My Experience at the Shelter of Flint

For my Take Action project, I volunteered at the Shelter of Flint with four other classmates. This experience was so rewarding, and I feel as though my motivation for working with others in my community has completely shifted from a very selfish perspective to one that is compassionate and hopeful. The children and parents that I was able to meet are people who need the community to recognize their situation and the events that have resulted in their homelessness.

While homelessness is a very serious issue in Flint, the children that we worked with were so much fun that it almost blurred the reality of where we were. I was so impressed with the children and how supportive they were to one another. I was especially impressed with the older children, who seemed to take on very caring roles for the young toddlers who needed help with some of the activities or were upset because they wanted to be with their parents.

For each of our visits, we created several activities for the kids. On the first night, we did Christmas crafts with the kids, providing paper, stickers, glitter, and other supplies for the kids to make Christmas cards, reindeer, or snowflakes. On the second night, we decorated Christmas cookies, colored Christmas-themed coloring books, and did a baloon race. Both nights were successful, and the children really seemed to enjoy all of the activities. During the time that we spent with the 25+ kids, their parents (the shelter houses women and children primarily, but there were several men also) were able to catch up on their house chores, attend GED classes and workshops, research jobs in the area, seek counseling, or just relax. I think time to oneself is very important no matter what situation you're in, so I was glad the parents were able to have some time alone to take care of themselves.

The Shelter of Flint originally began as an emergency shelter for women that, according to their website, “understood the reality of women needing temporary emergency housing.” Services have since expanded to homeless women, children, and families. One of the coordinators we worked with, Petra, mentioned on our first visit that she appreciated our effort and she wanted us to understand how big of a role the community plays in the success of these individuals. While Petra was unable to give us back our interview questions on time (We gave her two and a half weeks notice, but she is incredibly busy), this little bit of advice was enough to make me feel that I should be doing more in my own community. Not only is it rewarding to give back to your community, its also rewarding to see how your efforts can change your community for the better. Most of us enrolled in this class are prospective teachers, and I hope that if this project has taught us anything, it is that our role in our communities extends much further than the walls of our classrooms.

If I receive the interview questions from Petra, I'll be sure to update my post.