Colin Burlingham
Mr. Salsich
8th Grade Assessment
2/9/10
The Westerly Warm Shelter:
An Essay about My Experiences
At the Warm Shelter in Westerly RI
Going to the Warm Shelter in Westerly, Rhode Island, was an experience I will never forget. This was a very rewarding journey for me, during which I met many people less fortunate than myself and I was able to help in many significant ways. I learned that my perception of the homeless was wrong and society’s prejudices against the homeless must stop. I am willing to fight for what is right to overcome these prejudices, a lesson also evident in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
I selected the Warm Shelter in Westerly for my assessment project because, as family and home are important to me, I have always felt compassion for the homeless. Whenever I pass a homeless man on the side of the street, lying down in the back allies, using an old newspaper for warmth, with nowhere to go, I often feel sorry for these unwanted souls with not a dime to their name. When it was time to pick a site for the Assessment Project, I remembered seeing these sad people on the side of the street begging for food, and I felt I needed to help them in some small way. When I saw the local Warm Shelter on the list, I was instantly intrigued and checked it out on their website. I found out that the Warm Shelter in Westerly, Rhode Island, was unique as it not only feeds the homeless, but also houses them and teaches them the skills to become independent. The facility houses nineteen adults, who get checked for drugs and alcohol randomly, and there, the people learn the skills that are necessary in life. There are eight more apartments throughout the town of Westerly: two are for crisis situations and the other six are for families, who can stay for up to three years. I seized this opportunity to volunteer at the shelter because I wanted to learn about homelessness and see what was involved in getting the people back on their feet. During one week, I was fortunate enough to visit the shelter for five consecutive days, which not only helped me connect with the residents, but also helped the residents learn to trust me. By the end of the assessment project, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I decided to continue to volunteer even though the project was officially over. I went to the Warm Shelter to learn about the homeless, but I also discovered a lot about my self in the process.
The challenges of volunteering at the shelter were limited, but there were some difficult ones generally involving the other volunteers. On one of my many trips, I was working with two women, who were very possessive with their food responsibilities. While they were in the midst of a conversation, a man showed up for dinner, so I figured I would serve him and not interrupt the two women. I picked up the ladle to give him food, when one of the ladies jumped in front of me, grabbed the ladle right out of my hand, and told me to serve the bread; she wanted to serve the hot food. Following the rules was also a challenge as I wanted to take the initiative and give these depraved people more food. When my friend, known as the “beanie-weenie man” requested more food, immediately I wanted to give him another serving of food. However, one of the women, who made the food, would not give out any more food until six twenty though there were ample amounts and dinner stopped being served at six thirty; the man left still hungry. Another one of the challenges I encountered was trying to communicate and understand some of the people. There were only a few people who were actually willing to talk with me, but most of them would politely say thank you and walk away. There was one man who I could not understand at all because he mumbled while talking quietly in a deep voice and I didn’t want to insult him by saying “What?” too many times, but I only saw him once in all my visits to the shelter. Though the challenges were few, I was able to overcome them and work through them as they rose.
At the shelter, I believe my time volunteering has helped many people in positive ways. By taking the time out of my extremely busy schedule, I was able to lighten the load and take the pressure off of other volunteers. I worked hard and diligently and the residents were all extremely appreciative of my assistance. The people at the shelter were constantly impressed with how hard I was working and they repeatedly complimented me on my “exceptional service.” Another thing that helped bring consistency into peoples’ lives was seeing a familiar face as I went every day for a short period of time and during my visits, I showed up on time every day and was never late. Other volunteers generally sign up once a month and sometimes they don’t even come, which puts pressure on Zigi, the cook, who has to cook and then serve the food to the homeless if there are no volunteers. Zigi relies on me to show up and this helps him from becoming overworked or stressed out. I also helped in a practical way one day when all my visits were completed; I was in the car with my dad when I saw a man I recognized on the side of the road. He needed to get somewhere so we stopped, picked him up, and drove him to True Value in Mystic. He went to buy a car from his friend, so if we didn’t help, he would have never gotten the car and been able to drive to the places he needed to go. I understand that I only went to the shelter a few times and that homelessness will continue to be a serious issue, but I believe I made a small difference for a few individuals on those days I volunteered.
