Category Archives: Local organizations

On the Other Side of the Spoon

Local organizations

This weekend I embarked on my third street retreat through the organization Faithful Fools, located in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco, a place where many homeless reside. I spent the day on my own observing the homeless community. I carried no belongings- no watch, phone, water bottle, or money. It was raining the entire day and I coped with being soaked. I ended up spending time at the public library and saw and smelt a number of homeless people doing the same. I noticed that the homeless people developed strategies to stay much dryer than I was.

I had lunch at the soup kitchen Glide, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week. All of the homeless people at the soup kitchen new what to do. I felt silly for asking where the line started, and was afraid of cutting in front of someone. I stood in line in a room called, “Freedom Hall.” The ratio of women to men was approximately 1:13. The meal was served in the churches basement. Kind volunteers with smiles served me a tray that food had been thrown on. After receiving my food I nervously looked for a table to sit. I had a conversation with one man, although it was very hard to hear what he was saying due to the very loud atmosphere. The feeling is quickly eat your food and go so the next person can do the same. I could tell volunteers were confused by my presence- who was I, why was I here?

I reflected on what it felt like to be on the other side of the spoon. I have served many meals at homeless shelters. I have been that young girl who smiles and hands the homeless their tray of food. Yet, when you are on the other side of the spoon the feelings are different.

http://www.faithfulfools.org

Problematic Discourse

About being poor, How we should treat each other, Local organizations, Organizations, People, Poverty, Reflections on our Reading

On Saturday I worked at my internship organization’s weekly food bank and observed discourse about poverty.

At my organization, there are “food box runners” who carry out the boxes to the clients’ cars or wherever they wish. These runners are usually male volunteers who can lift a decent amount. I recognized the some of the same people doing it as last week, but there were new volunteers doing this job. One of the senior volunteers (or one of the pastors, I’m not exactly sure) within the organization was explaining what these runners needed to do. I overheard parts of the explanation, and there were one huge red flag. The volunteer, Bob*, said what I expected him to say, smile and be respectful,  but then I heard him say “These people come here with low self-esteem and depression. They don’t want to be taking these boxes but they have to.” Bob already had preconceived notions about these people, and it made me think about the discourses of Lyon-Callo’s book Inequality, Poverty, and Neoliberal Governance and other discourses that we’ve been discussing in class. My organization proclaims to be giving people a sense of dignity, but this struck me as problematic because you don’t give dignity to people by assuming that they have low self-esteem and depression; it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy, and I think it skews the way you view the clients. Those runners likely behaved differently toward the clients than if they hadn’t been told that. If I had been in Bob’s position, I would have just told the runners to be respectful and kind like I would tell any other person working at my organization. I wouldn’t add the problematic discourse additionally.

Panhandlers in Redlands

About being poor, Homelessness, How we should treat each other, Local organizations, News link, People, Poverty

I picked up a copy of the Redlands Daily Facts (our local newspaper) today and saw that the front page headline was “POPULAR WITH PANHANDLERS: Redlands’ reputation for giving lures locals, out-of-towners seeking handouts.” Of course, the “handout” stereotype caught my eye, and I proceeded to read the article (which can be found online, here.) Just the way the entire article is set up and written bothers me. It is full of negative stereotypes and stigmas against panhandlers and focuses completely on the police’s and the businesses’ side rather than taking a deeper look into the lives of the panhandlers. The article points out the way people spend the money they receive while panhandling, pulling quotes from interviews with the panhandlers such as, “You’ve got to survive out here. You’ve got to do it to make money to buy your food, beer and tobacco.” The article emphasizes the fact that many panhandlers have drug/alcohol addictions, posing addiction as a cause of the homeless problem rather than an outcome and stereotyping these people as lazy drug-addicts who spend the “handouts” they receive on booze and dope. The article lacks empathy for the people who apparently are “coming from outside city limits to come to Redlands to panhandle because it’s more profitable” due to Redlands citizens’ “big hearts.” The article emphasizes the fact that “one out of three panhandlers are not homeless,” as if to persuade people that the housed people are even more unworthy of donated money. It goes on to explain different tactics panhandlers use to get money, characterizing these people as liars. The police and the newspaper article encourage people to donate to organizations that help the homeless in the area instead of giving directly to homeless people. This is a recurring theme we have seen throughout history. The authorities encourage people to funnel their money through the institutions that help homeless, but there are not enough truly helpful organizations to solve the problem.  Overall, this article was frustrating, but not surprising. It lacked an understanding of the homeless problem and brushed over the backgrounds of panhandlers, stigmatizing them as lazy and evil.

