Our day began at Met Council where we met with an employee who oriented us into the purpose of the organization. Met Council is one of New York’s largest human services agencies that defend and advocates for New Yorkers in need. This organization, founded with a focus on Jewish poverty, helps all types of individuals in the New York Metropolitan area find relief. To make a contribution to the cause, we dispersed in small groups into various areas of New York City to promote a new system Met Council has designed for those that need food stamps and Medicaid.For many low income people, obtaining food stamps is difficult because it requires waiting in long lines as well as the fact that many people cannot meet certain qualifications.
We took posters and brochures to post up and hand out at different businesses in our assigned area. I went with two other girls into an area of Brooklyn that is clearly low income and therefore made our venture quite worthwhile. Most businesses were positively responsive to advertising the system and some of the owners even showed immediate interest in it. I realized how beneficial this system would become to people and how difficult bypassing the old system actually is. I enjoyed volunteering for Met Council and would consider doing so again in the future. They appeared to be a very innovative organization, open to suggestions from us and willing to take action on them.
I found the last part of the day to be a very special experience. I see homeless people everywhere and of all different shapes, sizes and colors. We all encounter homelessness, almost anywhere we go in the city. What many people do not understand, and what I did not understand before this program is how complex homelessness actually is. I gained further insight into this when two homeless individuals from a non-profit organization called Picture the Homeless came to school to speak to us. Picture the Homeless is an organization founded and led by homeless people living in shelters, on the streets, and other public places. Its members advocate social justice and equality for homeless individuals as well as reducing stigmas created by society on the issue of homelessness.
As Darlene and Gangus spoke, I was impressed by how informed and passionate they were about the situations that they have experienced themselves. I viewed them as regular people who were forced into an unfortunate lifestyle that they are whole-heartedly looking to change. Gangus mentioned how he does not want to be pitied or looked at as charity. He wants a “hand up, not a hand out”.
Becoming homeless can happen with just one overwhelming bill or insufficient paycheck, and therefore it can happen to anyone. With the economy as it is and housing/rent at overwhelming prices, many just like Darlene and Gangus are forced to undergo an unfortunate lifestyle. As a result, they are not treated with the same respect and human rights as any other person is treated with—just because they are dubbed “homeless”. Gangus also said that homelessness is not an accident, but rather created by design, which was a point that really hit home for me. I don’t think I will ever think about poverty in the same way, especially after what I’ve learned from them.