When we arrived we learned that we would be helping to prepare their weekly lunch. The church serves lunch to about 90 individuals each Tuesday. Preparations had already begun when we arrived at 10am and the kitchen was filled with around 15 volunteers.
St. James is located on the upper east side of the manhattan island, which we quickly realized is a very affluent neighborhood as we passed Dolce & Gabana and other high end shops with security guards. In fitting with this neighborhood St. James serves it's meals restaurant style so we began our day setting tables (see pictures below). We also strained corn, cut bread, moved cake, filled water pitchers in preparation for the meal.
Jerry was the first to arrive, always 15 minutes early, to set out plastic containers at his regular table that would save spots for all of his friends. When the room was full we said grace and began to bring plates of food to our assigned table along with cake for dessert. The meal consisted of basil chicken with sauce, corn, baked potatoes, bread, and coffee. As the guests finished we cleared their plates for them. The church paid for the entire meal aside from the bread, which was donated by a local bakery.
After the meal we got a chance to speak to the coordinator of missions for the church. It was very interesting to hear about the needs that they are meeting because of how they differed from those that you may normally think of. Due to the affluence of the neighborhood about 2/3 of the guests were actually not homeless. Most if them even lived in this wealthy part of town. So why would they need a free meal if they can afford these apartments? The simple answer we found was that they cant. Many of these guests live in fixed housing, meaning their rent has not been raised in a very long time and they having been living here for 20-30 years. This allows them to keep their housing even as all other costs of living rise around them. However a group of churches has found a way to help those living in their own backyard. St. James also serves dinner on Friday nights while other churches in the area cover each other night of the week. While there may be a few people attending these meals who do not need the help financially, the churches believe that they are also providing a sense of community to some who do not have any.
In addition to serving two meals a week St. James also provides shelter, a fold out bed, and breakfast to 12 single homeless men just down the street from the church. This is housing for those who are working on moving through the system. Most of them have jobs and their next step in section 8 housing.
It truly amazes me to see how well people are loving others and it is hard to believe that even though there are so many organizations doing their best to help there are so many more still in need. St. James is providing multiple needed services to those who may otherwise go without. They are not only providing food to 90 people twice a week, but also providing a comfortable atmosphere where they feel respected and a sense of community to those without one. With their shelter they are taking action to help those who are working to help themselves out of poverty and hopefully into a home of their own within 6 months or so.
With each new experience during this week I have been able to apply what we studied during the first portion of our class. When I think about the community St. James provides I think about all of the benefits that come with social capital, like job connections and support when you need it. I could see all of the guests we served today making connections with the volunteers and each other. After seeing the shelter and services provided to the 12 men and hearing how they have seen many people get back on their feet because of the extra support they provide I wonder whether this is a concept Des Moines could apply. There is a need for more transitional housing in our own city, would churches and organizations there be willing to support those in transition? Five churches in Des Moines previously worked together to form the Central Iowa Shelter Services. However after opening a new facility it filled up very quickly. People are allowed to stay at CISS for an extended period of time if they are making progress toward moving to section 8 housing. If churches in the area had a program to provide housing for those who are working toward housing of their own there would be more room in the CISS shelter. Another option is throwing more money at the problem. Although the churches worked together to build a new shelter not long ago they could also work on expanding it.
I was very impressed by both the St. James and St. George churches for how well they were able to provide a rounded meal on a low budget. Both churches paid for most of the food themselves on a $2-2.50 per person budget. This is close to the budget we were on using the thrifty version of SNAP. During all of these instances the meal provided was both filling and contained good sources of energy for your body. This was somewhat contradictory to my original thinking that SNAP, meant to be a supplement to what you could provide for yourself, would not be enough to buy health foods. I assumed this would cause those who may be using it as their only source of food to buy cheaper, less healthy food based on our discussions. Although this is still likely the truth, I don't think that it is the only reason those in poverty may be eating less healthy. It is always easier to just grab something easy, which is generally less healthy, but money also goes further when you are buying cheaper food. The government gives recommendations on what a well-rounded meal looks like but many people likely don't think of that when trying to provide enough food for their family. SNAP only allows you to buy certain items with your food stamps, however they don't require that you buy multigrain cereal instead of lucky charms. If the SNAP program was more restricted to healthier foods it may make more of a difference to the health of low income families. However with this restriction the SNAP benefits would likely have to be raised to pay for the more expensive food.
I was very impressed by both the St. James and St. George churches for how well they were able to provide a rounded meal on a low budget. Both churches paid for most of the food themselves on a $2-2.50 per person budget. This is close to the budget we were on using the thrifty version of SNAP. During all of these instances the meal provided was both filling and contained good sources of energy for your body. This was somewhat contradictory to my original thinking that SNAP, meant to be a supplement to what you could provide for yourself, would not be enough to buy health foods. I assumed this would cause those who may be using it as their only source of food to buy cheaper, less healthy food based on our discussions. Although this is still likely the truth, I don't think that it is the only reason those in poverty may be eating less healthy. It is always easier to just grab something easy, which is generally less healthy, but money also goes further when you are buying cheaper food. The government gives recommendations on what a well-rounded meal looks like but many people likely don't think of that when trying to provide enough food for their family. SNAP only allows you to buy certain items with your food stamps, however they don't require that you buy multigrain cereal instead of lucky charms. If the SNAP program was more restricted to healthier foods it may make more of a difference to the health of low income families. However with this restriction the SNAP benefits would likely have to be raised to pay for the more expensive food.
This specific experience helped me to realize how easy it is to judge someone who appears to be taking advantage of the system. While there definitely are people who do so there are many more that are doing everything they can just to survive. I believe that after this experience I will go forward with a mindset that is more ready to believe the best of these people rather than the worst, that helping people who need it is more important than not helping those who may not need it.
Brandi
Aside from social capital, what other specific connections can you make to course readings and discussion?
ReplyDeleteCentral Iowa Shelter and Services formally was coordinated by 5 different churches in Des Moines but they determined it was more effective and efficient to coordinate emergency and transitional shelter out of one organization. How do you propose churches and other organizations work alongside CISS? What specific gaps can they fill in the continuum of care?