Differences between Wednesday and Friday

Local organizations

This Wednesday and Friday I went to my internship at a runaway youth shelter located in Redlands. Each day was a completely different experience due to differences in the youth’s feelings. Wednesday I struggled because the boys were pushing me and testing my authority. It is interesting because the girls see me as a celebrity. I feel more comfortable when I am working with the girls, but being strong and maintaining authority is an important skill to develop. Friday I just worked with the boys because one of the girls had a migraine and the other girl was having health issues. It makes me sad going there because there are problems that I cannot help with. I leave and it is not like things will be better tomorrow.

The boys were all pretty sad on Friday. It is interesting to observe the differences in the youth advocates. One of the youth advocates on Friday really acknowledged each youth. During snack the youth took turns answering questions such as how are you feeling on a scale of one to ten? Why? What are your goals for the week? What is your favorite food? The youth advocate carefully looked at each youth while they were speaking. The youth advocate gave whoever was speaking complete attention. If another youth spoke when it was not his turn the youth advocate would firmly and calmly reminded the youth that it was not their turn.

An ongoing struggle that I have observed is when the youth are supposed to do their homework. I have never witnessed successful homework time. The youth have so much going on that they are unable to concentrate on their work. This is a painful time, the youth are so bored. I wish that I could interest them with what they are learning. I try but I am still struggling with learning how to do so.

Promoting Dignity

About being poor, How we should treat each other, Local organizations, Organizations, Solutions to Homelessness

            I have been interning a Family Services center, an agency dedicated to offering support to low-income and homeless families with the end goal of leading them towards self-sufficiency. Family services depends on the support of organizations and leaders to improve the lives of those at or below the poverty line, which in turn strengthens the community as a whole.

             I began my work in the distribution center. The labor of this work can be grueling at times but it made me appreciate the care that’s put into this process. Staff members believe in giving clients items that they would be proud to own. Items are cleaned, disinfected, and made presentable. Goods that don’t meet these expectations are put into bags and placed where individuals can grab them. Absolutely nothing donated is wasted.

            I’ve spent time in the clothing center. Clients come in to this room and are given fifteen minutes to browse clothing options. It’s an opportunity for them to receive any special needs items such as blankets, pillows, towels, or cooking utensils. Clothes are folded, counted, recorded, and bagged in regular shopping bags. Clients are able to come in, gain access to clean clothes and choose what fits their needs, including work appropriate attire that will enable them to search for employment.

            The food pantry is set up very similarly to a grocery store, with aisles of foods. Families are given access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and good sources of protein and vitamins. They fill grocery bags with food items to meet the family’s needs. When they leave, the items are in grocery bags so there would be no way to detect that they had gotten these food items from anywhere but the grocery store. This is another way that they are treated with dignity.

            I have been volunteering in the child care center which is a very important feature of Family Services. It allows parents the time to go to classes and counseling while knowing that their children are safely being cared for. On a usual day, children are dropped off and signed in by parents and they begin their school homework projects that they have. The volunteers in this area spend a lot of time and efforts helping the children understand and complete their homework and any special projects that they have to prevent them from falling behind in school.

            Going forward, I hope to gain much more insight into some of the services that I am less familiar with. I am aware that this organization offers a wide variety of services such as resume building, job assistance, and computer skills training, I’m not fully knowledgeable of the specifics of these services. I hope to gain insight in these classes and the feedback of the clients.

          The overall message of this organization is to promote the dignity of all people, a concept that we have identified in class as imperative. While it’s overwhelming to consider the status of homelessness, this experience has made me see the great impact that a single person can make. Family Services was established over one hundred years ago and was built on the importance of community members volunteering by donating time, money, and resources. Each and every individual who has volunteered here has played a role in ensuring that it is able to keep going.

Internship Progress Report

Anti-Poverty Programs, Homelessness, Hunger, Local organizations, Organizations, Poverty, Solutions to Hunger, Solutions to Poverty

Since 1898, the service association I have been interning at has relied on donations and a system of volunteers to provide services to low income and homeless families, disabled adults, and impoverished seniors of the East Valley. Today, there are 14 paid staff members and several volunteers.

Families that receive support from this location are either homeless or on the brink of homelessness. The many services provided by the organization are aimed at helping families in danger of becoming homeless pull themselves out of the rut that many get stuck in. The organization uses a case management-based approach that makes their care more compassionate and personal. Parents can take free classes on budgeting, parenting, anger management, computer skills, etc. and get job training or help with job searching. Housing assistance is provided through the Home Again program, which helps families move from homelessness to permanent housing through several different programs.

Food, clothing, furniture, and many other supplies needed for living are provided to clients through the distribution center. The distribution center contains the food pantry and the clothing room, where volunteers work daily to sort and organize donations. Families can “shop” for clothes and bedding in the clothing room each month. Volunteers in the food pantry put bags of food together for families of different sizes. Giving families the food in grocery bags makes it look as though they are just taking food home from the store like any other person, saving them from judgment.

