YSOP's goal today was to provide an experience and environment which would put us in the situation of having to say no. Today we woke up expecting to volunteer at one place which was canceled moments before we left. We ended up volunteering at a site unlike any other. A church named Jan Hus manned by three people: Tom, Lily, and Ramsey. Every Tuesday and Thursday a soup kitchen is held, but today we focused on clothing and food pantry distribution.
A food pantry is a place where food is distributed and not made. The specific goal today was to help contribute to SNAP and other benefit programs. They try to stay within the guidelines of the governments five main categories: protein, veggies, fruit, meat, and grain. I personality ran into a situation where I had to tell a person no, who had children to feed. Why is this important? Why is rationing so important?
This is something which we were encouraged to look at in a different way. We were encouraged to see it as helping everyone to their basic needs or letting a few people do better add all others were turned away. At the ems of the day after reflection even though it was hard I realized it was necessary. There are people who came through with amazing stories in life and people who have struggled their whole entire life through generational poverty.
So what can we do? So many people fall into a vicious cycle of generational, drugs, drinking, illiteracy, and more. A lot have solutions but they cost money: education and awareness, residential dug and alcohol treatment, AA and other various organizational meetings, and other ones. Besides that we can make our choices hard within the legislator and I challenge all of y'all to do so will are reading this. We can become a consistent volunteer with our community. Furthermore, we can educate ourselves about the issues surrounding us as they become more and not common. You do not have to be in a city with it to help. You can be anyone, in any place, doing anything. All it takes is a letter, a hello, or just fine minutes of googling to educate yourself a little more. I challenge you to do just that.
-Jake
Jan Hus may not be the most beautiful place visually, but to me it has been a meaningful experience. I was helping in the women's clothing for the majority of the time and a woman handed Lily a bunch of paperwork. She spoke Spanish and Lily translated what she said in English to me. The paperwork was a court ordered document saying that she was to appear in court because her husband filed a report against her. Lily asked me for my advice and suddenly I became like a legal consultant because I could read and am a Law and Order addict. Imagine what it would be like if you were summoned into court to defend yourself without any English. I am blessed to have an education and be privileged to have access to the internet to research things. The woman reminded me of my mom who came here with little English. After I was born, a man and a little boy came in (probably a missionary) wanting to take me away because they were afraid my mom would be unable unable take care of me because she was a refugee. I was surprised to hear from YSOP that there are legal services for the homeless because they need to be represented too.
The most meaningful conversation I had was with a woman who came into the women's clothing. She took a piece of clothing and she put it back even though it was her style because she said that it did not fit her that well and that someone else could use it as it would just lay around in her suitcase wasted. It made me realize I have collected so many things that I got because I tell myself that "It's so cheap and pretty....I think I can make it fit" and it ends up not being used. Let's donate our clothes we do not wear, especially large sizes and mens' s clothing. (The men's clothing supply was way smaller than the women's although the majority of the homeless there were men.) The reason why I chose this class was to redeem my compassion and empathy for people again after working in retail for a year now. And today, I achieved my goal. I have the strong desire to go out of my way to help people. I hope that this experience continues to show me that there are more good people in the world and keeps reminding me that I should not take anything for granted.
-Christina
Elaborate a bit Jake. Why was it hard for you to tell the person no? What is it about your experiences and lens that shape your response? You ask, "Why is rationing so important?", help the reader understand by answering the question yourself. Do you personally think it's important to ration or not? Do you think it's better to pour all resources in to a select few or spread a thin amount or resources among many? Both models have benefits and drawbacks, identify them and wrestle with this through your writing.
ReplyDeleteChristina, explain further why large sizes and men's clothing is so important to donate. Why do you now have a strong desire to go out of your way to help people? I assume it's because you have learned that each person has a story of their own and as someone outside that person's life you are not knowledgeable about what has happened to them so you can't pass judgement on a story you are not familiar with. Our stories shape our actions and behaviors, etc. Elaborate a little bit on this..