day 1 family promise Huan

Today we went to Family Promise. It was exceptionally fun because we got to do a field trip in a field trip. We went to a church to pick up a bed because someone left it there. We brought the bed to First United Methodist Church because it was that church's turn to host the shelter for homeless people. Later on we went to store some beds at a storage compound that was very old-fashioned and spooky. The elevator ride up to the third floor felt like a zombie game, like something was going to pop out of nowhere. I even got a few laughs when I sneaked up on and scared Claire and Kiylah. Eventually we went back to the Family Promise building for the last 30 minutes. We got to play with Marquise and another Daniel.

Today in class, when Lisa came in, I was really moved by the parts about the percentages of homeless people like families, children etc., and the six misconceptions of homeless people. 

Day 3 Guiding Light Mission Olushola

Today at the Guiding Light Mission we had more experience with the guys that live at the mission. This time they were used to seeing us come around. They would say hi and enjoy us being around. They say things like "stay in school" or "keep up the good work," and personally I think that is pretty neat, because they know how important it is to stay in school and had a good education.  Hearing the guys say that is making me work even harder. Today we also helped out Joshua with making some lunch for the people who come in to get something to eat who don't live at the mission as well as the guys who stay at the mission.  We're doing more of that friday.

Day 3, Hope Community Adrianse

So we babysat little kids today. They were so much fun (:  They were all over the place but the moms were happy to get their free time. One mom near the end was watching us play with the kids and talked to us kinda. But I thought it was like she wanted to see how we are with her kids, you know? Well I think she was okay with us being with her kids because she was laughing and smiling. I enjoyed it alot. But before the kids got there we helped take the trash out and talked about the breakfast thingy for friday. I cant wait to meet more woman and cook some bacon(x

Day 3 Degage Ministires Feddema

"Do you all have band aids?"

I was asked that question, after I unlocked a man's locker for him and was about to walk that way. Right away I had noticed the wide, but not deep, bloody cut on his arm. I also knew that he had just finished his shower, so either he had somehow hurt himself during that or the cut was old but the water caused it to open up. I told him yes and went behind the counter, pulling out the first aid kit. I right away looked for gloves, since I have a paranoid mom and I know that that was what she would want me to do. I didn't find any. I dismissed this, reminding myself to wash my hands afterwards thoroughly. I then got out alcohol swipes and different size band-aids, and he was already waiting there at the counter for me. I told him I could clean it off, and he didn't stop me so I started wiping off the blood and talked to him, asking him how it happened. He told me that he was helping down in the kitchen and got burned, and that the cut just reopened. We then talked about his day, and he asked a little bit about me and my life. I finished by putting on a band-aid, and he told me thank you and walked away.

I didn't really think much of it until this afternoon, when Lisa started talking and read the verse from Matthew; "Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me." Honestly, I've been having a lack of faith lately. During break today I called my mom and asked her to pray for me, because I was struggling to get through the day, but didn't think I had the strength to talk to Him myself. Mom prayed for God to wrap His arms around me, to hug me and help me remember how special I am to Him. I'm honestly glad that I didn't wear the gloves, because part of me feels like today I got to clean up and touch Jesus. I got to have a conversation with someone, and I served Him. Lisa reminded me that no matter what I do, where I do it, or how I'm feeling... He is with me. 

Day 3 Shepherds of Independence Bultsma

Today at Shepherds of Independence we cleaned again. We've worked on sweeping and moppingthe floors, cleaning windows, and taking down christmas decorations on the second floor. Dave told me that he was extremely thankful that we were there because otherwise those things may have had to wait until next week to get done because there were so many other things to do. We were doing little things around the building but we were told that it makes a huge difference because they can focus on other things. Some of the residents have told us that we are doing great work and are thankful because otherwise they would have to do it.

I can tell that it means a lot to them that we are doing everything we can do to make things easier. Even though we were doing small things I could tell that it meant a lot to the residents and the staff, it means that something else is checked off the list that they won't have to do.

Day 3 Placements Mr. Tuit

This morning I did some research for the course, but I also went back to look for Gravedigger, whom I met on Division Tuesday. I didn't find him, but I'm to go back again tomorrow and next week until I find him.