The childcare center provides a place for children to go while their parents are in class or counseling or any other service they receive. There are plenty of board games, toys, puzzles, books, and crafts available to keep the children busy while they wait for their parents. On certain days, tutoring and homework help is available to the children as needed, to help them keep up with school. This is a very important aspect of the childcare center, as many of the families have a hard time keeping up with school with so many other things to deal with.

Meals are provided to families every night at 5:30 p.m. The dining room is set up with each family at their own table. Parents go to the kitchen to get the food and bring it back to the rest of the family, rather than every person waiting in line, as is done at many charity services. This makes the dining experience more relaxed, dignified, and comfortable for the entire family.

This service organization also puts on holiday programs including Christmas gift giving, in which the parents can pick out and wrap presents for their children, Thanksgiving and Easter meals, Easter baskets, and Easter egg hunts. These are fun experiences that every child deserves to have, and which could not be possible without the volunteer help and donations from the community.

All of these services have helped families in need immensely over the 100+ years that the volunteer-based organization has been around. It is clear that this association understands that everyone deserves respect and dignity and treats its clients with compassion and care.

Across the Street, Behind the Park

Local organizations

I am interning at a runaway youth shelter located in Redlands for youth 11-17 years old. Their primary goal is family reunification. The youth are allowed to stay for a maximum of ninety days; the average stay is six weeks. The organization was established three years ago.

The organization has strict rules that are explained to clients during the intake process. Clients are required to follow the program and dress code rules. During the intake process the youth and the youth’s family are asked what help they need. Youth follow a schedule that includes various programs and services such as learning coping skills, meeting in groups, art sessions, counseling, and tutoring.

The organization has ten staff and twenty-four hour coverage. The staff have numerous responsibilities including monitoring client interaction, assigning client chores, conducting groups, answering phones, setting up appointments, preparing meals and snacks, recording in shift logs, which record client activity every half hour. The youth advocate works with the client to develop goals. Clients are brought here in a variety of ways including coming in on their own or being brought in by a parent, school officials, social workers, or law enforcement.

I have met several students from other colleges. One group of students does art with the clients. On my first day of working with the youth I participated in decorating pillows. When we were making pillows one of the girls started to cry. The radio was playing and I asked her if she wanted to change the song. She cried for a little and then stopped. When I was making pillows with the youth they treated me like a celebrity. They gave me multiple compliments, I like your shirt, your hair is pretty, your pillow looks good. One of the youth shared that she was making her pillow for her four month old child.

In a tight safe bubble University of Redlands students occupy themselves with their day. They go from class to class, do assignments, read, or decide not to. Students play sports, go the gym, and parties. Students go from place to place in a sheltered small bubble surrounded by other people who do similar activities. I am surrounded by other students constantly. Yet, I can feel so disconnected. The Commons might be filled, yet I feel no connection. Many students are so busy and consumed with their own life. It is so easy to overlook what exists across the street, behind the park, this organization is almost like a different world.

Internship Progress

Local organizations, Portraits of Homeless, Uncategorized, Working poor

Through my internship, I am volunteering at a religious organization that provides food boxes, emergency food boxes, nightly dinners, and chapel services. I was determined to figure out what the organization had to offer as I wanted to be as unbiased as possible for the entirety of the internship. Upon first going there, I was aware that I was going to be package food and distributing it to those in need. However, I was unaware that it was going to be so much more complicated than that.

The hostility of the current volunteers was somewhat off-putting, yet this was a concept I would come to understand later on. I met a man named Bob who was the only one who greeted me kindly. We put together food boxes and he asked me several questions about my purpose and what I hope to gain out of the internship. The next time I came, mostly everyone greeted me kindly as I had gained the trust of Bob. The dynamic between the volunteers seemed unbalanced. This lead me to ask Bob why he started volunteering at my internship site.

Bob went on and explained his troubled youth in Chicago, to his move out west to work for a bank. Bob had a tiff with drugs and drug usage which landed him in his current unemployed state. He is on welfare and due to the fact he is unemployed, he has to volunteer 150 hours a month to receive his aid. Because he spends so much time volunteering, he is unable to apply for jobs due to irregular “free time” and a lack of internet service. Bob has a nine year old daughter and a wife, who is also unemployed. This lead me to investigate what motivated other to volunteer at the site. The answer was that they were all on parole, probation, or actively going to drug court for their own separate reasons. More than half of the volunteers were using the services of the site itself, depending on their own weekly food box.

