Sunday, August 31, 2014
Business Life
I still haven't put my finger on it but it seems to me (and my other housemates as well who work at other work sites and are from the East and Midwest Coast) that the "business world" in California is a lot more relaxed. The professional attire in California would be considered casual outing wear in the East Coast and the professional clothing that a person in the East Coast would wear would be considered a bit over the top here in California. I guess it's hard to explain unless your here but there is far more room for personalities to show in clothing outside of just the "artsy" business communities.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Incarceration
So another guest speaker that come to my job spoke about the great disparity in the justice system this I find is extremely relevant with all issues of cops taking overwhelming force into their own hands.
The U.S is the leader in the world for incarcerated persons, we hold 5% of the world and 25% of that population is behind bars. Let that sink in. Over the last 40 years the number of incarcerations have increased due to drug policy changes. Last year 88% of people incarcerated for simple drug possession. Up until last year prisons have been built at least one per year over the past 23 years (talk about an investment $$$) while there has been only one university built since then. 60% of people arent sentenced in California but stay in jail because they can't pay their bail.
AB109: Is a court order by the Supreme Court that ordered California to reduce their prison population because it found that it was violating the 8th amendment with how many people were being incarcerated.
AB109: http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/realignment/docs/realignment-fact-sheet.pdf
8th amendment: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Some more text:
In brief, AB 109 (and AB 117, a companion bill) altered both sentencing and post-prison supervision for the newly statutorily classified “non-serious, non-violent, non-sex” offenders. While the legislation is comprehensive and complex, three major groups are affected by Realignment. First, felony offenders who have never been convicted of a “serious” or “violent” crime or an aggravated white collar crime and are not required to register as sex offenders (colloquially referred to as the “triple-nons”) will now serve their sentences in local custody. Second, released prisoners whose current commitment offense qualifies them as “triple-non” offenders are diverted to the supervision of county probation departments under “Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS).” Third, if persons on PRCS violate the technical conditions of their supervision (rather than committing a new crime), they can no longer be returned to State prison but must be sanctioned in local (county) jail or community alternatives, including house arrest, drug treatment, or flash incarceration.
From:
http://www.law.stanford.edu/organizations/programs-and-centers/stanford-criminal-justice-center-scjc/california-realignment
In response to a court order to reduce the population in its seriously overcrowded prisons, California began implementing a major new corrections realignment plan in October 2011.The plan shifts responsibility for a substantial number of non-serious, non-violent, non-sexual felony offenders from the state to its 58 counties. Ultimately, this reform is projected to reallocate about 30,000 low-risk felons from state prisons to either county jails or an alternative form of community corrections. Additionally, county probation departments
will take on the supervision of roughly 60,000 additional offenders on Post-Release Community Supervision (PRCS). Although the counties receive funding to cover the cost of supervising these felons, the state has not established any statewide standards, nor provided any funding, for evaluating county policies and practices
in managing this new program.
From: http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_812MLR.pdf
Okay I really don't have the time to go into detail with this but hopefully you can check out these sources.
Another important thing is PROP 36:
And I'm pasting this because thats essentially what the speaker said is that although many inmates qualify to be released from life sentence if their last crime was a petty one that these inmates have to get out and go to reentry programs. These programs give the inmates the resources and help to get back into society
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Reentry_Program
but there is not enough money allocated (funding) by the state to these programs so even though there are inmates that are serving life prison sentences which they can be released they can't because the reentry programs and limited on space and funding.
Books I suggest you read: The New Jim Crow.
The U.S is the leader in the world for incarcerated persons, we hold 5% of the world and 25% of that population is behind bars. Let that sink in. Over the last 40 years the number of incarcerations have increased due to drug policy changes. Last year 88% of people incarcerated for simple drug possession. Up until last year prisons have been built at least one per year over the past 23 years (talk about an investment $$$) while there has been only one university built since then. 60% of people arent sentenced in California but stay in jail because they can't pay their bail.
AB109: Is a court order by the Supreme Court that ordered California to reduce their prison population because it found that it was violating the 8th amendment with how many people were being incarcerated.
AB109: http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/realignment/docs/realignment-fact-sheet.pdf
8th amendment: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Some more text:
In brief, AB 109 (and AB 117, a companion bill) altered both sentencing and post-prison supervision for the newly statutorily classified “non-serious, non-violent, non-sex” offenders. While the legislation is comprehensive and complex, three major groups are affected by Realignment. First, felony offenders who have never been convicted of a “serious” or “violent” crime or an aggravated white collar crime and are not required to register as sex offenders (colloquially referred to as the “triple-nons”) will now serve their sentences in local custody. Second, released prisoners whose current commitment offense qualifies them as “triple-non” offenders are diverted to the supervision of county probation departments under “Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS).” Third, if persons on PRCS violate the technical conditions of their supervision (rather than committing a new crime), they can no longer be returned to State prison but must be sanctioned in local (county) jail or community alternatives, including house arrest, drug treatment, or flash incarceration.
