Good Conversation

Last week at RYPAC we had a conversation about homelessness for our ice breaker.  I was extremely impressed with the student’s input about the topic.  During the month of January the RYPAC members had the opportunity to help cook meals for a homeless shelter in Redmond.  This was the first time that many of the students interacted with men living in homelessness.  It was important to me that we have a conversation about our experience at these homeless feeds to encourage the student to think about why we chose to offer this volunteer experience.

Some of the questions the students discussed included:

• What is homelessness?
• What are the causes of homelessness?
• What are some stigmas attached to homelessness?  Definition: Stigma- an identifying mark or characteristic (usually negative)
• What are some barriers to getting out of homelessness?
• Why did we have the homeless feeds?

My group talked a lot about stereotypes and stigmas of homelessness.  They brought up reasons why substance abuse might be common among the homeless population.  They also recognized that not all men, women and children living in homelessness have similar circumstances.   

One interesting conversation was centered on the statistic: on Jan 25, 2008 40 pregnant women were homeless.  The students talked about how these women get heath care and what happens to the baby when it is born.  They discussed whether or not a baby should be taken away because the mother cannot provide food and shelter.  This led into discussing transitional housing and other services that provide help to homeless folk.  

I’m excited that the students were able to engage in this difficult conversation, confront some stereotypes and recognize issues that may lead to homelessness.  Hopefully these students will continue having important conversation surrounding homeless.  Awareness among young people is a great step to combating homelessness.