0 Tales from Oakland: Laura at 08:35

"Whose soup is this?"

Laura's voice is piercing over the conversations in the main room of Street Level Health Project. I look up from transcribing an interview to see her looking around at the several Latino men standing around.

"Whose soup is this? You gotta clean it up. No leaving trash around here." A man confessed by coming forward with a sheepish grin. Everyone is smiling; even Laura's rebuke is with a smile and a tinge of laughter.

I heard the unspoken values. This space is yours; would you leave trash in your own house? No one else is going to clean up after you - you have to clean up your own mess. You need to take responsibility for yourself. This empty bowl of soup, which you asked for when you had nothing, and was given to you freely out of love, is your integrity.

The laugh and smile on her face says: You are welcome here, and are loved and valued. But we are not trying to feed you, or clothe you, or heal you. We want you to believe in yourself. We want you to love yourself.