From:
http://www.law.stanford.edu/organizations/programs-and-centers/stanford-criminal-justice-center-scjc/california-realignment
In response to a court order to reduce the population in its seriously overcrowded prisons, California began implementing a major new corrections realignment plan in October 2011.The plan shifts responsibility for a substantial number of non-serious, non-violent, non-sexual felony offenders from the state to its 58 counties. Ultimately, this reform is projected to reallocate about 30,000 low-risk felons from state prisons to either county jails or an alternative form of community corrections. Additionally, county probation departments
will take on the supervision of roughly 60,000 additional offenders on Post-Release Community Supervision (PRCS). Although the counties receive funding to cover the cost of supervising these felons, the state has not established any statewide standards, nor provided any funding, for evaluating county policies and practices
in managing this new program.
From: http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_812MLR.pdf
Okay I really don't have the time to go into detail with this but hopefully you can check out these sources.
Another important thing is PROP 36:
- Revises the three strikes law to impose life sentence only when the new felony conviction is "serious or violent."
- Authorizes re-sentencing for offenders currently serving life sentences if their third strike conviction was not serious or violent and if the judge determines that the re-sentence does not pose unreasonable risk to public safety.
- Continues to impose a life sentence penalty if the third strike conviction was for "certain non-serious, non-violent sex or drug offenses or involved firearm possession."
- Maintains the life sentence penalty for felons with "non-serious, non-violent third strike if prior convictions were for rape, murder, or child molestation."
And I'm pasting this because thats essentially what the speaker said is that although many inmates qualify to be released from life sentence if their last crime was a petty one that these inmates have to get out and go to reentry programs. These programs give the inmates the resources and help to get back into society
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Reentry_Program
Proposition 36:
One impact of the approval of Proposition 36 was that the approximately 3,000 convicted felons who were as of November 2012 serving life terms under the Three Strikes law, whose third strike conviction was for a nonviolent crime, became eligible to petition the court for a new, reduced, sentence.[2] Some estimates were that reducing the sentences of these current prisoners could result in saving the state somewhere between $150 to $200 million a year.[3]
Altogether, about 8,800 prisoners are currently serving life terms in California prisons under the 1994 law.[4]
24 states have a "Three Strikes"-type law.[4]
Aftermath:
Five months after the proposition was approved, the Associated Press reported that enforcement of the three-strikes law change had been carried out unequally between counties. For instance, in San Bernardino County, "33 percent of the 291 Three Strikes inmates [had] been granted release under Proposition 36." However, in Los Angeles and San Diego counties, "just 6 percent of the nearly 1,300 eligible inmates [had] had their sentences reduced." The statewide average was at 16 percent at that time.but there is not enough money allocated (funding) by the state to these programs so even though there are inmates that are serving life prison sentences which they can be released they can't because the reentry programs and limited on space and funding.
Books I suggest you read: The New Jim Crow.
Drug Using and homelessness
So we (my job) had a guest speaker come from L.A.CADA, which is a place that is drug users can go get help and treatment for an extended amount of time. So here are some of the things I learned:
Addictions is a disease in the brain and is far more than just choosing to use drugs. It does not remove the accountability for the behavior but it does impair people from being able to make good rational choices.
So we tend to get pleasure from things like shopping, drinking, dancing,working etc those called "daily activities" and that is around a 2-3 magnitude of a sense of pleasure but a drug like crystal meth provides around a 50 percent magnitude of pleasure chemicals that are released from when you do it. So with someone that is addicted to drugs that give them such an increase in pleasure nothing in every day life provides a sense of pleasure because their homeostasis starts shifting. Homeostasis is what our normal body chemicals and function is used to functioning at. So if a crystal meth user starts using not only to they enjoy so much the big high they get from all these pleasure chemicals that are being released at such high volume but they also now make their body expect that on a regular day to day basis to seem "normal and function". They want to keep on getting that high and that level of pleasure their body is now used to getting. A fun fact is that a takes at minimum a whole year for our homeostasis to change back to normal so really drug users body's aren't really balanced out chemically until after a year of recovery. Another thing that happens which is the most interesting thing that I learned was the idea of the old brain.
