My Personal Experience In Personal Life

Going on the end of the year service trip to Denver really opened my eyes to how many people are affected by homelessness. Homelessness can have many causes and can happen to anyone. In our societal system today once someone has reached poverty and become homeless it is very hard to recover from this cycle of poverty.

Always, I was told from parents and elders that anyone can achieve their dreams through arduous work and dedication. Surprisingly, I hadn’t pondered this until I observed a shivering homeless person standing at the corner asking for help on one snowy, frosty winter day. This affected my life greatly. On the way, I just started thinking about the life of homeless people and how they are not fortunate enough to get their own place to live, their choice of delicious food to eat and several other amenities that we all enjoy in our everyday lives. An incident, like this, sparked an enthusiastic sense of compassion and empathy in me. Along with my family, I started thinking deeply and my thoughts to help the homeless expanded to other areas and I wanted to start helping the community around me as much as possible.

Homelessness is a major issue worldwide, which appears to be growing at a rapid rate. Many unfortunate factors play a role in one becoming homeless and living on the streets with no shelter, little or no food, and lack of clothing to keep warm. Some factors that may lead to homelessness are a substantial decrease in income, loss of employment, mental issues, drug and alcohol addiction, running away from home or major life events such as a death in the family. In addition, as the homeless population grows, resources such as shelters become full and overcrowded leaving people with nowhere to sleep other than a park bench, under a bridge, on the side walk or on the side of a building. Sadly, society judges those in these predicaments, many fail to listen to the stories of homeless individuals or attempt to understand why and what they’re going through. Furthermore, much of society continues to go through life as if the homeless population doesn’t exist, doing little or nothing at all to help them in any way possible. Although homelessness is a much larger issue than myself, I felt the need to do my part in helping the homeless in whichever way achievable. Therefore, for my public project, I decided to do what was necessary to provide homeless individuals, that are without shelter, with coats and blankets to keep warm during the winter months. To make this happen, I thought of a plan to put into action to accomplish the goal. I built a team of likeminded individuals that would help do the necessary work to accomplish the set goal, we collectively worked together as a group to implement and follow a plan and moved forward to execute it.

Thesis: Homelessness has become a growing problem in our communities, but we can take action by engaging in conversations with them, donating, and volunteering our time to benefit ourselves while making a difference in out communities.

Although people tend to pass homeless people on street corners every day without batting an eye, it must be realized that the homeless are our neighbors and deserve someone who will show them compassion to ease the suffering they face on a daily basis. It seems as though we have become desensitized to what it really means to be homeless. Although it is common to see multiple homeless people in Denver on any given day, the general public doesn’t often think about what it would feel like to be cold and hungry, with nowhere to go and no one to turn to. Many

When I encounter a homeless person, I feel that I am inclined to help them. Typically, I will offer any homeless being I see a few coins hoping it will suffice for them to endure another day. The homeless population is extremely dense in Southern California; therefore, I often see them in the area where I reside. Once, I was outside Little Caesars waiting in my car for my pizza, and there was a homeless person sitting outside. Another person about to go inside takes the homeless person inside him them and buys them a pizza, I was sentimentally touched by this moment. I promise myself every instance I see a homeless person that I will definitely assist them if I become successful.

As with most industrialized areas, homelessness is prevalent in my community. People are left without options as jobs become increasingly competitive. Homelessness is ubiquitous, yet it is a topic that is rarely discussed because it makes us feel uncomfortable. We feel uncomfortable that people die on the streets, uncomfortable because we're scared to help, uncomfortable because we are solicited. As a leader in my community, I know that change starts from the bottom up. Last year, as with the year before, I helped to assemble and distribute care packages to the homeless community in downtown San Jose. These packages, though small, are proof that change is in the little things. The homeless have a strong social stigma around them that I believe

For my service project, I chose to clothe and feed the homeless. I chose this act, because I was once homeless, living in a car and the unfortunate state of affairs that many people find themselves in, really touch my heart. During my service project the message of “each one, reach one” really resonated with me. Much like Ebenezer Scrooge after his 3 ghostly visits, the needs of the less fortunate and down trodden were illuminated.

