Group Selection and Reason for
selection
The group that I
chose to Immerse myself in would be the homeless. Helping the homeless
is something that hits home for me. While growing up my father was an Alcoholic. My
mother doing what she thought was best for my sister and me, as well as
herself, made the decision that it would be best if my dad and her
separated. There are times in my life where I have no idea where my father is. He
is a Veteran, so I would contact the VA Administration and with some work I would find him.
Different periods in my life, I have been contacted and made aware that my
father is in the hospital due to being very sick. When asked where he was found
I have been advised that he was homeless and was found half dead. I know that
my father has received help throughout these periods from people who reach out
to the homeless and try to make a difference in their lives. Knowing that my
dad has been homeless and has received help stirs in me the need to seek to
help others in hopes that my father is getting the help he needs when he needs
it. I guess it can also be looked at as a type or repayment for what people
have done and are hopefully doing for my father.
New culture
I
have noticed when helping the homeless the culture where I am located is
Comprised of two types of people. The first type of person is homeless due to
unforeseen or uncontrollable circumstances. For example, A family of four
sleeping in two separate homeless shelters, one for Males and the other for
Women and Children because they were evicted from their house due to a parent
losing their job. The second type of homeless person is homeless by choice. For
example, A man is sleeping in a male homeless shelter because he has no
responsibilities, does not have any bills to pay but has access to shower,
food, laundry facilities and a place to sleep.
Substance abuse and addiction are also a
common factor among the homeless. Alcohol and drug addiction are a disease that
can ruin a person's life and can lead them down a path of personal issues such
as being homeless or legal matters that land them in jail. According to The Columbia Encyclopedia
addiction is defined as, "chronic or habitual use of any chemical substance
to alter states of body or mind for other than medically warranted
purposes" (Lagassé, 2000). The abuse of a substance can cause behavioral
issues, social issues, and even psychological problems for the abuse which can
lead to homelessness as well as other problems.
Surroundings: New Culture
When visiting the main local
homeless shelter, I found that shelters only allow the individuals to stay
during certain hours. The homeless are allowed to enter the facility starting
at 4:30 pm and have to leave at 8 am the next morning. During this time, they
are authorized to watch a community television, play board games and cards, use
the laundry and showers, pick up bedding and choose a spot to sleep for the
night.
Volunteers come in at 5:30 pm and
start what is called the chow line. Food is served from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm and
then at 7:00 pm unless there is an AA meeting, you go and collect your bedding
and then choose a spot to sleep. The spots available to choose from are open
spaces on the floor or lining the hallways. The bedding that is given to them
consists of a thin 6-inch mattress which rolls out, and a sheet to cover with.
They are not given blankets or pillows. From this point on Laundry is done and
showers are taken, and at 8:30 pm the facility is locked down, which means no
one can enter or leave. At the top of every hour until midnight individuals are
given a 15-minute smoke break.
Lights out occur at 12:15 am 15 minutes after
the last smoke break is called. It is sleep time until 5:30 am wake up call.
Breakfast is served at 6:30 am, and from 7:30 am to 8:00 am everyone has to
help clean the common areas (dining area, sleep area, hallways, restrooms, and
laundry).
The only time they can stay all day
is if the temperature is below 31 degrees.
If someone comes in intoxicated, the
police are called, and They are arrested. Upon arriving for the first time in
the shelter you are assigned a counselor who is there to hello you find
employment, help you with your resume, they give you a card with the address, so
you can provide an address on the application. Once the person speaks with the
counselor, they are sent to the on-sight nurse where they get a routine
physical and TB test. The first three days of arriving at the shelter you are
allowed to stay in the shelter all day long regardless of the temperature.
Similarities and Differences
There
are not many similarities of the homeless and not homeless. One of the
similarities between being homeless and not being homeless would be as long as
you are in the shelter you have access to personal hygiene items and
facilities, you have access to washers and dryers. Going through the chow line
would be like going through a school cafeteria or a hospital cafeteria. There
are more differences to being homeless than not. One of the differences would
be that it is requested you pay $10 a day with a max of $70 a week to live in
the homeless shelter but if you can't pay they do not evict you. If you do not
pay your rent for the home, you live in you can be evicted. Another difference
most homeless are jobless and most nonhomeless people have jobs. You also
frequently find that more homeless individuals tend to use and abuse substances
versus the not homeless. A lot of the individuals I had contact with were
estranged from their family in one way or another which left them alone to deal
with life by themselves.
