For mine and Sally’s teaching project, our vision was to tackle common stereotypes of the homeless population. As we have learned in class and from personal experiences at our internships and elsewhere, society in general has a negative image of those who are without a home or living through poverty despite the fact that it is not the fault of these individuals. The consensus in our capitalistic culture is to label these individuals as “lazy” or “deviant”, because blaming the individual is far less terrifying than the realization that as a society we are failing to prevent this problem. The ideas about homeless persons being at fault or to blame are far too prevalent and show a significant lack of understanding of structural issues that contribute to poverty. This is why we sought out to show our peers the real story of homelessness that is not often heard with the end goal to raise awareness.

In order to successfully carry out our teaching project, we thought that it would be beneficial to offer new information in a unique and attention-grabbing way. We complied shocking facts, quotes, and statistics which we placed on small cards and handed these to people as they walked in and out of the commons. Our goal was to distribute short cards that offered information versus any lengthy information that was too overwhelming. Over the course of two days, we were able to hand out nearly 200 of these fact cards. The people that we were able to hand cards to read them with their friends or alone and the overall response was shock.

As a follow-up, we also assembled a list of local organizations that many of our classmates have been able to get involved with for the internship portion of the course. Offering the chance to get involved in alleviating homelessness was a significant portion of our teaching project. While simply giving out information regarding homelessness is significant, we felt is was important to include options for outreach. Many people seemed curious about these agencies and how they could get involved.

One of the downsides to our project was the depression that it caused among our peers. While we did have a list of agencies which offer ways to get involved to give people the hope that they can change the situation for the better, the simple fact is that teaching about poverty is not a cheerful subject. In retrospect, to prevent such feelings of despair, we could have given facts about the impact that some people are making every day in the lives of the homeless.

Although our teaching project had some faults, overall we were pleased with the success of our project and the impact that we were able to make. Only after this teaching project did we become aware of how much information we had learned over the course of this semester. I know that we will continue to share our knowledge to others because it is a really rewarding experience.

For the past few months, I have been interning at a local organization that provides services to families who are either homeless or very low income and in need of assistance in a variety of areas to meet their basic needs. Throughout my time spent here volunteering in several different areas of outreach, I have learned a lot about the organization as a whole including their strengths and their weaknesses. I have been able to see some of the positive impacts that this agency provides as well as flaws that hinder their abilities to serve at their full potential, both of which are important to closely examine when considering the agency as a whole.

Because this agency has been in existence for over one hundred years, it is evident that their model is in many ways successful and they have been able to ensure their continued existence. They are able to serve thousands of families each year, providing more than just basic supplies for survival. They are a staple of the community and without them it is without doubt that there would be a significantly larger number of street homeless individuals. Their staff consists of many hard working and dedicated workers that are truly invested in the well-being of their clientele.

While this organization is beneficial to the community and is able to positively impact the lives of many, like any other agency it too has its downfalls. Many of these shortcomings are directly related to funding issues and are in some ways out of the control of the staff. Because of budget cuts and lack of grant support in recent years, the staff and administration have suffered dramatic cut backs at a time when the community needs assistance the most. These cuts have in many ways been devastating for the organization, with their current strategy seeming to be to focus on maintaining their assistance instead of growing it.

Because this agency has suffered cuts in their staff, there is currently a lack of stability in some ways. This means that when emergency situations come up, the staff has to find ways to adapt and meet the challenges of the situation. An example of this was evident one day when the only child care supervisor had an emergency and had to leave, causing a case manager to have to fill that role and leaving her own position empty. It seems to be a constant juggling act for the workers and this ultimately impacts the quality of care that is provided to the clients.

As a volunteer, the biggest shortcoming on the part of the organization that I witnessed is their lack of willingness to discover the talents and individual skill sets of their unpaid assistants. While they do allow the volunteers to choose which existing areas they would feel most comfortable in, they do not encourage them to use their talents in unique new ways that could advance the organization as a whole. Because the staff of this agency is limited in size and there is such a huge reliance on the help of volunteers, I feel that ignoring the ways in which these people could advance this agency leaves a huge gap in their ability to expand.

Overall, this agency is very successful and during my time spent there I have had the ability to learn about their values and methods of outreach and was able to actually see the ways that these actually impact the community. While it is obvious that they are in many ways successful and undoubtedly help a wide array of people in more ways than most would realize, it is equally important to look at their deficiencies and issues that stand in the way of them expanding and reaching more individuals who desperately need their assistance.

Last week in class, we were given the opportunity to look outside the scope of hunger and homelessness in the United States and look at other places around the world. As we reached the point in the semester where we are looking at solutions and what actions are successfully being taken to combat homelessness and poverty globally, we heard from Tammy Durrand the creator of the organization ABC’s and Rice, an organization that educates children and aims to break the cycle of poverty in Cambodia. According to their mission statement, ABC’s and Rice is aimed towards “activating global awareness and helpful resources on the plight of those caught in a cycle of poverty”. These goals are achieved through the out-of-the box thinking and ability to problem solve in order to ensure that children are able to come to school to learn and be given the opportunity for a brighter future.

