Homelessness Poem

Hypothetically speaking, if

Poverty is an institution  

Created to perpetuate the illusion that equality is fair game

And everyone has identical exposure to opportunities but

Its circumstance and motivation that aren't the same

Would you change your mind about what you deserve?

Let public opinion deceive you into believing that you’re a degenerate statistic and only want people to hand you a second chance without so much as a broken back to prove you’re willing to work for it

How much would it take to convince you?

That you aren’t worth the ground you sleep on, that others will not go out of their way

And that any government assistance that is available is locked away, waiting for someone who isn't a felon

But your caseworker never bothered to ask you,

because if he had,

you would have told him that you only did it because you had too,

Palms covered in Band-Aids from attempting to pull yourself out of the hole you dug yourself into, and you’ll admit to it, because you’re not exempt from making mistakes but sometimes all it takes is someone considerate,

With a listening ear

Look at him without fear, like a person and not a liability, he is not your property used to accrue the wealth that you’ll only share for tax write offs in late May

he is your

Local Neighborhood Street wanderer

That man your daughter stares at as you clinch her hand tighter when you walk by without eye contact because your guilt would compel you to do something because we are built that way, ignoring it allows our hearts to decay

Because it is in all of us to make our arms parallel to the ground and reach out when we see tears fall from wounded eyes

But the media has left us deprived of perspective. It’s merely a hypothetical of course

Just some thoughts my mind wondered by when I bought a guy a subway sandwich and he told me he couldn’t work because no one would hire him because he had an enlarged heart and 1 lung

That he served in Vietnam twice and that he had been waiting on his disability for the last 3 years, subjected to the life of a caveman living in the woods while sleeping in a hut built of what he could find behind the rest of us, his dreams have been repressed to simply wanting clean water

I’m just saying ya’ll, I realized

Every conclusion I drew, was based on an invalid presumption about something someone else didn’t understand

And I didn’t bother to ask any questions and like you, never reach out my hand

Left me to believe that this generalized group of people all thought the same way when in fact none of us are all the same, everyone is an individual and everyone has a different story, what we all have in common is pain

And I guess that’s why this is just a hypothetically, because I know if this was true we would do so much better than allow ourselves to slowly un-glue the intimate fibers that keep us humble because of something insipid like social status

The simplicity of love can be overwhelming sometimes and I know

That we are not that indifferent to each other’s struggle, we are not so cold that giving the scarf off our neck would cause frost bite to warmness of our hearts that shout I care about you, we can’t be because if we were, this poem wouldn't be a hypothetical

It would be the truth, and it’s ugly

By Renay

We, as AmeriCorps members strive daily to serve our communities in the best way possible. Recently Carol Porter, our Administrative Staff, pitched the idea of starting a book club; and as thrilled as many of us were, the idea started as merely a thought on a scratch piece of paper. However, in the past few weeks I have never experienced anything quite as amazing as people who are serious about servitude and even more so about understanding the people they serve through literature. The book we are working through is called The Framework of Understanding Poverty. We are AmeriCorps members serving under the Partnership to End Homelessness, so what we expect to gain is an understanding of what hidden factors have contributed to our clients’ current situations; or the obstacles they encountered that effected their ability to alter their circumstance.

Our first meeting occurred Thursday June 20 where we discussed the first 3 chapters. They seemed to have laid out the blueprint for understanding different types of poverty, how people fall into the category and the different languages people speak which create barriers that affect their ability to progress.

What we discovered was, though some of the information may have been slightly outdated, we all had some kind of ‘Ah Ha’ moment about how money is the underlining factor to the demise of people, how prison is an industry that calculates the number of beds they need according the 3^rd graders test scores targeting minorities and how poverty is not about financial resources alone but resources period. What one has access to and their capacity to use it to better themselves.

It is so interesting how we presume things about others. How we draw conclusions about what we think someone is going through or what we think they are facing and how we would have done something different to resolve it. But what we realize in the book so far is that everyone is not exposed to the same resources or opportunity, and frankly it is the lack of exposure to something greater or happier or beautiful that leave people deprived of knowing their options. If one does not believe there is more why would another presume they would reach for it? Poverty is not merely financial, it is mental; it is deeper than not having the resources to pay for rent or keep gas in the car, if they have one. Poverty is thinking ones condition is permanent and even if the money comes it wouldn't matter because ones thoughts have not have changed.