So basically we have evolved past our primitive tendencies and one of our primitive tendencies is that our pleasure center in our brain was the primary thing that thought for us. So a very long time ago (very long time ago) if something simply felt good we then did it and NOW we have evolved to have more of a rational/thought out way of thinking. So we have more of the ability to say, "Hey, yeah that feels good to do but it does not mean I have to do it." So thats we have the ability to do now BUT when a person is using such pleasure endorsing drugs their primitive pleasure centered brain COMES BACK! Can you imagine that? That is why there is such bad judgement, imagine if we all our our pleasure centers back and our primary way of thinking-that to me spoke on SO many levels as to how destructive the world could be if thats what our primary way of thinking was how we were now. I would like to go more deep into that some other time but let me continue with the drug user topic but just know that knowing that knowledge has really helped me understand and conceptualize why some choices are made. It really also served as an empowerment that things didn't also have to be that way though.
There are alot of factors that go into why a person goes into addiction and one is for sure environmental stress. So could you imagine if you are homeless without no security how day to day stress could be a big reason why someone would have the environmental stress of falling into addiction.
So lastly, if a doctor tells you that you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and you come back a year later and have done little to help your health situation out do they say,"Sorry, I can't see you anymore you are no longer my patient?" No they work with you and they continue to educate you, bring awareness, find alternatives, and practice harm reduction. So if a doctor doesn't kick you out then why should your housing or your rehab center when you relapse? Studies show that when a person is in for 150 days of drug abuse treatment they have at least a 50% of staying sober but sadly that amount of days is hardly what is ever covered by programs or court orders or even insurances.
Days-Percent of success:
30-5%
60-9%
90-18%
120-35%
150-50%
So remember even if you are sober for some of these people the only place they can go back to is the place in which they were formerly before which could serve as a trigger to restart the cycle all over again. I realized that is not the case for everyone but that this issue is far more complex because it has many factors. If you have anymore questions let me know or need clarification let me know, also I'm not an expert.
Addictions is a disease in the brain and is far more than just choosing to use drugs. It does not remove the accountability for the behavior but it does impair people from being able to make good rational choices.
So we tend to get pleasure from things like shopping, drinking, dancing,working etc those called "daily activities" and that is around a 2-3 magnitude of a sense of pleasure but a drug like crystal meth provides around a 50 percent magnitude of pleasure chemicals that are released from when you do it. So with someone that is addicted to drugs that give them such an increase in pleasure nothing in every day life provides a sense of pleasure because their homeostasis starts shifting. Homeostasis is what our normal body chemicals and function is used to functioning at. So if a crystal meth user starts using not only to they enjoy so much the big high they get from all these pleasure chemicals that are being released at such high volume but they also now make their body expect that on a regular day to day basis to seem "normal and function". They want to keep on getting that high and that level of pleasure their body is now used to getting. A fun fact is that a takes at minimum a whole year for our homeostasis to change back to normal so really drug users body's aren't really balanced out chemically until after a year of recovery. Another thing that happens which is the most interesting thing that I learned was the idea of the old brain.
So basically we have evolved past our primitive tendencies and one of our primitive tendencies is that our pleasure center in our brain was the primary thing that thought for us. So a very long time ago (very long time ago) if something simply felt good we then did it and NOW we have evolved to have more of a rational/thought out way of thinking. So we have more of the ability to say, "Hey, yeah that feels good to do but it does not mean I have to do it." So thats we have the ability to do now BUT when a person is using such pleasure endorsing drugs their primitive pleasure centered brain COMES BACK! Can you imagine that? That is why there is such bad judgement, imagine if we all our our pleasure centers back and our primary way of thinking-that to me spoke on SO many levels as to how destructive the world could be if thats what our primary way of thinking was how we were now. I would like to go more deep into that some other time but let me continue with the drug user topic but just know that knowing that knowledge has really helped me understand and conceptualize why some choices are made. It really also served as an empowerment that things didn't also have to be that way though.
There are alot of factors that go into why a person goes into addiction and one is for sure environmental stress. So could you imagine if you are homeless without no security how day to day stress could be a big reason why someone would have the environmental stress of falling into addiction.
So lastly, if a doctor tells you that you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and you come back a year later and have done little to help your health situation out do they say,"Sorry, I can't see you anymore you are no longer my patient?" No they work with you and they continue to educate you, bring awareness, find alternatives, and practice harm reduction. So if a doctor doesn't kick you out then why should your housing or your rehab center when you relapse? Studies show that when a person is in for 150 days of drug abuse treatment they have at least a 50% of staying sober but sadly that amount of days is hardly what is ever covered by programs or court orders or even insurances.