Here's why: My awareness of the importance of relationships has been starting to grow. I've always thought of what I do as a teacher as being relationally-based. In fact, I've thought of my personal mission as "forming relationships that equip people to become the person God created them to be." I haven't always taken that idea into my interaction with homeless people. Then my interaction with Gravedigger on Tuesday was warm and personal. Today, Lisa talked to us about her work at Family Promise and gave us ideas about how we can help the homeless, and the first main point was to "see the homeless as people." Some of the most exciting things that have happened among students placements have been when students have gotten to know the people they serve by name.

I need to do a better job of building relationships with those I serve--particularly in the regular contact I have with people on the street or on corners holding signs. I can't just toss a dollar bill out the window--that's not affirming an individual. For my "placement time" in the next week, one goal I have is to go back and talk to Gravedigger some more, getting to know him as a person (and probably buying a walking stick). A second is to make some little packets for the people I see on the street corners, then spend some time with at least one of them in a significant way, learning their story and getting to know them before offering help.

Day 3 Family Promise Banaszak

When we got there today, we did some more sorting in the donation room, and then took a little visit to some churches. Lisa talked today about the 14 churches that let families sleep there at night, and we went to visit two of those. The first one was Trinity and we picked up a bed that was left there from the week before. Then we went to First to drop off the bed, and we got to see what the rooms look like when the families are there. It looks nice, but not anywhere I would want to be because it's not home. They had a little gathering room with a TV and table and games, so they definitely treat the families well. After that the three of us went to Family Promise's storage room, which looks like it's 200 years old and is really creepy. Some guys from Guiding Lights came with a truck of mattresses so we helped them bring the mattresses up to the third floor in an elevator shaft. Which was really freaky. Kelsey told me and my group a little about Guiding Light since we would be working with those guys, and so I wasn't really sure what to expect. But they seemed completely normal! Kelsey was even joking with them about stuff.

One thing I've really noticed that's changed about me since we started this class is the way I look at homeless people. Instead of thinking negative things the minute I see them, I look at them as normal people. Which is actually a lot easier than thinking bad or even sad things about them. And Lisa's talk today helped with that too. It's good to see other people, especially people that help the homeless for a living, see them as normal.

Day 3 Shepard's of Independence Van Tol

Today Amanda and I went to Shepard's of Independence with Jessie and Yazmine because our place is only open certain days of the week. So when we got there this morning we knew it would be totally different. At First Place we wait until Mr. Johnson gets there then we listen to him talk and then do whatever he needs us to do. At this place, you talk to the janitor briefly then go to work right away. You don't sit around and chat for an hour: They tell you right away what to do and you get most everything done they need. The first thing Yazmine and I did was vacuum the rugs. We also mopped the floor and elevator. After that was done we swept upstairs and downstairs and put the Christmas trees away. The final thing we did before we left was load the trees into boxes and put all the boxes in the basement. It was a different but great experience. 

The speaker that came this afternoon definitely loves her job and knew what she was talking about. I enjoyed listening to her, but that one fact that stuck out was that 40% of the homeless are kids. I thought that was very sad but also interesting. I didn't think that many kids would be homeless. It also makes me want to continue to help them and also become a social worker. :)

Day 3 YWCA Workman

Something that i have really realized over the past three days is that I have A LOT of stereotypes about homeless people even if I didn't realize it. At the YWCA I realized that not all homeless people keep to themselves and are very anti-social. I used to think that homeless people kind of shied away from people who wanted to give them help because they didn't want to accept it. I realized that a lot of the women at YWCA are very friendly and are very grateful for what we were doing there.

Lisa's talk this afternoon really focused on the 6 main stereotypes of homeless people:
1) All homeless people are dirty smelly mentally unstable alcoholics living under a overpass.
2) Its their own fault they ended up where they are.
3) Homeless people are lazy.
4) All homeless people need to do is just get a job and everything will work itself out.
5) Every homeless person panhandles.
6) The little things we do for homeless people wont make a difference.

