During the course, our class has explored and discovered how the organizations systems works from the observations in our internships.  We learned in our final internship reports that some organizations need structure, teamwork, and leadership skills managing the shelter successfully.  After reading the book, “Inequality, Poverty, and Neoliberal Governance”, the activist Vincent Lyon-Callo provided solutions in addressing homelessness by practicing methods to treat deviancy, and re-establish policies to provide practical assistance to the homeless people.  However, learning efficient solutions, and adopting new methods to prevent the cycle of homelessness can likely reduce the number of the homeless population, and improve the communities.

Last week, our class had a guest speaker via Skype named Dan McGuire from the Homeless Solutions Inc., (http://www.homelesssolutions.org/ ) the oldest organization in the county of New Jersey.  In his lecture, McGuire discussed many services that has been expanding throughout the years providing renovated projects to assist the homeless communities and low-income families.  I was impress in how the organization has grown their association and improving their communities productively. The Homeless Solution Inc. offers programs like affordable and transitional housing, as well as homeless shelters for seniors, and single individuals.  The Homeless Solutions Inc. addressed the issue of homelessness by providing the necessary assistance to help families obtain a home, and at the same time improving the communities using foreclosure homes, and abandoned building to convert them to new housing development with energy saving features to relieve economic crisis.  This practice has worked well due to the state courts enforcing counties to established shelters as a cooperation of addressing the critical issue of poverty.  Perhaps considering these ideas in the state of California can help keep the homeless people of the streets, and help low-income families keep homes for their families at a reliable rate, and period.

After volunteering for nearly two months at a local shelter in the Coachella Valley, I came to understand profoundly the critical issues of homelessness, and the structural system that creates poverty to be prevalent in our communities.  When I first arrived in the site, I came with partial knowledge of homelessness that was taught in class in terms of social support systems, history, and public policies.  The materials covered in class were evidence of a hidden issue that remain alive for decades, and continues to grow.  However, the facts were just an example of the unknown existence behind the lives of the people struggling to overcome poverty.

Having the opportunity granted by the agency to study in depth the foundations of homelessness, it change my way of perceiving people dealing with problems of addiction, domestic abuse, and financial reasons.  In the end I came to conclude that people like them are just the same ways as me trying to become better persons in life with goals for a better society.  In this journey I discovered my passions, aspirations, and capabilities, when I learned to overcome challenges that were difficult for me to handle.  I was push into the world of humanity to learn from my own mistakes, and learned to develop new techniques to face my fears of failure.  I came to the shelter asking myself who am I? And where do I want to belong?  After experiencing and witnessing the social inequalities towards the homeless people on the street, I realize that that’s the place where I want to belong, and I want to be to provide assistance in support, guidance, and inspirations.

Being part of the organization I learned by memory the services that the shelter provides, and I build relationships with people, in reality they gave me the sense of returning back to their community.  I was challenged by the residents to accept me in their social groups, and these innocent people open the doors that were once close to me, due to the insecurities of disrespect, and loyalty outsiders provided them. With the patience, and motivations of others volunteers I was accepted by the homeless people.  Sharing my background as a child into adulthood, I was surprised about the homeless people automatically opening up to me sharing their stories, concerns, and goals.

One volunteer in the homeless shelter always inspire me to do more than what I usually do inside the facility.  He taught me thoughly the difficult backgrounds that is inevitable to be ignored from the public to help the people in need.  I personally think that volunteers take an important role to go out of their way taking the extra mile to educate people, and to plan a proposal that can help them maintain, and achieve their goals.  In order to break the cycle of homelessness in the Coachella Valley, someone needs to take the lead to bring public awareness to the communities of the hardships of homelessness, and poverty.  I feel that many shelters have the resources, but do not strive to educate the general public about the importance of getting involved in their community.  As well as the staff not sharing the necessary time to engaged with people to meet their needs.  I am gladly to say that I am happy to be part of this organization to help implement changes that can encourage, fair treatment, and opportunities.

This week in class we had a speaker named Tammy who founded the organization “ABC’s and Rice” located in Cambodia.  People like her make an amazing contribution to change the lives of the people living in poverty without giving up the hope to break the cycle of misery.  She is an inspirational person that motivates people like myself to get involved in helping the people of need with support and guidance.  Just exactly this week I meet a couple in my local shelter at the career center seeking ESL classes.  The man kindly needed assistance in reading and filing medical insurance for his wife who recently had a stroke.  The man has not been working since his wife became sick, and he decided to take over the full time job to care for her.  The man barely makes it, living by check after check.  I was amazed to see this man bring in his wife to learn English as a speech therapy, and at the same time observe this man’s great capacity to see days brighter with positive and energetic actions.  This man story motivated me to see life with great opportunities and appreciate what life grant us with little prosperity.  We may think we have everything in this world, in reality there is no greater fortune, but to have little and be happy owning it.  People like Tammy feel great to give back to those in need the support, care, and affection poor children lack in their homes.  She promote children the possibilities that there are aspirations in life to become someone else other than what they know.  We need people like her to help us see and transform us to become better civilians in our communities.

