Washington DC

For my service trip I went with a large group of girls to Washington DC to volunteer with the organization YSOP. On the first day we were assigned a small group to be in which we were to do our service with all week. In my group was: Melia, Kara,Mimi, Ruta, and Sarah as our chaperon ( Lincoln 2005 graduate). As many stories were shared and I met many new faces at each and every work site, a particular few incidences are the ones I feel are most special.

The first day we volunteered at Martha's Table ( a soup kitchen, thrift store, and day care), the second day was DC Central Kitchen, and the third day was Thrive DC. I have uploaded a news interview of DC Central Kitchen because out of all places, I felt as though this soup kitchen really knew what they were doing. They feed about 1400 hungry, homeless people each day and they do it with quite a twist. Their kitchen is extremely organized and they have a precise system that makes certain each day the hungry is getting fed without disappointment. The twist that they incorporate is on the staff. They train, hire, and implement actual homeless people to make the food and serve it to their peers. By doing this they are not only feeding the mouths of the hungry but also providing them with work opportunity and keeping them off the street during working hours.

On one of the first days I had been walking through the city from my service project and seen a homeless man on the street sleeping in front of the side door to a government building. He was completely asleep, snoring, and breathing heavily. The angelic look on his face was so simple and innocent that for the first time I realized he was just a regular guy like any of my family or friends, the only difference was that he was asleep on the pavement, instead of a bed, and had a stirofoam cup next to him for the collection of money. Later that day the YSOP leaders arranged for a speaker to come and tell us his life story. He told us how he was a comfortably wealthy guy with a good job that supported his two kids schooling and college tuition, his wife, and helped pay for vacations he would take. When his second child was going to college he and his wife got a divorce and he moved to a separate apartment. Soon after he lost his job and was evicted from his residence, that was the first time he turned to the streets. He said for 3 months he did not open his voice to talk to anyone and lived a life of solitude on the streets. One day he was reading a paper and laughed at something funny, when he laughed he jumped out of terror because he did not even recognize his own voice. The moral of his story was that homelessness can happen to anyone and can strike at any time. No one is invincible that is why everyone must help and be aware of the danger that can be around any corner.

A similar story was told to me on my last day of service at Thrive DC, a kitchen that also offered laundry services, showers, legal help, and a computer lab. One of the guys who came for breakfast was pretty young, around early 20's, and he had a mouth that could talk all day nonstop without taking a breath to breathe His name was Eric and when I walked up to him he was in a deep conversation with Melia telling her about school topics that he knew about. The facts and info he knew was astonishing, He must have been extremely smart. When we were talking he showed us a scare on the back of his head and told us that when he was 8 months old his birth parents tried to kill him, when he was found by a neighbor he was then brought to a foster home. He was adopted, along with 29 other kids, by wealthy family who already had 7 children of their own. He said they lived in a huge mansion in Maryland and had an even grander summer home in Florida. Due to the fact that the family consisted of 39 people he got lost in the shuffle and again became homeless.

The people I met made my view on homelessness change forever. For someone who has had such a traumatic life, they were so open to sharing their stories for the purpose of educating the public on the severity and vulnerability everyone has to homelessness. I feel great about being able to make 500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to feed hungry mouths, and cooking 50 pans of past and I truly look forward to continuing servicing the needy in my community around home and in college. The stories I have learned have changed my view of homeless people and opened up a new way of thinking. No longer will I shy away from a dirty man begging for money on the street, but rather I will look him in the eye as a would with any human being, and give him the money I have in my pocket, because any little contribution can make a difference.

Thank you to my chaperons, girls in my group, volunteer organizations, and the community of DC for providing us with a truly life touching experience...

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gianna