Homeless Reflection

When asked about an activity that I served as a leader for, I instantly thought of my work I did when I set out to help the homeless. I took this project on knowing that it was something that was one of great need. Little did I know how much it would influence and affect me as a person. To complete this project I started with coordinating with the individual who helps the homeless on a weekly basis. I got the necessary information from her such as what was needed to be collected. I coordinated with other individuals to assist me in collecting items, wrote letters and placed boxes at various schools and went door to door for donations. Items I asked for were blankets, coats, hats and scarves. The amount I received was almost overwhelming. Everything
I met the lady early in the morning along with some other individuals. We talked a little about what to expect that day. Because of the dangers that I could encounter adults were part of my journey. The rest of the morning I would be going from stop to stop, walking through woods and going under bridges. We would go tent to tent to see if there were any homeless people looking for needed items. Tent to tent, how is this possible, how do people live day to day in these kinds of conditions. I walked through areas that were full of used needles from drug abuse, clothes hung over tree limbs trying to dry and tents full of black trash bags trying to keep what they did have clean and
When I came face to face with the homeless I realized how much more they still needed. I found out through their stories that shelters for some just are not an option. The stories are one of the things that most surprised me because these individuals just wanted to be heard. One of the greatest gifts I could give them that day was a listening ear. Little did they know the gift they were giving back to me. My initial contribution could never seem to be enough for this project, but could I ever have enough is what I was faced with. I wanted to do more for them so I continued to collect items. I am only one person and certainly cannot change the living conditions for the homeless, but I know that they changed my outlook on my life and maybe I could change just one of theirs. Being able to take this journey with someone who was once homeless and now stable on his feet proved to me that anything is possible and there is always hope for more of the