Day 1 Family Promises Banaszak

Today I went to Family Promises to sort through things in their donation room. After we found the building, we walked in and met Kelsey, who was our "go-to" person for everything. She took me and my group to a conference/staff room and told us what Family Promises is all about. It's a day center for the homeless with a toy room, fridge, laundry, showers, etc, and at night they buss 15 people to one of the five churches they have connections with. Kelsey told us some idea she had for us to do, and we signed volunteer forms. Then we went on a little tour of the place, which was just a sitting area, a small kitchen, a toy room, laundry room, and bathroom. After that it was time for us to work! We went to the donation room, which had stuff everywhere. There was a table that they had been trying to clear off, but stuff just kept piling up. So we cleared it for them. Once that was done, we started to sort mittens and gloves and scarfs. There were boxes and bags all over of old and new winter stuff, so it's understandable how everything piles up so fast there. Basically all we did with that is sort the new, the nicely uses, and the gross stuff and put them all in different places. After that we already had only about 10 minutes left, so we brought bags out to a truck that was going to a different placement.

The only real interaction type thing I had with someone who wasn't working there was on our way out of the building. There was a guy who looked about 30 coming in, smoking, wearing shaggy clothes-one of the stereo types of a homeless person. I didn't say anything to him, but I felt the same I usually do when I see people like that. Sad. Not sad because they look sad, but sad for them. You can see the pain in their eyes, and I'm thinking most of the time homeless people would probably dress a lot better if they could. And I don't know any people who have homes who would rather be at a place like Family Promises and then sleep at a church at night. It's not like homeless people like the life they live. So hopefully tomorrow I can get a chance to at least say hi to someone I would normally pass by after judging them, and I can get rid of the stereo-type of homeless people in my head.