Our mission now as newly enlightened AmeriCorps members is to realize that our clients need more than the assistance they request, they need to be willing and ready to change their thinking. What we are now charged with is using the information as a tool to reach and demolish barriers of being misunderstood and knowing how to manage a productive conversation with our clients. Then, and only then we will be able to acquire what we truly want all of them to have, freedom!

By Renay

Homelessness Issues Reading Suggestions

Are you interested in learning more about homelessness, poverty, or other issues that our program is involved in? Check out the following books! The Partnership to End Homelessness owns all of these and we're happy to let you borrow them.

1. “Address Unknown: The Homeless in America,” James Wright

 

2. “A Framework for Understanding Poverty,” Ruby Payne

3. “Breakfast at Sally’s: One Man’s Inspirational Journey,” Richard LeMieux

4. “Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir,” Janice Erlbaum

5. "How to Increase Homelessness: Real Solutions to the Absurdity of Homelessness in America,” Joel John Roberts

6. “Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America,” Barbara Ehrenreich

8. “Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together,” Ron Hall and Denver Moore

9. “Street Crazy: America's Mental Health Tragedy,” Dr. Stephen B. Seager

10. "Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women,” Elliot Liebow

11. "The Glass Castle,” Jeanette Walls

12. “The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music,” Steve Lopez

 

13. “Why Don’t They Just Get a Job? One Couple’s Mission to End Poverty in Their Community,” Liane Phillips and Echo Montgomery Garrett

- Posted by Julie

Every month we are required to do a Service Project where, as a group, we come together to give back to the community for a cause. This month we decided to do a Social Event for the single families that live at Partnership Village; which is transitional housing for, once, homeless individuals or families, that are looking for support to acquire permanent housing and become self-sufficient. 

It was an intimate event, hosted by AmeriCorps member Nardya Morton who is very familiar with the residents at Partnership Village because she serves there. She gracefully guided everyone from one thing to another, maintaining order and keeping the atmosphere light. 

It is isn't very often one has the impeccable opportunity to just chat with our clients; we often spend so much of our time dealing with bureaucracy we neglect to invest in conversation. However, this made up for those times we were too busy filing paperwork or handling never ending phone calls. This was the reason, we as service members, got involved in AmeriCorps. To remind ourselves that though working in a non-profit is stressful and comes with its fair share of disappointments, not everything is as it appears. Each clients' story is different, with unique threads that sculpt it into the success story we often take part in developing. Being the differentiating factor in someone’s life is an unreal experience that is underrated.

It was amazing, having the chance to sit with a group of people just to have fun with them. Words do not express how much stress that relieves; but the smiles can! 

Jimmy and Janiya Fulmore, residence at Partnership Village
and Bingo Champions

When I asked Jimmy Fulmore, a resident at Partnership Village, how many events happen for singles in his community, he replied there were  "2 per year, Christmas and Thanksgiving." He felt as though there could be more events like this one, just for the fun of it; and he did have fun! Him and his daughter Janiya Fulmore were BINGO champions by the end of the evening, winning over 5 rounds, with prizes to show for all of them! 

Though AmeriCorps members left the prizes for the clients while playing BINGO it didn't stop us from calling it out or sneaking our BINGO card over to a kid who didn't know how to play and let them have it. 

When I asked some of the AmeriCorps members, What did they expected from this event? I heard: "Friendship and for people to know that others care about them.” Freddie Mathis stated briefly; or "Gratification in knowing that we had something to do with these clients having a good time today!" Nardya Morton stated. 

More interestingly though, I asked one AmeriCorps member Why did you come to this event? She stated humbly "I love fellowship. I appreciate having the opportunity to share time and space with this team and clients that really needed a break. This community needs people that genuinely care about servitude and it was important that I show up, so the clients can see how many faces support them. That and I love BINGO" said Kennedy Lieberman giggling as I jotted down my notes, making sure not to leave out that last sentence about BINGO! 

At the end of the evening all of the clients won something and had the chance to take home some toiletry items, courtesy of AmeriCorps members. When asked If this event happened again, would you return and tell others? Jimmy Fulmore's reply was "Absolutely, this was really fun! I wouldn't change anything." And the smile on his daughter’s face was certainly a reassuring sign that coming back is something we may need to hold our word to.

Residence of Partnership Village and AmeriCorps members at
the end of the Social

-Posted by Renay