Today morning our group went over the rest of Chapter One that talked about 8 different topics. They were meaning full service, Link to Curriculum, Reflection, Diversity, Youth Voice, Partnership, Progress Monitoring, and Duration and Intensity. We were split into 8 pairs and summed up what the meanings of these topics were. I had a better understanding and everything made more sense to me. Later, a speaker by the name of Rosaline Goodwin from Cherry St. Mission came to speak to us about the organization. A few of the students, including myself, already met her and had gone through her orientation last year. She showed the same video, and we did the same activities, but it reinforced the main ideas of Cherry St. Mission for me. She was a very good speaker and knew how to engage students. Ros gave us a booklet of all the information of the organization along with an application form to volunteer. The most interesting part of her time here was an activity that we did. She gave several students including me, a picture of a famous person and asked everyone what their similarities were. The correct answer was that they all were homeless at one point. This really made me realize that being homeless can happen to anyone. Also, she showed us a video about some of the Cherry St. guests, and how the organization transformed their lives. It was amazing to see people who were once drug addicts later on becoming store owners or going back to college. I think that Cherry St. Mission is an awesome organization that not only helps out people in need, but changes their direction in life. They teach people how to become a better person and do something about their downfall. Something I noticed about Ros and yesterday’s speaker, Dan, was about the stereotypes of people and how others make assumptions. Today, Ros was telling us how many people picture homeless people as lazy and worthless. But in reality, no one is forcing themselves to be homeless. There is always a reason behind why someone chooses what they do, or a reason behind why someone could be homeless. Just like how Dan was telling us about how people who are disabled are looked at differently.
By Abi Raj
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