I gripped my best friend’s hand tightly. We had been chosen to sing for the nearby homeless shelter, and we had no idea what to expect. However, when we arrived, we realized that the group of people chattering over the breakfast table, studying in the corner, and sipping their coffee seemed perfectly average! :) We soon realized that our perception of homeless and low-income families are twisted; however, said homeless and low-income families still do need assistance. I want to change these issues by finishing current projects, reaching out to organizations and changing the media’s ‘homeless and low-income person’ stereotype.

There are many avenues one could choose when looking for a way to give back to the community. I decided to focus on giving back to the homeless population. For one week, a group of church members, and myself went to the state of California to serve the homeless population in Los Angeles, and San Francisco in more ways than one. We started the journey in downtown L.A.. That first morning we were given beaten-up clothing, and sent out the door of the hotel with no breakfast or money. In partners we headed toward skid row to seek out a corner for pan-handling before meeting at The Mission for lunch. Skid row is an area of L.A. that most do not venture into. The streets are filled to capacity with many different people that all have one thing in common, homelessness. The filth is outrageous, and the smell of different bodily fluids is unbearable. There are no smiles, or warm feelings; it is survival of the fittest. The experience opened everyone’s eyes to the pain, and unseen struggles of homelessness. We were better equipped to help the people we would be meeting as the trip continued. At the end of the day, the money collected as a group was donated to The Mission.

Back then at my uncle’s shop, I see all the homeless people walking by and I cannot help but feel sorry for them. It makes me think what I can do to help them, my plan after college is to open my own shop and start off by giving the homeless jobs to earn a living. I will teach them hands-on training on cars, teach them the computer side of the Mechanic world, and show them that caring goes a long way. I would also want to give back by teaching Auto Mechanic classes at our local Hawai'i schools, here on the Big Island, to help educate the upcoming generation and maybe inspire them like I was. Another reason for me wanting to give back is, Hawai'i is my home and I think it’s important for me to lead by example. If I can help one child fulfill his or her dream, that will

Many homeless individuals have stories to tell about how they ended up homeless. Some of them became homeless due to drug addiction. Some of them chose the life they did because it felt commendable at the moment, and they did not think about the future. While I was volunteering, I had the opportunity to meet with a few homeless individuals and they told me their experiences about how they manage to survive throughout the year. It was sad that most of them can’t control their circumstances because there are other complex reasons why they became homeless

I saw a man on a black empty bucket that had been turned upside down. He was sitting quietly holding a sign that read “homeless- anything will help”. My thoughts suddenly calmed and my clammy hands began to dry. I looked him in the eyes and could see the pain and loneliness that I was going to try to take away for a moment. I walked right up and asked “Sir would you like a free lunch?” his face looked confused as he just looked at me and asked “Is it really free?” I assured him that it was no cost and I wanted to give this to him for nothing in exchange. His dark skinned face lit up and the 4 teeth he had glistened as he smiled and said “God bless you thank you.” He immediately ravaged the bag and began to eat the ham sandwich with Cheetos in a small bag on the side. I felt a sense of shame knowing that he had to question if he deserved this meal. My stomach tightened and my feet hit the ground a little harder with each step as I thought about the difference I can make by showing these people they are deserving of everything I am. I am not any better just because of where I live or the friends I have. The adrenaline pulsating through my body propelled me to walk to every person I saw sitting on a bench or in a box- not making any assumptions of why they were there because all I could think about was bringing a smile to their

While volunteering with the Civic Education Project around Uptown, Chicago, I had the opportunity to meet multiple members of the homeless population while serving warm lunches at Two Li’l Fishes. There, I became very close to Mike who suffers from paralysis on the right side of his body. Even though he was still burdened by the medical bills that took everything from him, he remained optimistic. In just an hour, Mike was able to share stories about every moment he cherished in his life

Pain and suffering often go hand-in-hand; this, of course, has helped the characters from The Fault in Our Stars by “John Greene” develop stronger relationships with one another and evolve to be more mature: pre-maturely growing in a sense.