Social Context
One of the things I noticed and was
surprised to learn is that the people who have been in the shelter the longest
get privileges over the other homeless people. For example, they get to pick up
their bedding first, pick out where they are sleeping first; they get to move
to the front of the chow line in front of everyone else. Which means no one
gets in line to eat until all of the regulars have lined up first. When
clothing is donated they are the first ones who get to choose what they want
out of the donations, and then everyone else gets to choose from the gifts.
They are the first to use the washers, dryers, and showers. They also get
control of what is watched on the television. This power and prestige are only
limited within the homeless shelter; most homeless people do not feel they have
a voice in society; therefore, they refrain from using it to vote, etc.
One of the things I noticed when
being out in the community with the homeless people were other individuals who
are not homeless tend to shy away from them. There is a certain uneasiness
concerning homeless people. I also noticed that women with purses or children
tend to put a hand on their purse or reach for their children. A certain stigma
or prejudice is associated with homeless individuals, pegging them as a
nuisance, crook or mentally unstable person.
The unfortunate part of being
homeless is that certain homeless people use and abuse substances to cope with
the circumstances they are dealing with. This is one of the things that steer
non-homeless people away because it is a stereotype that homeless people have
as to why they are homeless in the first place.
Relationship from Cultural Emersion
I have to say that I did form
relationships with some of the people we were helping. One, in particular, was
a shock to me. One of the individuals who came into the shelter was someone
that I had met many years ago when putting myself through college the first
time. This person was someone I considered a friend, and he is a veteran now
but when I knew him he was enlisted in the Army. I have to admit I was shocked
to find this person there. He is also disabled and alone, and he has no family
that lives close, and he later mentioned he was estranged from what family he
does have to live elsewhere. He
explained to me that he had just come across bad times and on what little
pension he gets from the Army he just could not meet the needs he had
financially.
Since finding this person in the
shelter, I have encouraged him to apply for additional help. I contributed to
putting in contact with another gentleman who is alone and older, who was
struggling to meet his financial needs also. They hit it off immediately both
being ex-military with the same ideals, and they decided to share the
two-bedroom place of the one gentleman and split the bills.
Human Rights, Social and Economic Justice
When
researching the rights of the homeless, I only came across a federal definition
of homeless and a Kentucky Statue for homeless Veterans. The federal definition
of homeless individual(s) was:
“a)
In
GENERAL For purposes of this
chapter, the terms "homeless," "homeless individual," and
"homeless person" means— [1]
(2) a person or
family with a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not
designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human
beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station,
airport, or camping ground;
(3) an individual or
family living in a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designated
to provide temporary living arrangements (including hotels and motels paid for
by Federal, State, or local government programs for low-income individuals or
by charitable organizations, congregate shelters, and transitional housing);
(4) an individual who
resided in a shelter or place not meant for human habitation and who is exiting
an institution where he or she temporarily resided” ("42 U.S. Code § 11302 - General definition of homeless
individual", 1987)
The Statute that I found was limited to assisting and
helping military veterans who were in need and were homeless. The bad thing is
that I am not sure how well this statute is working because an infinite number
of homeless individuals were veterans. The law is written and worded for
veterans, for example," (2) The mission of
the Kentucky Homeless Veterans Program shall be to work toward the elimination
of homelessness and the prevention of the threat of homelessness and its causes
in the veteran population of the Commonwealth” ("Kentucky
Revised Statutes - Chapter 40", 2016). The Statute also outline how the individual had to be discharged to be
still eligible. Which most of the homeless veterans I have met meet the
requirements of," (3) The program shall provide assistance to persons who
served in the United States Armed Forces or forces incorporated as part of the
United States Armed Forces, and who were discharged under conditions other than
dishonorable" ("Kentucky Revised Statutes - Chapter 40", 2016).
