first two and a half weeks

I guess I've been here two and a half weeks now; it feels so normal now that I'm wondering what to say about it.

I get the impression that my organization (the California Coalition for Rural Housing, CCRH) is very different from most of the others. We're a suite of offices rather than a community center, and I haven't yet had any contact with the population we serve. Scratch that; our audience is the affordable housing community, rather than individuals. We work with groups like other affordable housing nonprofits, town governments, lobbyist groups, and tenants' associations. So in terms of the people aspects of our work, sitting in on conference calls and going to meetings is where it's at (though hopefully I will be involved in some GIS trainings later in my service).

I'm pretty much treated like a regular employee here; my title is "Community Technology Specialist" <brag>and I've got business cards to prove it.</brag> I've got an office with a desk, filing cabinets, and a computer, though I generally use my own because I'm more comfortable with its tools.

During the first few days I met everyone who works here (or five of the six; Rob was out of town) and talked to them about what they work on. I read a few grants, and sat in on some meetings. And then my supervisor Darryl and I started talking about the website, which is my priority right now. It's currently a jumble of static html pages, most of which are broken and out of date. I'm really excited about the ideas behind the redesign, and I'll definitely be blogging about it.

Also, I went to apply for food stamps on Monday. For Californians on food stamps: there's a "customer service" number on the back of the EBT card; to talk to a person when you call that, don't enter your card number when prompted, just press #. And then press it again when it prompts you again. I was suprised that noone gave me any information on what I can and can't buy with food stamps, or a list of local stores that accept them, but supposedly I can get those questions answered at that customer service number. (Since when are we "customers" of the government...?)

Comment from danielle martin on October 2, 2006 - 11:13am

Hey girl,

Great title! Makes my new "program coordinator" seem small and sad! ;)

-Danielle