As most of us were already aware, Tammy discussed the fact that the children that she works with in Cambodia are not given the privileges that children in the United States  are allowed. She explained that even with the offer of a free education for children, parents often still cannot afford that because they would lose the needed help of the children in growing and cultivating food necessary for survival. Tammy’s attitude was remarkable, especially after witnessing the level of hunger and hopelessness that she had during her time in Cambodia. She shared with us the affects that this organization has had in her personal life and the ways that it has shaped her as a person forever. Honestly, it was very inspiring to see how the vision of one individual can grow from humble beginnings to the point where the organization is able to help nearly 200 children, with the hope of expanding to reach so many more families.

I think what sets ABC’s and Rice apart from other organizations that we have been a part of throughout our time in our internship positions is the fact that it is focused on the big picture. Instead of just focusing on small goals, the aim of ABCs and Rice is to combat poverty by giving education to as many children as possible. Unlike our internships that we have become familiar with this semester, Tammy described the fact that ABC’s and Rice does not have to struggle with the issue of maneuvering around the “red tape” and having their hands tied when searching for solutions to the problems of their populations. She described that the only thing standing in the way of solving a unique issue is the ability to problem solve and create solutions that can apply.

I think that it was very powerful to see this example of organizations like ABCs and Rice that are actually offering solutions to poverty and homelessness. I think that it is important to stay positive and aware that resolutions are out there that truly make a difference in the lives of those who are impoverished worldwide.

**  http://abcsandrice.webs.com/

The article that I read was entitled “Talking Sidewalks displays art, writing from homeless”, which discussed the magazine Talking Sidewalks, which has been featuring writing and artwork by the homeless and impoverished population since 2008. I felt that this was one of the most interesting article topics that I have read up on throughout the semester because although giving homeless the opportunity of self-expression and providing them an outlet to share their stories does not directly help them escape their situation, it does give society the opportunity to relate and can be the catalyst for movements and steps towards progress.

According to this editorial, the ultimate goal of the Talking Sidewalks magazine publication has been to increase awareness and  eliminate stigma of homelessness. The article went into detail about how many people in society are disconnected from the homeless because they are unaware of how many similarities they share. One of the media directors involved in the creation of this magazine was quoted in the article, saying “It’s only through conversation that we are able to break down these barriers and have some level of really good understanding of what a lot of the men at the shelter are going through”.

In comparison with providing income opportunities, housing, and nutritional meals to the homeless, allowing them a platform to express their creativity seems trivial, it is actually really important. As we have leanred from other readings from this course, it is vitally important to get the community as a whole to work together to combat homelessness and this provides a way for doing so. As I have learned from texts such as Voices From the Street (Morrell 2007), the homeless cannot be categorized into just one group. Instead, they come from all walks of life and have had more experiences than can be summed up into one. They also have their own ideas about how to battle homelessness, as no one could truly understand the real life struggles of this as well as they do. These are all reasons why the opportunity to view the stories, poems, and artwork of the homeless is vital if we expect to provide them with the right kind of care and support.

http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2014/03/talking-sidewalks-displays-art-writing-from-homeless

Today when reading through current articles relating to homelessness, I cam e across one that offered some interesting insight and points of view that I had no previously considered. The article was entitled “Criminalizing Homelessness” by Jerry Gordon and was published on the Daily Camera site.  The overarching theme of this editorial was the need to move away from the current tendency that our society has adopted of differentiating between “the good homeless versus the bad homeless”, using this as a basis to help some but not others.

I thought that this idea paralleled well with the background research that I had done on my internship site, which states that they offer services for all “worthy poor”. However, distinguishing between those who are worthy and not worthy poor seems to be difficult, if not entirely impossible. It seems as though each person could have their own definitions and standards of what qualifies as “worthy” of help and what does not.

The article by Gordon also spoke of the alienation of homeless individuals that takes place in our nation today. It is undeniable from the texts that we have read in class that there does exist a separation between mainstream society and the homeless. The creation of this “otherness” of those living on the streets has increased the fear that the general public has of the homeless, based on assumptions and negative generalizations. Because of this increased fear and anxiety when around those living on the streets, their presence is being made illegal in more and more public spaces all the time. They are pushed from one city to another to another, constantly being forced to pack up and leave, with the general message of the public being that homeless are not welcome or wanted. Gordon discusses the current national trend of criminalizing the lives of homeless people entirely by making any and all their activities illegal. In conclusion to this tendency, he states that this approach is “a social policy failure”.

http://www.dailycamera.com/guest-opinions/ci_25346344/criminalizing-homelessness?source=most_emailed