Over the past few weeks of volunteering at the shelter, my knowledge of homelessness has been increased significantly; for example, I found out that “poverty is the core cause of homelessness in America and is directly related to our current economic condition” (Articlet.com, pg. 1). One of the many things I learned was about the Rhode Island Coalition for the homeless, an organization that provides programs to heighten the awareness of homelessness in Rhode Island and get people involved in order to help end this serious problem. I never realized how many people have been truing to spread the word about homelessness and this got me thinking; why have I not heard anything about the situation in all my fourteen years I’ve been living here? This group works hard to achieve goals through outreach programs, advocacy, and policy changes in the state, but it also strives to provide permanent housing for the homeless people. In the past, people used to think mental illness and substance abuse were the main causes of homelessness, but the list has grown. Today, people become homeless because of unemployment, low paying jobs, lack of affordable housing, no health insurance, and loss of public assistance programs. Currently, about twenty percent of the homeless have full and part-time jobs, or their own apartment or house, but because of the economy today, even having a job can’t protect you from poverty. One of the most shocking things I discovered during my research was that Rhode Island alone has an unemployment rate at 12.9 percent this year. And this is the third highest unemployment rate in America, which is just behind Nevada at second and Michigan at the first. That is a big percentage for such a small state and contributes immensely to the amount of homeless people; in addition, almost 18% of all the children in America were at risk of starving last year. The Warm Shelter and the Rhode Island Coalition for the homeless both help solve these problems by providing food, money, transportation and healthcare to the less fortunate, and without their help, I’m sure we would be seeing more and more homeless people in our towns. My understanding of the current homelessness situation has grown immensely and I will try to further my learning in order to help the community.
The homeless people and some of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird share similar qualities: they are discriminated against; they are hated; and they are treated as second-class citizens. In the novel, blacks were discriminated against for the color of their skin. People called them names such as “darky” or “negro” and whites looked down on poor black communities. An example of this would be Mr. Ewel taking Tom Robinson to court for raping a white girl; even though Tom Robinson was innocent, he was convicted by a white jury and the court system wasn’t able to give him a fair trial because of the color of his skin. The homeless are victims of prejudice too, and many people turn their backs on them. Most people believe all the homeless are drug addicts or alcoholics, when most of them are not. People also believe the homeless are not educated or have gambling problems and are therefore looked down upon and treated poorly with prejudice like the blacks in To Kill a Mockingbird. In Harper Lee’s book, Boo Radley is a victim of prejudice too. Boo has not seen the light of day in many years, and after so long, people began making up rumors about him such as, “When people’s azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them,” and they called him names like the “Malevolent phantom” (Lee, pg 10). In Maycomb, the Radleys were also the only family that closed their doors and many people found this extremely strange, and judged them because of their different ways. To Kill a Mockingbird and the real world both have people who treat others with prejudice and discriminate against them because of their misinformed opinion.
Becoming more aware of prejudice was one of the many lessons that I learned while volunteering at the Warm Shelter and I am determined to take a stand against it in my own life, but if I had more volunteering opportunities, I would have tried to help in more ways. One of the things I wanted to do was cook dinner for the homeless people one night. This would have been a rewarding and a challenging experience, considering I have never cooked for fifty to eighty people. Salads, soups, pastas, and raviolis were served repetitively during my many visits and I think that the people in the shelter would have enjoyed a bigger variety in meals such as chicken, steak, or even ribs on some nights. In addition, I would have also tried to do different types of tasks with the homeless. Every single time I volunteered, I served dinner and it would have made a pleasant change to serve lunch, work in the store, or help Joy, the volunteering coordinator, with her job. Plus, I missed all of the big fundraising events that the shelter sponsors, such as the Penguin Plunge or the Winter Gala, and it might have been enjoyable to help setup for those events or help run them. This frustrated me because I enjoyed working there a lot, and I didn’t want to stop. The closest date I could schedule was in the beginning of February and by then, there might be a different crowd there and the people might not recognize me. It may be too late to change things now, but as I continue to volunteer there, I might attempt to cook a meal, with some help.
This unforgettable adventure; this blessing has changed my perception of the needy in the area. I never imagined there were so many homeless here in Westerly. Each trip shocked me with the amount of poor people who came for the meals and I saw at least three new people every time I served. To see so many homeless in this relatively wealthy area made me feel sad and ashamed. Another thing I noticed was the way those people lived. The typical “hobo” you imagine is a man in old or torn clothes on the side of the street begging with a tin can, or a man sleeping in a cardboard box in an alley, but when I learned about the people while serving, most of them had apartments or were given rooms at the shelter and just couldn’t afford food. This shocked me, but I am glad that my preconceptions of the homeless were wrong. One of the most significant things I noticed was the way those brave people were dressed. They looked like anyone I would pass on the street and I always thought the homeless would be in rags or torn up clothing. Now, my perception of the homeless has changed and I realize there are different levels of being homeless. Volunteering at the shelter has made a lasting impression on me, as I now realize how many people in my comfortable community are truly in need, and that I can make a difference.
This life-changing experience I had at the Warm Shelter is something that I will always remember; not only was it rewarding, but I feel that I was able to help and contribute to the problem of homelessness. I met many unfortunate people who just never got a second chance at life and not only did my perception of the homeless change, but I also got to know and further my understanding of these people at the shelter. If it is possible, I would like to continue volunteering at the local shelter and help all the people in need in a variety of ways. My earlier prejudices about the homeless have been put to rest, and unlike the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, I plan to keep an open mind and not let prejudices hold me down.
