City of Shadows Mux City of Shadows Mux

Volunteering at Turning Leaf Center
Players Ben, Logan	Washington Park 24 August, 2022 Ben heads to Turning Leaf Center to volunteer as a doctor and meet its manager, Logan.
The Turning Leaf Center's main clientele are youth from 18 to 25 who have aged out of the foster care system and are working on getting out into the world but may be struggling to establish themselves. There are others, of course, some older, some younger, who pass by the drop-in center during the day to avail themselves of the various services from a hot meal and free personal items, to group meetings, clubs, and support services. Upstairs, residents who are varying degrees of temporary, have rooms. That area, however, is blocked off by security for the safety of the residents, some of whom seek solace from violent homes here. Logan does the majority of the work managing the center and all of its volunteers and employees, making sure that things are running smoothly and occasionally helping with resume writing, social events, or just serving as an ear to listen. Today, he is out in the main lounge area receiving a shipment of donations and seeing that the volunteers get them squared away. From the streets comes a doctor. He's wearing a navy blue hospital uniform and looks tire, but also curious about the place as he wanders in slowly and looks around. Upon seeing a staff member receiving some shipment of donation, he approaches and grins."Hi. Sorry to bother, but could you help me? I saw this place the other day when I was jogging around the neighborhood and was wondering how I could volunteer on my off-days." Logan gives the last of the boxes a pat with one hand and says, "Thanks, Jimmy. Yeah, go ahead and open it up and remember to log it in inventory when you stock the shelves. Then just shoot me an email with the updated inventory numbers." And off the boxes go, to get sorted and settled. That's wen Logan turns to see Ben. He pauses a moment, taking in the doctor and then says, "Hey. Logan." He offers a hand to shake. "It's no bother." He glances at his phone to check the time and then says, "Come on back to my office and we can chat. Want anything to drink? Cold drinks. Coffee. Tea?" "My name's Benedict, but you can call me just Ben when I'm not at work." The doctor says and takes the other man to a shake. His grip is firm and gentle, but his hand is calloused. He waits for the man to lead the way as he answers:"I could go with a whiskey, double, cowboy. It was a very long day at work and I only managed to get a one hour lunch break. So I ran and got three pretzels." "Nice to meet you, Ben," Logan says after giving the man's hand a firm shake. He then laughs and says, "Unfortunately we don't have any alcohol in the center. There's a lot of minors here and folks who are in recovery who come through." He then makes his way back toward the offices and leads Ben into one that is comfortably sized but not extravagant. There are a couple of chairs in front of a pale wood desk with a computer on it. Everything else is tucked away in locked cabinets save for some photographs on the desk and a few office toys. Logan gestures for him to make himself comfortable. Ben follows along, paying attention to everything on their way up to the office. There, he nods to the other man politely upon beind directed to a seat, pikcing one of the chairs at the desk."Sorry. I should had figured it out on my own. Tea would do it, then. If you don't mind." He then waits for the other man to sit down."As you can see, I'm a doctor. Plastic surgery is my specialty, but I'd like to offer my services to you anyways. Teenagers and young adults always get in trouble and need some stitching at some point." Logan nods at the request for tea and says, "Just a moment." He steps across to the break room and gets some hot water and a small box of teas to choose from before returning and presents that to Ben to make himself a cup while he opens up a bottle of water for himself. He settles into his chair and leans back a bit. "A lot of what we get here are folks who can't afford care, don't have insurance, and are in need of very basic care -- ear infections, common colds, the occasional stitches, minor injuries." Ben grins politely upon seeing the box of teas and picks chamomile."That's what I thought and that's what I'm here offering. Basic care. I was born and raised here in Washington Park and now I'd like to make something for this place. To make a difference." He explains briefly as he prepares his tea."I know it's a lot of work and no paycheck. That doesn't bother me at all." Logan nods and says, "Well, we definitely need the help. We do have a couple of physicians who volunteer their time, but being able to offer some additional hours would be really beneficial to those who come through. Do you have any idea of what kind of hours that you'd be interested in volunteering for?" For now he leaves off all the technicalities -- the vetting process, the paperwork, the