Kelly's Thoughts...

Day 3: You all probably know by now what we did on this day, but I will give you a recap. In the morning we went to Community of Hope for a presentation to parents about stress management and how to talk to their children. Then in the afternoon we hoofed our way to Shaw Junior High School. As we entered the school three security guards met us at the door after we had walked through a metal detector. We were briefed about the school in the office and met the principal there as well. We began our work in the library. The library was well put together, but as we talked with the librarian he revealed the struggles the library has faced. He told us that the library was full of books and glass on the floor and was just a complete mess when he began working at the school (one year ago). He also told us that the previous librarian had worked at the school all of three days and then never came back. Our task was to sort through the books and remove the books that were too old for information. Sounds like an easy task, but I am sure most of the books in there were far too old and how do you recommend removing most of the books in their humble little library? Will they have books to replace the old ones? We weren't sure, but as we sorted we used our best judgment in advising which ones to keep and which ones to toss. After our work in the library we were sent out into the classrooms to help the teachers. Jen and I sat in on a science class. The teacher created a highly structured classroom and I was amazed at her skill in keeping the children's attention. After the lesson I helped two boys with their assignments. One of the boys spoke very little english and needed a great deal of help and guidance. The other boy spoke english, but needed help with his spelling. Overall, the kids were well-behaved for me. As I reflect upon this experience I couldn't help but wonder, "where are all the white kids?" My questions was answered by a fellow classmate after we had returned from D.C. She told me that if parents have any money at all they send their kids to private or even boarding schools. Before this trip I honestly believed that racism was all but over with in the U.S. for the most part. This is most definitely not the case. How is it that this school is full of African American and Hispanic children, but no caucasian children? The dynamics of this are complicated, but deserve thought.
Day 4: We began today with a homeless simulation at the Steinbruck Center. Later on in the day we went to Capitol Area Food Bank, but I would like to discuss my thoughts from the homeless simulation. The simulation began with each of us getting a card with a description of who we were, where we worked (or didn't), who was in our family, etc. I was a married male with two kids. I worked at a job and was able to pay my bills with very little space for extra expenses. As the simulation continued we had people at tables around the room who represented several agencies: food bank, unemployment, N Street Village, etc. As the simulation continued our situations changed...jobs were lost, medical bills piled up, and bills were unable to be paid. We all lined up at the unemployment office and were given a 10 page form written in language we didn't understand. We filled the form out anyway making up fake addresses for homes we no longer lived in, making up phone numbers, and sometimes lying about our income. The forms were handed in and then we waited...in the meantime we would attempt to go to the foodbank, but they may have been out of food or we may have made too much to get food. During this time we were expected to pay our bills with our checkbooks...if there was no money we wrote out bad checks. The simulation continued like this and we spent most of our time just standing around waiting for our paperwork to be filed. It occurred to me that I've seen homeless people just standing around and the thought had crossed my mind of "they don't look so busy...why aren't they out there looking for jobs?" Now I realized that they very well could be applying for jobs, unemployment, and trying to pay their bills, but that there is a lot of waiting time involved in this. And why would you want to get a job if that meant you would lose your benefits?
Day 5: This was our last full day in D.C. and it was my favorite. In the morning we went to Thrive DC! We prepared, cooked, and served food. The people who came to get food didn't need identification, all they had to do was sign in. They were offered hot food, a warm shower, and lots of support. Up until this point most of our work had been with homeless women. Thrive DC! had mostly homeless men. As with the junior high, most of the people there were African-American and hispanic, with very few white people present. The disparities are undeniable.
After Thrive DC! we went to Christ House and talked with patients about diet and exercise. Christ House is a 34-bed health care facility where homeless men and women can stay after their illness and get nutritious meals, medical care, and social services. What a wonderful place! We talked with 4 patients and they had several questions about diet and exercise, but what I noticed most what how much each patient just wanted to tell their story. We enjoyed hearing their stories and I am sure it was therapeutic for them to share their feelings and thoughts. The patients also praised Christ House and the staff at Christ House. They felt they had adequate support to get back on their own. Christ House is not only a medical facility, but a facility that helps each patient achieve health, housing, and support.