A Shift In Perspective
Homelessness, unemployment, hunger and poverty are social issues that exist all year long. But they seem to receive the most attention during the holiday season. People who have long been overlooked and ignored are thrust into the limelight and their plight is no longer something anyone can avoid. Everywhere you go there are organizations asking for donations, unwrapped gifts or canned food items.
The positive result of all this attention is that for a short while, a band-aid is placed over the wounds. The negative part of this situation is once December 25th comes and goes, so do the red Salvation Army buckets, the canned food drives and the requests for unwrapped gifts.
This is truly unfortunate.
These social problems are not temporary and cannot be dismissed just because the holiday season has passed.
Case in point: by the end of February, our local food bank is once again running low. Donations that came in over the holiday drives have been distributed and few new donations are coming in. What are families to do?
In an effort to raise social awareness, each year students in my community are asked to reach out to low income families in our area. Funds are raised, food collected and presents purchased for the family. As a final celebration, students host a party for the family they've adopted and bought presents for.
It is truly a humbling experience for them to see, first hand, what a difference caring for someone else means.
This year my students adopted a family of four. The mother is a college-educated professional who has adopted three children from child protective services. She is not married and works two jobs so that she might give a future to three young children who are not biologically hers. To hear her speak about putting her kids through college and helping them to see the importance of family was one of the most inspirational encounters of my life.
My students experienced a shift of perspective this week. They saw, many for the first time, that if you are working hard and doing the best you can, there is no shame in asking for help.
As the numbers of people who need help increase, so does the overall opinion that the poor are lazy, illegal or reproducing beyond their means.
In some instances this may be true, but for others, their lives are marred by circumstances beyond their control.
We shouldn't judge others based on their life situations. Consider this: most American families are less than two paychecks away from homelessness.
It is true that as individuals, our ability to make a dent in our social problems are limited. But if we all pull together, we can change the world.
The positive result of all this attention is that for a short while, a band-aid is placed over the wounds. The negative part of this situation is once December 25th comes and goes, so do the red Salvation Army buckets, the canned food drives and the requests for unwrapped gifts.
This is truly unfortunate.
These social problems are not temporary and cannot be dismissed just because the holiday season has passed.
Case in point: by the end of February, our local food bank is once again running low. Donations that came in over the holiday drives have been distributed and few new donations are coming in. What are families to do?
In an effort to raise social awareness, each year students in my community are asked to reach out to low income families in our area. Funds are raised, food collected and presents purchased for the family. As a final celebration, students host a party for the family they've adopted and bought presents for.
It is truly a humbling experience for them to see, first hand, what a difference caring for someone else means.
This year my students adopted a family of four. The mother is a college-educated professional who has adopted three children from child protective services. She is not married and works two jobs so that she might give a future to three young children who are not biologically hers. To hear her speak about putting her kids through college and helping them to see the importance of family was one of the most inspirational encounters of my life.
My students experienced a shift of perspective this week. They saw, many for the first time, that if you are working hard and doing the best you can, there is no shame in asking for help.
As the numbers of people who need help increase, so does the overall opinion that the poor are lazy, illegal or reproducing beyond their means.
In some instances this may be true, but for others, their lives are marred by circumstances beyond their control.
We shouldn't judge others based on their life situations. Consider this: most American families are less than two paychecks away from homelessness.
It is true that as individuals, our ability to make a dent in our social problems are limited. But if we all pull together, we can change the world.