Today our crew broke up into two groups again to visit different sites. The group I was a part of attended a Salvation Army family shelter. This was a challenging placement because the facility was understaffed, And we were left more on our own to figure out how to connect with residents and their children, without much order or support. We were also invited to pull weeds from their garden, and the task felt endless and again, the sun was out in full strength.
After some progress with weeds and some connecting with the children, we ate lunch and then left for another site visit. At the Action Center we got to experience are large share house facility that provides multiple services including a food, clothing and household goods pantry. Donations were constantly being dropped off during the 3 and a half hours that we were there and because it was such a busy day for the center, they were falling behind on sorting clothes. Staff was needed at the front desk, and so it worked out well that we were there to help out. We sorted clothes and got them out onto the “shopping” area as fast as we could. It was amazing how rapid the turnover was.
The other half of our group was at a day facility for low income people with brain injury and trauma or M.S. our youth interacted with program participants by serving as a buddy while they participated in various activities, such as art, working out, or golf.
After our time at our various site visits was up, we met back at denUM for a food stamp challenge of trying to find dinner on a budget of 1.20 per person. A major challenge was that we needed to purchase the food while staying in the neighborhood, for which we quickly learned I’d a “food desert”. We all have great compassion tonight for what folks must go through being in this situation meal after meal.
Our evening’s program at denUM concluded with the opportunity to hear from a speaker who was formerly homeless. Again, incredibly eye-opening…
Everyone is going to sleep right now and so I must sign off. More tomorrow…
Katie