA The following content may contain elements that challenge your emotions. Various home visits methods will be expressed by the audience that may differ from your comfort zone. You are requested to keep an OPEN MIND, LISTEN, DISCERN and ask yourself.....What would Jesus do if you were with him in that situation.......

4. What we are going to cover today • The Basics of a Home Visit • Breakdown the stages of a Home Visit using Role Play Scenario’s of actual home visits • Prayer before a visit • Arrival at a property of the family to visit • The Greeting at the door • Observations in a home • How to Start and Maintain a conversation • How to react to Challenging situations • Leaving a home, what to say and do • Post Home Visit Recap • How to handle Extreme Challenges

5. TheBasics • What is a Home Visit? • Why do we conduct Home Visits? • We are Guests, what does that mean?

6. Who should conduct a Home Visit? Not everyone can conduct a home visit – Why is this Important? • Many skills are required in Vincentian work beyond the Home Visit, your talents are necessary in other supportive Vincentian work

7. Vincentian Qualities necessary to conduct a Home Visit • What are they? • Desire, ability and COMMITMENT to serve • Humility and Generosity • Sensitivity and Humour • Confidentiality • NON JUDGEMENTAL but have good judgement • Whichof these qualities are the most difficult to adhere to when visiting a family, especially if the family living situation is troubling for you to witness?

8. First Point of Contact The family in need calls the church, what is the process? • Why is this important? • Telephone response by church secretary/other requirements • Answering machine response requirements • Response Time, why is this important? • Call Coordinator – what is their role? • Conference Home visit Guidelines

9. The Home Visit • Always visit in Pairs • Prayer before a visit – Why is this important? • Helps eliminate ‘distractions’ in your life • Pray asking that your will be open minded and conduct yourself as Christ expects us • Prayer is personal, Pray individually or together What Prayer do you say?

10. Role Play Scenario 1 Arriving at a property of a family to visit – Public housing project • Row houses, yards are very littered, grass/weeds overgrown, several people lingering • Window A/C with sheet of cardboard • Door of home damaged, screen missing, door bell wires exposed. • There is flower pot on the porch step with many cigarette butts next to a child’s car seat that is wet from the overnight rain • What are your thoughts at this point of the visit? Do you run away, do you feel threatened? • What Vincentian Home Visit Quality is being challenged?

11. Other Scenario You are in a residential area, nice homes, a large SUV, late model is in the driveway • What are your thoughts at this point of the visit? • What Vincentian Home Visitor Quality is being challenged? • How do you overcome any negative thoughts?

12. Role Play Scenario 2 The greeting at the door - What do you say? • May we come into your home to talk Other Scenario’s • Several attempts knocking on door for several minutes before a confused looking person answers, you just woke them up, it’s 11:00am • No one is home – do you leave pissed off? • What are your thoughts at this point of the visit? • What Vincentian Home Visit Quality is being challenged? • How do you overcome any negative thoughts?

13. Role Play Scenario 3 You enter the home and observe the following: • The home is very untidy, floors and walls are heavily scuffed and dirty. House has a foul smell. • Kitchen table cluttered with dirty dishes, clothes scattered on the floor. • Several cats purring around the room. • Living room couch is rough looking and excessively worn, TV is turned on, volume very high • What are your thoughts at this point of the visit? • What Vincentian Home Visit Quality is being challenged? • How do you overcome any negative thoughts?

14. Other Scenario’s The apartment is well furnished, nice furniture and furnishings, large TV with sound system • What are your thoughts at this point of the visit? • What Vincentian Home Visit Quality is being challenged? • How do you overcome any negative thoughts? You observe pictures of children on TV stand. There is an ink imprint of a child’s hand on paper on the fridge beside an award certificate. A painted script on the wall states “The Love of a Family is Life’s Greatest Blessing....”

15. Role Play Scenario 4 How to start and maintain a conversation? • Your opening statement has the potential to set the tone of how the conversation will go beyond this point. • What statement do you use to introduce why you are there and what you hope to accomplish? • How do you let the response to your leading question guide you through further series of questions? • Probing questions – how deep do you probe? • What is the value of personal mementos you observed? • What is the value of a Supportive comment?

16. Role Play Scenario 5 How do you react to the following situations if they arise? • There is a BIG dog in home – do you tell family they cannot use money to buy dog food? • Family has 5 children, after rent, utilities all they have left is $400 for food, clothing and TV. They have the Movie channel package, do you tell them to cancel the TV package? • What are your thoughts at this point of the visit? • What Vincentian Home Visit Quality is being challenged? • How do you overcome any negative thoughts?

17. Role Play Scenario 6 Preparing to leave the home. What do I say, what do I do? • A mother has shared with you that her 7 year old daughter is at stage 3 liver cancer, the mother is the only transplant candidate. The mother is scared for herself and daughter. She received help from Childcan to cover some expenses. She goes to the cancer clinic 3 times/wk. Bus tickets are costly but necessary, so food purchase is compromised. • You have provided he double the normal food assistance, do you say “good-bye, good luck”?

18. Role Play Scenario 7 Post Home Visit recap and reporting? • Some conferences want to keep detailed records of the families financial status and members in household. • What information do you retain and why? What is really necessary? • Do you pray for the family, privately, as a pair or as a conference? • Do you share your visit story at your next conference meeting? Why is it important to share the story?

19. Role Play Scenario 8 Extreme challenges – what do you do? • You experience a situation on a rare occasion where your Vincentian values are challenged? • A family seeks help every 2 months, they have 6 children, big screen TV, they have sufficient income from OW, child tax credit and other gov’t support to live comfortably. • What do you do? Walk away and provide no assistance?

20. Ask Yourself.... If Jesus was your partner making this home visit, how do you feel He would handle the situation? What responses would He use? What questions would He ask? Let this guide you through this challenging moment.

21. What was accomplished by your visit? • The family likely benefited financially/materially from your visit. What other gifts did you leave behind? • A family that lives substantially below the Poverty Line, is there anything else that we can do for them? • How did this home visit strengthen your relationship with your faith, with your relationship with God?

22. COMMENTS THANK YOU Society of Saint Vincent de Paul