The End – Bri Williams

I came into this class knowing a few things about homeless and food insecurity. I knew it happened to people. I knew it could happen to anyone. I knew it was hard for people. I have seen it, I have witnessed it, I have felt it. But I never knew the numbers, the amount it people it effected. How the state and government handle these very American issues.

I have learned we can not solve it all, but we can take steps to show we care. We love to help others and lend a hand. But we do it for a little bit, and stop. Or we do not finish out our mission. So, the goal I have for here on out, is to finish the mission. Fight the good fight. And make sure everyone is being heard.

But in this class, I have learned that I need to study and do my research. And make a real effort to make a change. Show that I care more. This class was very beneficial to my knowledge about hunger and homelessness. The trip added a visual to my knowledge and hope for change. To know the facts is one thing, but to work in it and affect peoples lives. It is a really hopeful feeling.

The aftermath- Bri Williams

I still havent caught up om sleep. Im not quite back in yhe swing of things, but I’m keeping extremely busy. I have told everyone who has asked about my trip how i felt amd how great of an experince it was.

 Some personal things happened and I was almost not able to go, but there is always a way out of no way. Im really glad I got to make this trip, because ot tught me something about my heart. I have a care for everyone. This trip also helped me understand the small privileges I have cam easily be taken from me. Although my circumstances are different, I am no different than a homeless person. 

One thing I got from this trip was, although life is hard find time to smile and appreciate everything you have.

Farewell D.C.

Bri Williams 

It’s not what it seems – Bri Williams

Day 4 and it just got better. We made beds amd served lunch at the Central Union Mission, which only serve men. Yes its a mission, but it is also faith based. Me, being a person of faith thoroughly enjoyed this visit. They have different steps to their mission. Theu have people who just stay the night, they have people in a faith based support group/class that they can graduate from. They also hire the gentlemen that go through their program as workers and youd never guess that they came through the program.

Homelessness is not what we may stereotype it as. There are wonderful people who happen to get into a situation they may not have been able to prevent. And one thing I learned is that in our society one thing can always lead to another thing, it is a domino effect that no one is excluded from.

The service behind the service – Bri Williams

On the 3rd day we went and packed lunches or dinners for the people who had dietary needs, that may not be able to assist them selves. We pack over 400 meals for Food and Friends and the peoplr they serve. No, we may not be known or got to see the peoples lives these meals impacted, but we did the service behind the service. The whole tine the food and friends staff thanked us over and over again for the help we were giving them. That shows that they sinply care about their jobs and the service they provide. It was well organized with 2 different kind of labels. Knowing that we are helping 400+ people by packing these meals is a great thing. People are getting healthy free foods and that is not something easy to cone by. Doing the service behind the service has a lot of great outcomes too.

The kids matter too

On our 2nd day of service, my group visited an elementary school in the 7th district of D.C. it was very surprising for me.  This elementary school is a title 1 school, meaning over half of their students qualify for free or reduced lunch.  However,  the program we worked with is called Reading Patners. And this is where students through out each grade may seem a little behind on their reading levels and get that extra help they may need.  They first talked about the smaller children not knowing the things they needed,  but once she talked about the older kids,  maybe 4th and 5th graders struggling to really hit home. I never equated food insecurities and literacy,  never would have thought.  But everything is literally a dominoe effect, if one thing falls another is bound to do the same. But that is where reading partners comes in to try and end learning disabilities in K-5th with reading. I was proud to help them improve their attendance for the tutoring sessions.  And just to know that shir5t amount of time may have impacted those students in a positive manner. 

Day 1 – Bri Williams

Today was an eventful day. I got to tend to donations at Martha’s Table. Martha’s Table does a lot for the community they serve. They have really cheap amazing brandons of clothing. And today of all days, I got to witness their Marthas outlet, which is where people get 3 outfits, a pair of shoes, household utensils, undergarments, amd a hygiene pack. They do this every 60 days. Which is amazing. They also have a child care faculty and some kind of food thing. They started with just working with food insecurities and realized the community needed more. However, now the community they serve doesnt even live around them do to the gentrification of the big business, ehich is really sad. But they are trying to expand ti where the people they serve are. I admire the fact that it was like a 7 person team store and everyone did their best to do their part. The moral compass of that plave was awesome.

 I wonder what tomorrow has in store…

We are flying

Im on my first ASB trip. Im excited an anticipating what is to come. Ive traveled alone alone before, but neber to a place I have never been to do something I have only done at home. I am grateful and thankful to be able to go on this trip. I cant wait to see how this may impact my life and expand my knowledge on homelessness and food insecurities. I am ready!

Shonda Rhimes | Bri Williams

Have you ever heard of Princess Diaries, the movie? And wonder why it is still a good movie. Well you have Shondra Rhimes to thank for that. Are you a fan of ABC’s #TGIT? You know, Greys Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder. She is the writer and producer of all 3 shows. How magical is that?

Although, I do not know if she inspires me, but I do hope to be as creative as her one day. But one thing I do like about her, is that she is behind the scenes allowing all of these actresses and actors (especially the ones of color) to prevail on prime time TV. I appreciate this women for all of her work.

How important is Reflection? | Bri Williams

As people, we do a lot of talking. Talking about family, friends, happy moments, and the sad ones. However, we do not talk about service as much. We discuss it as far as how was it, and you get a vague answer of “cool or good I guess” and those answers are always acceptable. But we never ask people to go into depth talking about how the service made them feel or what they are thinking. Like the article, we read, it basically said we do not talk about service, because then we have to discuss how imperfect our nation is. We as people hate to see people doing bad, at least those with empathy for people in those situations.

We must reflect when we do a service for people, because when you say your thoughts out loud you get a better understanding of them. Also, when you keep your thoughts to yourself, you are not giving yourself the benefit to grow. You simply just keep it in your brain and in the next moment it is gone. When discussing things aloud, you may come across questions you never thought about or you may come across someone who has the same conclusion you do. You get to build yourself into a better and knowledgeable person. You also get to hopefully push it forward. Whatever you personally learn and gain from your experience you can give that to someone else. When you become knowledgeable on an issue that our nation has, you can be a key to help change it. You become an advocate for the things you know. It is OK to know the bad parts of someone’s life. Because we learn someone’s situation does not make that person who they are. When using reflection in service learning, we are creating fighters for that cause or change in general. People typically become passionate when they find out how bad things are for other people. We are a nation of stories and issues. We cannot solve everything but we can sure try to make a positive impact wherever we are and reflecting can be that first step.

Talking leads to planning, planning leads to impact, impact leads to giving someone a better life. Even if we are just doing the smallest or the biggest of things, changing someones life is always the end result. Allowing our privilege to over spill onto a person in need is always an impactful thing on not just one person, but you too.