Reflections of an instructor

I begin my reflection of having taught this explorations of urban poverty course with an analogy. The Lotus flower, a plant that symbolizes many things depending on your religion or spiritual upbringing, to me represents growth and opportunity. The lotus plant in its natural state is typically found floating on top of dingy pond water, yet when its blooms emerge, it brings beauty to an otherwise murky scene. Urban poverty can be a yucky, difficult, topic to confront. Yet what I have seen time and time again, this year being no different, is the beauty that resides in humanity when we learn to confront our stereotypes, challenge our perceptions and step in to conversation with others. Thank you students for your willingness to be opened to new possibilities, new convictions and new challenges to action. You have made teaching a pleasure and each year I too grow and bloom in my understanding.

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To the class of 2017,

Thank you for digging deep and embracing vulnerability as we worked together to unpack our understanding of a very complex societal issue. Your learning has been demonstrated time and time again and I leave you with your own insights...

Things you’ve learned:

• Poverty and homelessness are not as simple as I once thought.
• The importance of not oversimplifying the reasons of poverty.
• Centralized intake is something that really opened my eyes in this class.
• I am encouraged to donate money that can go towards more resources that the community needs rather than what I judge to be what they need.
• My map changed a lot in my eyes, I viewed everyone as a person and not as a disappointment.
• While the government definition of poverty does exist, through this course I found out there are barriers that exclude and/or undervalue many circumstances people may face with poverty.
• Poverty involves people of all ages and from all walks of life, who have less access to resources to meet their needs compared to the greater community.
• I know now that poverty is not a person’s defining characteristic…Poverty is an individual experience for everyone who encounters it…Each life story is different and each person’s circumstances are different.
• I have grown a lot in my understanding of this huge social issue.
• Homelessness and poverty can happen to anyone at any point in time.
• The idea of societal responsibility and systemic issues really bloomed throughout the course…I’m walking out of this course feeling like our overarching society has a lot more to do with [the causes of] poverty and homelessness than I had realized before.
• I came to the conclusion that despite the inefficiencies and harm that charitable volunteerism can do, volunteerism is not an entirely bad thing…however it is going to take a lot more than volunteerism to get our communities out of this giant hole we’ve dug ourselves in as far as poverty and homelessness is concerned.
• I may be one person, but I am also one person, and one is more than none.
• My context regarding urban poverty has expanded greatly and most importantly has granted me the ability to look at each individual as someone that doesn’t stand in front or behind me, but right by my side.
• Urban poverty is complex and is a challenge to fully understand.
• As a result of my experiences on this trip I have learned a lot about myself.
• Problems and solutions alike are now intertwined.
• A two-dimensional piece of paper does not seem sufficient to fully illustrate the complexity and interconnectedness of all these ideas. If I had the time and ability, I would create a three-dimensional sphere with words all around and a complex network of lines connecting the ideas to one another across broad categories.
• Housing is just one step in alleviating poverty.
• Issues are often more complex than I had initially imagined.
• The language we use is important, because it can shape the views of those we are speaking to and prove a more descriptive way of talking about these issues.
• My heart breaks knowing that the system is set up for them to fail. I hated having the knowledge that this so-called, “land of opportunities” is actually a land of failed systems and sometimes little opportunity, depending on who you are.
• I definitely gained a ton of knowledge, dove more deeply into the health side of things, stretched to see other perspectives, and have a clearer view of the complexity of issues. This inspired me to take action and use the knowledge I have gained to be a productive in being a solution.
• Poverty is the lack of choices
• I found that I did not realize how important people are in your life
• I think that often times the systems of everyday life are not fair for people with little money…I feel like they are oftentimes being penalized for being poor.
• I think the reason I was able to hold a negative viewpoint [about homelessness] for so long was because I was not interacting with the issue.
• There are smaller things I can do now, such as being an advocate for change and voting for people who have policies that are favorable towards helping this cause.
• Poverty is everywhere, and even in the places where you don’t see it because it’s not always visible.
• I realized that poverty is one of those things where you think you know what it is until you have to explain yourself, then you don’t know where to even start on the conversation of poverty. Poverty is caused by a myriad of things.
• Luck doesn’t pick and choose certain people, it just happens.
• Charitable volunteers…give those who are planning and directing to do more of the other work that needs to be done in order for the organization to function properly.
• When we don’t provide the space for people to share their views and thoughts, we start to fill in the blanks for them…I believe that as a community, we can create a space where we include everyone in the conversation on what strengths and challenges are in our community.
• I’ve learned small lessons that will go a long way in the past three weeks such as the importance of eye contact, you are one but you, are one, never assume, and just because someone does not fit the stereotype of poetry does not mean that an individual is not experiencing poverty.
• Related to the idea of social capital is asking people if they need anything, rather than giving them what we think they need.
• Our social and professional networks can do more than help us find a job. The social capital we have can support us in times of need.
• At the beginning of class, my poverty map was basic as it only had a few bubbles…My word map now looks like a system of cycles or circles.
• I learned that when you want to help someone you need to determine if you‘re actually helping them….I feel that to see if you’re really making a difference, you first need to learn about the subject…learning about poverty helped me want to become more involved and actually help.
• Specializing on certain groups is very helpful, as certain age and genders have different needs.
• How easy it is for landlords to exploit the system in their favor, making them richer and their tenants poorer.
• Now, I define poverty as the lack of choices that would enable a person to be successful and have access to the necessary resources to get the goods and services they need to survive.
• You cannot tell if someone is homeless by looking at them.
• I had never thought about how volunteers could cause harm in the communities that they are just trying to help.

About the class itself:

• This has been one of the most difficult and fulfilling classes that I have taken at Drake University, and has created an interest in me to become an engaged citizen in the community.
• This [class] is one experience I will never forget about and I hope I influenced some people along the way of my journey.
• To take the title of the AOI this course is fulfilling for me to heart, I feel as though this course has shaped me in to a much more engaged citizen within our community, more aware of the true issues that need to be solved, and more emotionally invested in being a part of finding some of those solutions.
• This course has opened my eyes to so much and caused me to reflect a lot on my own life. The word maps are a great way to visualize what we have learned and to see how much we have grown.
• This class helped me grow as a person, as I was able to learn that poverty is a very complicated issue that is more than just about work ethic. 
• This class taught me to think deeply about things that might even seem simple and try to think about how they might be related to deeper issues.
• This class has completely changed my perspectives on homelessness and poverty.
• Seeing poverty unclose changed my viewpoint and educated me better than any lecture ever could.
• From this experience, I feel that I have grown as a volunteer, engaged citizen and as a leader. I have a desire to volunteer more and help in any way I can.

Actions you are committing to:

• Donating cash, not canned goods
• Clothing/jeans drives for men 
• Volunteer with kids and families, helping even one child avoid poverty is a success
• Personally volunteering at one of the orgs we visited here in Des Moines
• Organizing a social media awareness campaign
• Organizing a volunteer day with your student or greek org
• Continuing to research and educate yourself on the topic (some have already done this through listening to podcasts, reading more articles, etc)
• Sharing your experience with friends and family as a way to advocate for the homeless community