Artwork by Amber Hunter

2009-10 AmeriCorps Member: Kim Jinorio

Una Mujer

Una mujer vino anoche

Lorrando y llorando

Con sus hijos en el carro

Esperando y esperando.

Me dijo ella:

Quiero un hogar

Un hogar para mis hijos.

Quiero una vida

Mejor que la mia

Para mis hijos.

Para mis hijos

Quiero el mundo,

Quiero seguridad.

Pero no tengo nada.

No puedo darle nada a mis hijos

Ni un hogar.

Ni seguirdad

Pero siempre puedo dar

Mi corazon

Y mi alma.

Breakfast and Conversation

Written by James Rosenthal (2008-09)

     A crowd is outside the First United Methodist Family Life Center - a diverse group, for various reasons experiencing homelessness. It's before 5 am, dark, chilly. At 5, David Nicastro and Isaac Sanchez, board members of Foundation for the Homeless, open the doors.

      The crowd's there for Feed My People: free breakfast, haircuts, bus passes.  I'm at the front desk, with vouchers for IDs and other needs. You needn't be homeless long before you’ll likely be mugged, lose your ID, then can't get a job or apartment.

      Some guests just want to talk. Lamar just returned from the Homeless World Cup soccer tournament.  He had heard of it at Feed My People.

      Forty-eight countries competed in South Africa. Seeing the shantytowns changed Lamar’s perspective on homelessness. South Africa has no Feed My People.

      Dr. Suzy Carroll witnessed homelessness abroad, as a child, in Saudi Arabia.  She teaches psychology and volunteers at Feed My People. The Holy Spirit guides her to a woman and child. She asks me about resources for mothers.

      Breakfast is at 6. Isaac reads into a microphone, Jeremiah 7:13. "Rising up early," it describes the Lord.

      A guest, hired to clean, sweeps. In 1999, his wife took the kids to England. He has a house in the country but can't travel back and forth. He lives in a van, seeking full-time work.

      It's this info that John Perkins asks of guests. An engineer, John wanted to get outside his comfort zone but is more comfortable here than he expected.

      At 5 am, I look less "together" than many guests, and I'm often mistaken for one. I know volunteers from guests by their nametags. John doesn't wear one, to erase that distinction: he helps guests, they help him.  He feels more a part of Austin.

      Lamar was told the Homeless World Cup would change his life. I expect him to seek housing, but he's thinking travel, the Peace Corps. The guests at Feed My People have different goals. Whatever their goals, they're easier to pursue on a full stomach.

Awaken
Painted by Sarah Rarick

Idealism Sets Us on Our Track
Written and Drawn by Megan Bayes

To general audiences we spout statistics and results of very credible studies to create an awareness of this world unknown and inconceivable to most. In fact, I was tempted to begin this piece the very same way I open most discussions on the topic of homelessness: “The average age of a homeless person is 9 years old.” It’s a jaw-dropper for sure and stops accusatory dialogue of laziness and any talk of “bootstraps” instantly. These statistics are in fact startling and create a foundation for a deeper understanding for why we, as AmeriCorps members, do what we do. But it is not exactly why I do what I do; that’s not exactly what it’s about. I don’t go to work to increase numbers, decrease numbers or impress anyone with my alleged altruism. It’s not about that. Ending a painful day of work either from overwhelming and seemingly never-ending needs of clients, or wrestling with the red tape of administration, I know each and every person in the human service profession has questioned their own motives for continuing.

For me, the reason I do what I do is in those eyes. I came home one night and had to capture the pure innocence in the eyes of one of the children at the shelter. I couldn’t get those eyes out of my head. His eyes are much older than he, two-years old, foreseeing the same hardships and roadblocks ahead of him that I can see, a child of poverty and “unfortunate” circumstances. Yet at the same time he is pleading with me to never stop believing in him. His eyes scream, “Don’t take hope from me.” Those eyes, the joy in them when he danced, the tears in them when he cried and the hope forever portrayed are what it’s all about. That is why I do what I do.

Why AmeriCorps is a Great Program
Written by Karen Payne

I have always had a passion for working with the underprivileged populations of society and wanted to pursue this as a career choice. I found that the passion to serve was not enough to accomplish my goal. I needed opportunity and education. I needed opportunity to explore various avenues, and the ability to work with those who have long served these populations. I needed awareness of resources and knowledge to access and use these resources. I also needed structured access to persons in need.

Through AmeriCorps, I have been given the opportunities to explore and pursue this goal. During my first six months as an AmeriCorps member, I have worked side by side with caseworkers and administrators who cumulatively have decades of experience working with the homeless population in Austin. I am learning from people who have varied educations, diverse views, and cutting edge philosophies, who through respect for a common goal, work together to meet the needs of these underprivileged citizens. I have been included in this remarkable group as a future advocate and promising contributor. Through AmeriCorps trainings, valuable agency workshops, and judicious supervision, I have received knowledge that immediately enabled me to make differences in the lives of those I served.

From the beginning of my AmeriCorps service, I was allowed and encouraged to work directly with clients. My knowledge grew exponentially, and my ability to connect clients to available resources was an immediate asset to both the clients and the agency. I have also experienced a great amount of self-growth, as well as an education in social services. I have questioned and reevaluated some of my long held values and taken a broader look at the society I live in. I have learned of obstacles people face that I have not had to bear. I have learned about hope, perseverance, and the strength of the human spirit. I have seen that kindness, resources, and hard work can change people’s lives for the better and I have gotten to be an intricate part of this process.

I have AmeriCorps to thank for the opportunities that have allowed me to take my passion and turn it into a reality that has been every bit as rewarding to me as to those I serve. I will take the knowledge and experience I have accumulated through my AmeriCorps service and follow my dream into a career that will reward me for the rest of my life.

My Experience
Written by Scott O'Brien

When I applied for the AmeriCorps position with the Keep Austin Housed project I had no idea what I was getting into. For quite sometime I knew that I wanted to do something that would be of benefit to others, but I hadn’t yet discovered the path to take me in that direction. AmeriCorps opened the door to social service and offered me a way to make a difference. Unfortunately, budget constraints for all social service agencies make it difficult to serve their populations, which is one reason why AmeriCorps is so important.

My service site at the Lifeworks Emergency Shelter opened my eyes to another side of homelessness that I was previously unaware of. I quickly learned that there are many faces to homelessness, other than the ones holding up make shift signs along the road.

At the emergency shelter, we serve homeless youth generally between the ages of 12-18 years old. These young people have been referred to as the forgotten children. Unfortunately, these children have become victims of their own circumstances. They come to us lacking food, shelter and often times any system of support. Although most of the youth we see are in the state’s foster care system, this by no means makes it easier for them than the ones who come to us off the street.

The youth at the shelter desperately seek attention and care, which unfortunately no amount of monetary resources can provide. This is what makes my position so rewarding and so frustrating. There is always a youth whose needs are not being fully met.  Many of them count on me being there, not just to help get them enrolled in school or take them to a dentist appointment, but just to be there to listen and treat them like a person worth spending time with.

My work at the shelter has given me something that no previous job has; a sense of worth for the work I do. I could go on and on about how my position has opened doors to a vast number of opportunities and numerous avenues through which to pursue my career. But, when it really comes down to what is most important, the fact that I gave even one child a better life makes my year in service to AmeriCorps well worth my time and energy.