     
|
|
Help Dreams Come True
We have many opportunities for people, groups, or churches to help us all year long, but it's more than just serving food on a plate — it's also about having an opportunity to learn why people become homeless in the first place.
Our programs give volunteers an experience like no other as our residents share their life's story of redemption.
[Note: The following are excerpts from students’ writing during the week following our visit with the Dream Center community. They are edited so as to protect the identity of the student who wrote them. They are offered here not as an expression of final conclusions, but as voices along the pathway of continued learning, reflection, discernment.]
#1. This made me realize that what I thought caused people to be in poverty wasn’t true at all. I always thought that people falling into poverty was by laziness or bad decisions, but didn’t know there was more to it. Some causes were learning disabilities, mental illness, backgrounds, cut from jobs, and not having insurance to stay on their medications.
#2. The thing that impressed me the most is the fact that the people there still had hopes and dreams of things that they wanted to accomplish in life.
#3. I realize how blind so many of us in society are to others in society that need a hand up vs a hand out. Dignity is often ignored when you hear "there are services for people like that" or "I've donated, I've done my part".
#4. I have seen many fall, many continue to struggle and many come out glowing. My hopes for these men, of course, are to succeed, that is what my heart wants for anybody, but I am also aware of reality and it hurts.
next page
|