There are a few key takeaways I have had thus far. First, all homeless people are not the same. Some people come to pick up their food boxes in work uniforms and some arrive in tattered clothes, but have the same needs. Second, not all people who need help can receive it. There is a rigorous process with my internship site that makes it competitive to receive aid with the limited number of spots. Those who are able to consistently receive aid are viewed as “the lucky ones.”  Lastly, society perceives help and aid in interesting ways as our culture feels like a simple “handout” can lead someone to success. While having a meal would make someone more likely to complete activities since they have calories to get them moving, it actually accomplishes nothing. The construction of our societal model of help blurred by certain help being perceived as good when the reality of intentions does not match the desired result.

The Blessing Center

How we should treat each other, Local organizations, Organizations, People, Portraits of Homeless, Solutions to Hunger, Uncategorized

The Blessing Center has been a great place to volunteer.  I am seeing the hope and help that they bring to people who are struggling, but also the impact The Blessing Center has on volunteers.  The Blessing Center is a small community within a larger community of Redlands that helps people who are in need, in ways I did not think were possible.  Seeing how volunteers who were once helped by the Blessing Center are giving back, shows the impact that this small community has had.  People who volunteer at The Blessing Center are hopeful and dedicated to helping others in any way that they can.  It is an organization that has stood in Redlands for over 14 years and continues to follow its values every day of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and helping those who are hurt.

Within The Blessing Center there are food and clothing distribution centers and resource centers available for their clients.  Being able to volunteer at this site has shown me the value of volunteering.  While working in the food distribution center you are able to see the clients and sometimes interact with them.  I was fortunate enough to be able to see and interact with the clients while giving them food.  It was very eye opening to see how many people just in Redlands were in need of help.  They picked up their boxes of non-perishable food and then came to us so we could give them the fruit/vegetable bags.  Many of the people kept saying “God Bless You” as they walked by showing just how grateful they truly were.

The distribution centers of The Blessing Center are opened every Tuesday and Saturday for clients.  After getting their food, clients are able to come back in and take any clothing if needed.  I have only been able to volunteer on Saturdays so I am hoping I can go during the week to volunteer and observe some of the other resources and centers that the Blessing Center offers.  They have class to teach people how to operate computers, resource centers to help people find jobs, clinics for people in need of shots or other medical attention, dentistry,  H.O.P.E centers for people affected by HIV/aids, and various programs for children.

My favorite part about volunteering at the Blessing Center is the sense of community that surrounds you while you are there.  Every Saturday Pastor Craig starts off the day with a prayer circle.  He blesses the food and clothing that they have received throughout the week and blesses all the volunteers.  He thanks God for all the opportunities he has given The Blessing Center and how grateful he is for it being able to help so many people.  He then opens up the circle for anyone else who would like a say a few words.  This prayer circle always makes me feel like I chose the right place for my internship because of the sense of community and how grateful, passionate, and hopeful everyone is.

 

 

 

500 word intern summary

Local organizations

My internship has helped change lives for thirty years and their motto is “Be part of the change”. In a program setting, homeless people can come here to prepare themselves for a better future who choose growth and change. This internship has a few different help options on who can come into this program. The main two options that are offered here are a two week emergency shelter program and an extended ninety day emergency temporary shelter program.

This internship focuses much of its emphasis on strengthening the homeless individual through support program that they offer at the shelter which includes on sit groups and classes. They offers a handful of different programs that are an ongoing basis. Beginning with the department of Agriculture nutrition program, which has been certified from the University of California Riverside. This is a program that is devoted to improving the quality and provisions of food to these individuals. They also offer a twelve step recovery program, which has an on-site and outside meeting attendance required. This is a twelve step recovery program that has helped many people stop the use of alcohol and drugs. Another program they had was “Dress for success for all ages”. This program is designed to help these individuals transition from unemployment to working many challenges, from understanding corporate culture to handling personal finances, often without any support systems in place to help them navigate this difficult change. This program provides information that will help these individuals unfamiliar with the workplace continue to develop skills and advance in their careers. Another program they had was on positive correction techniques for dealing with daily stress and anger. This helps teach you on how managing stress is all about taking charge of your thoughts, emotions, schedule, and the way you deal with problems. This is not only a life skill that homeless individuals can learn but something that everyone can learn.

Homelessness is a problem all over the world. There may not be a cause to homelessness but there certainly are ways to help those out in need. Programs, initiatives, and support can only do so much, but this help is helping those get back on their feet. As we have learned through our class and statistics that homelessness is a large systematic problem rather than an individual problem. Shelters like my internship are perfect opportunities to help those that are trying to change their lives for the good. These shelters can only really help those who actually want the help, just like the twelve step program. I could tell through the few individuals at this shelter that they all wanted the help to change their lives. They had dedication and motivation in themselves to see a better future. As I have seen, these individuals have already improved their life since the style they used to live in. They have started the path to a better future.