legal stuff, all of which will need to happen before he can just take on someone providing medical care as a volunteer, but that can all be handled by the office later. "I can rearrange my shifts at the hospital and be here twice a week in the daytime. Morning and afternoon. I live nearby so you wouldn't even bother to offer me lunch and stuff. Does that work for you?" He offers gently and blows off the steam from his tea before taking a quick sip from it and hmm's in satisfaction. Logan considers that and asks, "Which days?" as he lifts his bottle of water and takes a swallow from it. Ben lands his tea cup back on the desk and picks his phone from a pocket gesturing for the man to give him a moment. A few touches later and he grins."According to my schedule, Wednesdays and Fridays are the days I can offer with minimum effort." Logan nods as Ben provides his availability and takes down a few notes. "Okay. Well, let's start the process of vetting. Of course, my office will take down all of your information and do the usual verifications and contact you with all the legal paperwork and whatnot. If everything looks good, then we can meet up again and discuss the entire situation and work to be done at greater length. It's really nice to see folks in the neighborhood willing to help out the way that they have been." Ben listens carefully and when everything is settled, he grins politely."Nice. I'm excited to be part of this project. I wish I could do more, but I have a few other things going on in my life and, right now, all I can offer is my time and my skills as a doctor." Logan says, "Seriously, every little bit helps in a situation like this. That you're willing to donate your time towards helping out these kids and the other folks who depend on us for services is really appreciated. There are so many people who don't have the time or the desire to do so. We appreciate whatever assistance we can find." He then says, "So you grew up around here? Have you been in the neighborhood your whole life? Or have you traveled at all?" Ben nods to Logan's words but when the other man asks about trips and something dark comes to his semblance."I was here my whole life...until." He pauses to look around discreetly."Until I was Taken." Logan inclines his head when Ben's expression darkens a little and he mentions being Taken. He'd certainly known that the other was Lost, like himself. His own features are notably inhuman to those who can see the claws on his hands, the sharp elongated canines, and of course the canine ears that poke from between the strands of his hair. "Yeah, well, that'll fuck up your plans," he says with a bit of a wry twist of a smile, making light of the trauma that all Lost share to some degree. It's how the Spring moves on. "I didn't come up here until after, myself." Ben nods and grins as he sees empathy coming from the other man. That makes the darkness go away and some brightness returns to the doctor's eyes."Yeah." He murmurs."Are you enjoying the city and the neighborhood? We're not the best part of Chicago, but I like it here a lot." Logan nods and says, "Some friends of mine I grew up with actually started this place up after college. When I got out and needed some place to go, they offered me a job here in residence so I live upstairs and kind of keep things running for them while they work on other projects. They're good folks trying to do some good in this city. So yeah, it's become home even if it didn't start out that way." He smiles good-naturedly. "I see that. And I need to say, I'm very impressed. Running such a big place on your own must be very hard and taxing. I don't think I could do it myself, honestly." Ben says as he gestures to the whole place around them. Then he grins."Congratulations." "Well, I don't do it on my own. I have a whole staff, some who are paid and some who are volunteers, but I couldn't do any of this all on my own," Logan laughs. "I just kind of organize folks and let them all do what they do best and take their advice most of the time." He has an easy kentucky drawl that comes out the more relaxed he is. "But thanks. I do try." Ben grins and nods."Alright. I feel like I took a lot of your time already. Thank you very much for your time and for the tea. It was really good. I'll be waiting for the paperwork and stuff." He gently stands up and drawns a greeting card from one of his pockets. It's a very simple piece of paper with his full name and a phone number."Here. Take it. I'll be waiting to hear from you soon." Logan rises to his feet and says, "Hey it's no problem. We're always happy for the help and it was great to meet you. I hope you won't be a stranger to the place." He reaches out to take the card as it's presented and says, "If you don't mind, if you can stop by the front desk on your way out, they can provide you with all the forms and paperwork that we'll need. You can fill it out and bring it back any time that's convenient for you. We do have someone at the front desk 24x7."