The main thing I realized was I believed all of these. I thought that all of these misconceptions were true. Because of this class I have realized that those misconceptions may sometimes be the case for a certain people, but it is not necessarily true for all homeless people. When I next meet a homeless person I just have to remember that assuming the bad about them doesn't  do you or them any good.

Day 3 Hope Community Fethke

I think that something to be learned from this winterim course is that building relationships with people and treating people with respect and care is important for all people. Just from being at Hope I have learned this to be true. I think the women there are still unsure what our role with them is, but I also think that they really appreciate our help. Tomorrow we are having a pancake breakfast for all the residents, and as we were telling the women about it, I can tell they are excited and they appreciate the interaction we are having with them. I am excited because I think tomorrow will be a day where we can really talk to the moms and learn their stories. I am also looking forward to next week because we are planning on cleaning some of the apartments with the women and talking to them on a more personal level.

After hearing Lisa talk this afternoon, it has become more and more clear that building relationships is one of the most important things. I think it helps them have a bit of "normality" (if that is a word) in their lives to help forget about the stress of jobs and food and money.  I not only think that this communication is important for the residents, but it is also important for me. I think learning their stories can help me break the stereotypes in my mind when I think of a homeless person, and I also think it can make me more aware and grateful for the things that are really luxuries. And making a new friend is always a plus. I hope the women there are willing to open up, and I also hope that I am willing to open up, too.

Day 3 YWCA McLemore

Today me and my group went back to YWCA. We went in the toy room that had hundreds of toys that were donated and we organized them. Seeing all of the things the people donated made me really happy because it showed how much people in this world care about others.

Today in class we had a speaker named Lisa.  Hearing Lisa say that we shouldnt be afraid of helping homeless people made me feel more comfortable and actually makes me want to volunteer at homeless shelters after this class. Lisa reminded me that I shouldnt be afraid of helping those in need and that its okay to reach out and help people who are homeless.

Day3 YWCA Taylor

When Lisa came in to talk to us about homeless in Grand Rapids, I actually learned alot from her that I did not know. For example Lisa said that "40% of homeless people are children." That is from families, which mostly over takes the most people that are homeless. So what I'm starting to learn is that you have to take your education and future seriously because you don't want to end up homeless with children or by yourself barely making it. The best part I'm learning from this experience is that this happens to alot of people even if they started off with a decent job and nice home. This could happen to any one, so just by doing good (even little things) can really help alot in the future. Plus, it's important to think about others and help out the ones in need now. Once they've gotten themselves on track they can start to have the life they want so badly.

Day 3 YWCA McKeever

Today me and my group were working in the gift room, which was packed so high full of toys that it was hard to get from one side to another without stepping on toys and knocking things over. As we were cleaning someone knocked on the door since it was locked, and I did not know who it was so I nswered it. This resident seemed to be very angry with us and started tellling us about how we woke up her kids and how we need to be more quiet. I told her we were sorry and she just shrugged her shoulders and walked away, so I closed the door and we continued what we were doing. A few minutes after she walked away we decided to go downstairs and see if there was a different job we could do since we did not want anyone else to wake up. Jen, the organization counselor, told us that she put a letter in everybodys box saying that volunteers would be working here for the next two weeks and if someone knocks again then that we can just semd them to go see the staff. So we went back upstairs and worked for awhile, and then Jen came and told us to finish up and go down to my moms office. When we were in my mom's office we told her about the women who was angry with us an my mom said she would take care of it.

Day 3 Shepard's of independence Johnson

Today I went somewhere new. It's called Shepherds of independence. It's an organization where they give mentally ill people a home and food and they can come and go as they please. We cleaned and helped put boxes away and did just small simple things like that. It was definitely a new experience for me.

In ther afternoon we had a speaker come and talk to us about her job. She was a social worker and just got her masters degree in social work. She was telling us some stories and gave us lots of ways that we can help the homeless in our community.  

