The week in Washington, DC was an amazing one filled with so much hard work for a variety of sites that provide services for a needy population. We worked in a food bank called Bread for the City; the DC Central Kitchen, that provides over 4700 meals for shelters throughout Washington; Christ Church, a medical facility for men with medical needs that are one step above a regular hospital; and Dress for Success, where women have the opportunity to get suits, dresses and accessories for their work experiences. I have done service here in RI for food banks, however, I never really interacted with the people that I served. It was eye-opening to actually sit and share a meal with a homeless person and to hear their story. The people with whom I spoke were intelligent, but just got some unfortunate breaks and made some bad decisions. Some were just born into that lifestyle and were having such a hard time breaking out.
The whole experience has motivated me to work even harder in our state and to create opportunities for the members of the new Freshman class to work together in the next four years. I hope work along side our students and to learn important lessons with them through service projects while here at Lincoln. I hope we can plan mini service projects throughout the next four years, and not simply wait for senior year.
Living in the Youth Hostel was a sobering experience. This community sharing was sometimes difficult, but an important part of the experience in coming out of my comfort level!
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I had a fantastic time working with the hungry and homeless in Washington D.C. The most significant experience of the trip for me was the dinner we shared with the homeless. Destinee and I sat at a table filled with interesting people who were eager to share their stories and learn about ours. One thing I learned on this trip that while homelessness can be attributed to drug and alcohol abuse, it can also be circumstance related. The people we met are similar to us. The difference is that we have safety nets while they do not. Service is a great way to give back to the community while learning about yourself and others.
P.S. betty lincoln's post is Mrs. Dichiaro
heyyy guys. four words: the trip was awesome. lol sooo besides the fact that i was deathy ill all week, I had a great time doing service. I think that YSOP has been a great experience. A lot of the things we did, soup kitchens, were not a new experience for me personally but i still felt a great sense of accomplishent and "feel good" for connecting with these people. I learned a lot about the homeless community. I met some guys who were awesome people with funny stories. The great part was seeing them later and having them greet me by name and smile. Its like were friends! lol. I also enjoyed working at thrive dc, the guys there were awesome and you could tell that they were dedicated to their work. The homeless who came to eat food were all very appreciative and glad to meet us. I felt like i was really doing some good.
lincoln students should definitely go back next year!
the last comment was from destinee warner and the first one was from sarah stern. btw <3
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