Skills to Develop
The skills I feel are
the best ones to have and to develop further would be gaining the needed
background information tactfully when working with individuals in need. I
sometimes feel a little awkward when asking about circumstances because I don't
want to offend or to pry. I am extremely considerate of the individuals I work
with and their privacy. One of the things I have noticed is that when a
homeless person feels they are being treated different, they become closed off
and do not want to participate any further in whatever is going on. Working on
communication skills, this could be averted.
Serving this Culture
I would help this culture by
continuing to do what I have been doing. I have a vast amount of resources
available to me from working in the school system. I would continue to use
these resources to help improve the lives of the individuals who come to the
homeless shelters in need. I use my resources currently to help as many of the
homeless individuals as I can to change their circumstances and get the help
they need. I am currently pursuing a degree in Guidance Counseling, I plan on
continue in my certifications to include substance abuse, marriage counseling
and family counseling. I would use this degree as much as possible to assist. I
am not afraid to reach out for assistance in getting a task completed and
welcome suggestions and help from outside individuals. The best way to serve
this culture is to continue to help and assist humbly, do it by treating the
individuals with respect and compassion.
By approaching helping in this manner, it will allow them to keep their
dignity and self-respect, and they will accept the help.
Feelings and Awareness
I think the surprise would be the unexpected
feeling I felt when I learned that homelessness could be a circumstance or a
choice. I never realized that a person could be homeless by choice. I can
honestly say that I was surprised to learn that some individuals are homeless
by choice. These individuals get jobs that pay by the day, or they work
seasonally to buy things they want daily. Some of the things they use the money
for are necessities for grooming or small snacks. I was surprised however also
to learn that they use the money they earn for iPods, Phones, Laptops,
Cigarettes, and Alcohol.
One of the things that I have
learned and became culturally aware of was the attitudes and expectations of
the homeless community. These individuals already feel a lack of self-worth due
to the circumstances they are in. When working with homeless people is the only
thing that they want is to be treated like everyone else and not be reminded on
a daily basis that they are homeless. They do not want people to look at them
differently or treat them differently. They only want to be given respect and
not treated like they are beneath people. I was extremely aware of my responses
and attitude when around these individuals. I tried to be as respectful as
possible and treat them no different than I would anyone else. I found this
aspect easy because I tend to be an extremely compassionate and caring
individual. Many of the people who are homeless are in that position due to
dire circumstances out of their control. There are a few who are the exception
to the rule and choose to live homeless due to a lack of responsibility for
anything accept themselves day by day.
Cultural competence
I
believe that society has come a long way concerning cultural competence. The
attitudes and behaviors that were shown toward certain cultures, races,
nationalities, genders and sexuality have come a long way. There is still a
mass number of stereotypes that need to be overcome as well as a mass amount of
prejudices. Each generation has focused on eliminating prejudices that have
plagued society. We still have a long way to go in this battle. The great news
is that some of the prejudices and injustices that were seen in our historical
society have been overcome and have been or are being addressed. This is an
important aspect of how we as a nation will continue to grow together and fight
injustices, biases, and prejudices.
Society is coming together and
fighting inappropriate behavior on many levels. Unfortunately, just as any
other historical issue, this cannot be done overnight. We as a society
determine what is acceptable and what is not acceptable behavior toward other
individuals regardless of certain cultures, races, nationalities, genders and
sexuality.
When I started this project I was not as aware as I thought I was about the history of this
nation and the things that have occurred. There have been a lot of injustices
that happened, and I was shocked by some of the awful things done to other
cultures. I also now have an awareness of poverty and migration, I never
realized how many people had migrated over here only to be treated poorly and
live in poverty. I embrace this new found knowledge and will try to use the
information to help change society and their prejudices and biases against
others.
Reference:
42 U.S. Code § 11302 - General definition of homeless
individual. (1987). LII
/ Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 16 October 2016, from
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/11302
Kentucky Revised Statutes - Chapter 40.
(2016). Lrc.ky.gov. Retrieved
16 October 2016, from http://www.lrc.ky.gov/statutes/chapter.aspx?id=37209
Lagassé, P. (2000). The Columbia encyclopedia. New York:
Columbia University Press.