Day 2 Hope Community Vis

Today I got to go to Hope Community for the second time. We brought several different crafts for the kids. We had crayons, coloring books, stickers, and pipe cleaners. We set up all the crafts on tables and waited for people to come. Though it took awhile we had our first family come out. This single mother had a three year old little girl and chubby little four month baby boy.  The little three year old girl was ready to go play with all these new things. Jumping from lap to lap she tried everything. Making necklaces out of pipe cleaners, plastering her paper with stickers, and attempting to color in the lines. Her younger 4 month old brother was passed from person to person. Everyone wanted to hold the adorable little boy. Eventually another mother came out with her three year old girl. At first she was very shy, but it only took a few minutes for her to join in jumping from lap to lap trying out new crafts. As we made bows, necklaces, frogs, and some drawings we had our last taker in the offer. She was a mother of two girls. One was 11 and in 6th grade and another was 19. Even though her kids were at school she enjoyed doing a few crafts on her own. She also took a few coloring book pages for her 6th grader.  She ask where we were from and we had a good conversation about her niece who graduated form our school. I had a fun time connecting to all these woman who have gone through so much.

I have learned a lot about homeless people so far this week. I have learned that it is very important not to stereotype people. Most aren't anything like the things that come to mind when we see a homeless person. Today I met a woman who is an amazing mother and she talked about traveling the world once her children are out of the house. It took me by surprise at first, and then I realized she wont be homeless forever. One day she can travel the world because she knows she can work hard and reach her dreams. Another thing I learned this week is how easy it is to become homeless. In the "game" we played yesterday I realized there were choices that would make me broke, but I'd still make them. It didn't hit me until then.

Day 2 Family Promise Sims

Today we finished cleaning the donation room then we folded covers, towels and sheets and reorganized the under clothes. We found a pillow pet and Daniel wanted to keep it, so he put in the bag with the rest of the pillows.  We finally got done with one shelf so we told Kelsey and finished the rest of them. When we were done we took some clothes out of some bags and folded them up and put them on the table for the patients to look at We  

I met these two little boys today and they had the brightest smiles and were SOOO cute!! They loved to play and run. They would run up to us and give us a hug, then they would lay on the middle of the floor. We met the mom. She Was SUPER nice, too.

Day 2 Degage Ministries Feddema

Today, we did basically the same thing as yesterday. We walked into the building and waited to talk to the main desk runner and right away I was greeted by a man I now know as George, "Hey Gabe!" That was super great, that someone remembered me. Throughout the day, we worked behind the counter, opening lockers for people, selling them razors, long johns, shirts, gloves, etc. for low amounts of money. I also would put soap and tokens into the washing machines when people needed them, and most often, check for people's mail. The thing I actually really liked though was when we didn't have anything to do, and we could talk or watch the people. Today a writer for a dog article showed up because apparently almost everyday they bring these huge dogs in to interact with the consumers. It was super cool to watch this man that was obviously out of his comfort zone, going around asking people that are a ton less fortunate than him how they feel about dogs and how the dogs they bring in there make them feel. It was also very interesting to watch the dog interacting with the people. No judgement, he just goes up to them. Well of course he does, because he's a dog! But I think we should take an example from that. One the last things that happened was a man enthusiastically thanking us for being there, and saying he better see us everyday for the next two weeks. That made me feel great. 

One thing I learned today about homelessness is that people aren't really as greedy or selfish as a lot of us think they are. There was this man there, waiting to go into one of the offices, and he wasn't a very "welcoming" looking man. In all honesty, he scared me a little bit. (At the end of the day he ended up yelling and storming out of the place, for reasons I'm still not sure about.) Anyway, you could tell that he wasn't liked very much by the other people either. But at one point, his name was called to go take a shower. He got up, and his hat flew up off of him, he didn't notice and continued walking. I swear, the whole place made a heavenly eruption. "Wait! You forgot your hat!" "Harry, you forgot your hat!" "Mr, your hat fell off!!" Everyone in the room was making sure he didn't leave without his hat. He must have been a little hard of hearing, because he just kept on walking, so the next thing you knew someone literally jumped up, grabbed his hat, and brought it to him. Another way I realized how good these people actually are is by all the thanks they were saying. I don't think I ever had it where I helped someone and they didn't say thank you. Even if I couldn't help them, or didn't know the answer to their question, they still would be so grateful. They are really good people. How come it took me so long to notice? .