This weekend I started reading the book called, “Finding My Way” by Toni Flynn.  I found the author’s life experiences to be stunning and sympathetic.  The author goes through a lot of emotions and feelings she encounter with homeless people while working at the shelters.  After reading a few chapters I became aware that many people raised in dysfunctional families do not necessarily grow up to have miserable lives, yet these people strive to become better persons  by understanding closely the circumstances others chose to live in.

Every chapter gives a heartbreaking sensation of the hidden issue of homelessness, and the ignorance of the people owning life luxuries.  Along with the discovery of her true identity and exploring events that advocate social change.  This book is presented differently than the rest of the books we have read throughout the course.  The book is based on a personal story inside the world of assisting the homeless, and the distressing feelings of the failures of society.  Reading this book, I can relate similar situations to my personal experiences working at the local homeless shelter.  Sometimes the feelings of distress and frustration can overwhelmed our self- consciousness regarding issues of hunger and homelessness that are challenging to prevent.  I recommend reading this book.

Last week, I had the opportunity to meet one of the residents at my local shelter who became homeless this year. I was informed by staff members that he was struggling to find employment, due to his criminal record.  I wanted to discover the causes of the circumstances he lives and how he maintains to survive without receiving federal assistance.  His conversation relates to this week’s reading from chapter 6 “Helping Homeless Youth” in Inequality, Poverty, and Neoliberal Governance by Vincent Lyon-Callo.  I saw he was overwhelmed by his expression towards the case management working on his case, the frustration in seeking employment, and his upcoming residential contract termination.  He kindly shares his experiences regarding the career and education services provide as a requirement for self-suffiency.  He stated, “  “I am still stuck in that wall, what happens if I push it through it….am I supposed to keep going..keep walking..stop there..you know”.

Most of the homeless people lack education and support system from the staff that discourage them from seeking help in order to develop a plan to achieve their goals in obtaining a stable life.  This man like everyone else feels pressure to have a job without having the proper education to succeed.  How can staff normalize these individuals, when staff are not patient and willingly to understand profoundly the homelessness realities and people’s conditions.   “Instead of starting from 100 to 1…people are not educated and staff do not understand how frustrated they feel. How can I do it when I don’t understand it…? I am not producing I still need to learn how to use it” says the respondent.  In chapter 6 explains that homeless people want to be themselves not be “fixed” because it seems like a way that people are labeling them distinctive as the rest of society.  Homeless people may object to follow regulations and unwillingly to cooperate with staff.  Staff usually give up easily with the homeless people without understanding the major point’s homeless people want to develop to lead them on their path to attainment.  In my opinion I do believe is true, how can we force people to become educated, when we are not educated ourselves.  We need to place an example in order to teach other the leadership skills that they were taught to help others in need.

It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?

                                                                                                                Chris Gardner

I wanted to share this quote above from the movie “Pursuit of Happyness”.  It’s a really great movie to watch about a man struggling to fight homelessness and pursue a high paying job that will maintain stability in his life.  Personal experiences like Chris Garner are being experience with people around the world. Challenging issues like financial matters are hard to relieve when the minimum wages are petrified, and people are unlikely to be promoted to higher positions due to cuts of incomes, and lack of education.

Taking the course of “hunger and homelessness” has made me become more aware of the issues unseen from my part in humanity, financial concerns, and the economy.  Volunteering in my local shelter had worked as a wake-up call to be more concerned with my community and my personal finances.  I have realize that now businesses are hiring people with high levels of education, and opportunities are less likely to be given to a minimum wage workers.  I often hear conversations of homeless residents that expressed their distress for the circumstances they live, and the lack of educational skills that denies these job opportunities.

Sometimes we need to understand that many people fall into this cycle under the economy crisis that keeps these individuals from earning a decent wage to provide necessities for their families.  I personally know a few people that criticize the homeless people by the lack of knowledge in social issues affecting America.  I believe people stay ignorant because they do not want to face the fact that they may be dealing with similar situations, but distinguish theirs into a formal stable living life than the homeless. People can’t rely in things to be for granted neither happiness can be guaranteed.  For this reason, helping the homeless in public awareness can reduce the numbers and increase the number of people achieving a balance life for the intention to pursue happiness.

Working at a homeless shelter has broaden my perspectives of humanity.  I decided to do my internship in my local community.  The organization was founded in 1990, by two women, after serving hot meals to their homeless neighbors in a parish kitchen.  The demand of relief, drove these women to continue their services. Now, after serving 34 years of services, the shelter continues to change the lives of the homeless.

