Homeless Shelter Essay

My family moved many times while I was growing up. However, near the end of my 4th grade, we settled in a very small, non-diverse town in Minnesota. My parents were in the hotel business and one day I saw a homeless man ask for a place to stay. My father allowed him to stay for the night since it was snowing outside and the temperature was below freezing. I could not stand knowing that there were people on the street who did not have a place to sleep at night. Upon doing more research, I discovered that my town, Grand Rapids, did not have a homeless shelter. Because the town did not have many homeless people, it never felt the need to create a shelter. However, the number of homeless people was slowly increasing and I saw this as a huge
problem. Despite having no experience in creating shelters, I decided to write a letter to the mayor about starting one. I first pitched the idea to my teacher, who helped me form the letter and send it to the mayor. A few weeks later, my teacher showed me that the mayor replied to my letter and had created an addition to the town church that would act as a homeless shelter. My letter was hanging up in the main hall of the shelter. As a fifth grader, finding out that I helped create a homeless shelter felt as though I had cured cancer itself. Despite being many years ago, this achievement of mine has had the most significance in my life. It is what led me to message the mayor in New Brunswick as well, about the homeless people who would wander around my college needing a place to stay. It is what inspired me to join clubs and organizations that would donate to causes similar to mine. And it reminded me throughout my entire life, that every action of mine, no matter how small at the time, could have a significant impact. This achievement is not academic related, but it is still the one that makes me the most proud because it reminds me of what being a person is about. Being kind, compassionate, and human is more important to me than being smart or skilled. This is why the my achievement is the most important to me to this day.