Helping the community

In my previous post I wrote about some of the research I did about my topic which is homeless addicts. I found out that many people have stereotypes about homelessness. One of the most common stereotypes about homelessness is addiction. Most people assume that they choose to live on the streets, which for some could be true but 90% of that is false. Furthermore, I mentioned in my previous post about young people that become homeless addicts. It is discouraging but in reality, many older homeless addicts advise them to have a great life and not become homeless nor an addict. Additionally, in my previous post, I mentioned a woman who spoke about her past and current adversities. Now, she offers advice to young people to have a different life than her. My goal with this project was to help homeless addicts because it’s so sad seeing them struggle. I shared a picture of a group of teenagers that gave out pizza to homeless addicts. This act of kindness reminded me of a similar action I experienced before. I researched possible ways that the community and I could help with this issue.

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This is the picture that I showed from my previous post and they inspired to do the act that I chose to do for this project.

There are many different types of organizations within our community. Since we are looking at two separate issues, homelessness and addiction, which are two individual problems, I needed to search for an organization that deals with both. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any; however, I found one organization that helps people with addiction which offers counseling and resources to support them. Many organizations or rehabilitation centers are not known. Even if these facilities aren’t the right resource for every case, there are tons of rehab centers that can be chosen from.

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This is the picture of the place I went to donate supplies. (Not my photo)

On another side, I researched organizations that serve homeless people. One of the most known organizations is Project homes Project homes accept donations like clothes, food, and even money. They help give back to the community in so many ways, and for this project, I decided that the best way I could help is to collect supplies from some of my friends to donate. Even though it was not a drastic change, it is significant enough to start by donating the supplies I collected to Project homes. I enjoyed my experience of giving back and helping someone in need. The only thing that wasn’t a success was getting many people to help me collect supplies. Something I learned was that not everything seems like what it is and to never judge how someone looks or their stability. In general, this could be about me or anyone else, but to never judge someone’s situation, If you don’t know what they’re going through.

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These are the supplies I collected from friends and family, including: hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, breakfast bars, and water bottles.

Looking back on my project, something I could’ve done better is spreading the word more on collecting supplies and reaching a larger audience. Moving forward, we need to remember to come up with different ways to help and to not lose momentum because a lot of people help and don’t continue helping.

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