This past week I had the opportunity to eat dinner with Rev. Dr. Miguel De La Torre who was on campus speaking for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s 50th anniversary of his assassination. During dinner he had some words regarding injustices and issues in the world such as immigration and religion. He described a hopelessness that I translated as a kind of hopelessness due to structures set in place that produce conditions that are only getting worse and worse as the years go by. Issues like housing are in the conversation and it made me reflect on points made in class regarding hunger and homelessness in America.

What I began to think about were constraints put on organizations who are constantly trying to fight and end hunger, poverty, homelessness, etc in their own communities. Constraints can include things like laws enforcing fines to organizations that have a history of giving meals to the community or have done the service before. Other constraints include rules and regulations, limited funding, and interference from state or federal governments while attempting to provide a service. In addition to this I started to think about organizations on a local level and how there are multiple organizations providing a variety of services in one place. Yes, this makes sense as it is difficult for one organization to provide a broad area of expertise in every place that displays a need, but organizations most times can be individual in the sense of lack of communication to other organizations. Referral and follow up programs are implemented into some organizations., but I think it may work in favor of every service if they communicate and work together against these larger constraints.