I am grateful to be part of this contribution that helps aid the people in need.  During my internship experience working as a volunteer, I have meet wonderful people that have change my perspective of seeing homelessness.  Working in the career and education center has taught me the factors of homelessness people struggle to maintain a stable life.  I meet a volunteer who works part-time assisting the people with access to resources.  I admire his determination and kindness in striving to change lives of the people. He treats the homeless people with respect and dignity, and in return he receives their loyalty and appreciation. Therefore, I consider him as a true hero.

I am amazed in how our local food markets supply the kitchen department with groceries that makes 4 meals served for 700 people daily.  The residents and the public have the opportunity to enjoy a delicious meal cook from the employees and served by the residents and volunteers.  I am thankful to be accepted by the homeless community, and it brings me pleasure to work with them closely to manage their problems with possible solutions.

I meet a sister who welcomed me with open arms, and she has educated me with the recovery services she offers to the residents and homeless people in fighting addiction and sustaining a healthy life.  She offered to show me around the shelter to meet homeless people and expose the circumstances homeless people face in their daily lives.  In my eyes she a very caring and loving person that devotes her profession to make the best possible attempt for homeless people to seek therapy.  I notice that she follow up with people to identify if their issues have been resolve through the support system the organization provides with respect and dignity.

Connecting with the homeless as a volunteer has helped me understand profoundly the circumstances that drives the people to become homeless.  Hunger and homelessness is a devastating issue that needs to be addressed with public awareness in order to alleviate the cycle of misery.  I believe the weakness of my experience is watching the resident’s children play with the homeless men outside the building.  Children have innocent minds that are not aware of the situations they live, but they give that special bond that makes the homeless men feel affection and happiness.  Every time I go home after working at the local shelter, it increases the desire to do more for my community.  As well as to encourage my family, friends, and acquaintance to get involve to join the organization to prevent the cycle of homelessness.

After presenting to the class the ethnographic work of Kim Hooper, “Reckoning with Homelessness”, it gave me a broad understanding of the rise of homelessness in the United States and the historical context of the high rates of homeless men.  Hopper argues in his book that most written ethnographies lack the reliability of the problem-solving by providing a numerous of facts that has been embarked through history, yet the solutions are not being brought to the attention of the people to deter homelessness.  In his work, Hopper persuades us to understand his structural method with solutions advocated to solve the issue of homelessness and the need to develop organizations for the people to restore the country.

Hopper’s fieldwork define the frameworks of homelessness aggressively to present the failures and improvements the government has assisted in terms of relief.  In his efforts to focus and recognized this problem as a chronic issue grounded by the lack of public assistance and mental illness, Hopper help fund the National Coalition for the Homelessness.  Through his research he continues to distribute social policy and anthropology to help us understand that homelessness is a complex issue where the population varies, and the need to adopt new methods to resolve the issue can establish stability in our country gracefully.

After discussing the “Housing and Urban Development: Homeless assistance Programs” and PIT counts in class, I became more educated on the several methods the government practice to identify the number of chronic homelessness occurring in our communities.  Counting and Surveying the homeless population is an efficient strategy to understand and assist the homeless needs to improve their access of social services.  One of the factors that was disturbing to recognize was the large number of unsheltered homeless people in counties were homelessness seemed to be seen hidden from the population.  Therefore, it brought to my attention in what way can our communities can express the voice of the homeless to reach the others the necessary help to stabilize their lives and our communities to become a better society.  Many people get educated of the causes of homelessness by the observations and experiences they have encounter with a homeless person, but they disregard the facts that homelessness is expanding annually in our neighborhood.

I believe that encouraging people to get involve in our communities and educate them in HUD assisting programs and its outcome towards the reduction of homeless can improve the reliable services families obtain.  Being able to be informed more about in depth homelessness have broaden my thoughts in understanding homelessness through another  vision of what I was accustomed to, and learning more about the complexities of the subject.

https://www.onecpd.info/resources/documents/UnshelteredCountsGuide.pdf

http://www.appliedsurveyresearch.org/homeless/

Taylor’s Campaign documentary is an inspiring film that tells the story of a candidate running for city council and striving to help a local community address the issues of homelessness affecting the city of Santa Monica, Ca.  Taylor is a great example of a social advocate who understands the hardships of homeless people experience while trying to survive and maintain stability in a city where no rights are honored to those that lack social services and employment.  After watching this film it has inspired me to see life differently in different perspectives and value what I have.  Taylor took us to an adventure to open up our hearts and minds of people living on the streets, and see the reality of the disadvantages homeless people face daily.

One of the moments which struck me deeply was when one of the ladies from the homeless community was crying in desperation after being kicked out their space saying, “where are we gonna go, we don’t have nowhere to go..”.  These people have made their space a sustaining habitat, where they have adjusted to the streets, and work to maintain their habits and surviving possessions.  However, public policies reinforce by the city council discourages homelessness, therefore it continues to be controversial issue that has people like Taylor fighting for social changes in the communities. In my opinion, instead of encouraging policies to deter homelessness, the cities need to address the causes of homelessness and provide necessary resources for the people in need.