Days-Percent of success:
30-5%
60-9%
90-18%
120-35%
150-50%
So remember even if you are sober for some of these people the only place they can go back to is the place in which they were formerly before which could serve as a trigger to restart the cycle all over again. I realized that is not the case for everyone but that this issue is far more complex because it has many factors. If you have anymore questions let me know or need clarification let me know, also I'm not an expert.
Skid Row Pt. 2 Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
So I mentioned in the last post that I would address the resources that are happening in the skid row to help the situation of mass homelessness. So near that area there are various clinics, drug and rehab centers, job employment readiness and preparedness (yay, thats what I do!), cheap diners, there is now starting to be some permanent housing (which 30% of rent has to paid and the rest is subsidized by the tendent), and places like the Union Rescue Mission which charge essentially the amount of General Relief (General Relief (GR) is a County-funded program that provides financial assistance to indigent adults who are ineligible for federal or State programs. An average GR case consists of one person, living alone, with no income or resources.) if they qualify for it or if they have other means to pay to stay there. So I know that sounds like, "wow, that's great there is something that is being done about this!" but let me tell you more about why its faulting.
So for those that don't know about Maslow's hierarchy of needs (putting my bio psychology minor to good use!) It's the idea that basic necessities have to be met in order for us humans to reach our full potential.
So it's pretty clear that if a person is homeless that some of the basic (bottom) necessities are lacking in order for more top necessities to be met. So here are a couple of things that I noticed could go wrong:
-One of the main problems in that area is drug abuse (that will be my following post) and it's hard to get over an addiction when triggers and your recovery happens in the same location in which you were shooting up or seeing your drug dealers. Most people know that if you are in recovery that you have to disassociate yourself from the old locations and habits of that when you were drug using but thats to hard to achieve for those that are drug users and live on the skid row streets. This is because they are homeless and those streets are their home or if they have a apartment in skidrow they can't live anywhere else that will charge them 30% of their income for rent. I mean think about it these people have nothing how can they go and just disassociate elsewhere when they are stuck in the homelessness situation. So you you would think that housing would be scattered throughout Los Angeles but not is not the case, no one in the city wants former drug users or homeless populating more of the area then what's "designated to them" so it would take a big city wide effort to change how those that were addicted are ensured that they won't be so susceptible to fall back into drug using.
-Most permanent housing do not check to see if a person is an addict or sober they do however have programs within the housing such as counselors and other methods to stop the drug addiction because the housing programs reasoning is- if the BASIC necessity of housing is met without restrictions (just that they are able to pay 30% of their income to rent) then the person will feel more secure to seek treatment for addiction because the basic necessity of shelter and security is a requirement that is met)
-There is not enough housing for this huge population more housing is under way but it requires alot of grants, planning, and then construction
-So you take my job for example, I work for a non-profit that helps many ex convicts, homeless, ex drug users and many more learn how to become job ready, prepared, and gives them the tools (Resume,cover letter, customer service training and many many more) but it is really hard to help someone who doesn't have a home or is a currently still using the drugs because if a person can't come into the interview with good hygiene and some stability of their life then if they have a job they might be more likely to lose it so my agency helps with referring to some housing and rehab or mental help places while they want to start their job search because all that has to be in alignment at one point in order for a person to be successful at retaining a job. (sorry this is a long post and has run ons but if you are reading this thank you for sticking with it and I love you!)
-oh and lastly another thing can you imagine if all you knew what one way of live and then society told you that it was wrong and had to live another certain way? Well some homeless people have been homeless for more than half their lives and being housed can be such an intimidating thing. Just think, the first time we moved out of our parents houses and we had to pay rent and utilities wasn't that a challenge? Well imagine if you did that didn't have a support system and never knew what it was like to have your own space and pay rent etc etc . So there is that barrier for some homeless along with not enough housing to begin with.
Okay I could go on and on, but hopefully if you know me and have my number we can discuss further :)
Love,
Ro
So for those that don't know about Maslow's hierarchy of needs (putting my bio psychology minor to good use!) It's the idea that basic necessities have to be met in order for us humans to reach our full potential.
-One of the main problems in that area is drug abuse (that will be my following post) and it's hard to get over an addiction when triggers and your recovery happens in the same location in which you were shooting up or seeing your drug dealers. Most people know that if you are in recovery that you have to disassociate yourself from the old locations and habits of that when you were drug using but thats to hard to achieve for those that are drug users and live on the skid row streets. This is because they are homeless and those streets are their home or if they have a apartment in skidrow they can't live anywhere else that will charge them 30% of their income for rent. I mean think about it these people have nothing how can they go and just disassociate elsewhere when they are stuck in the homelessness situation. So you you would think that housing would be scattered throughout Los Angeles but not is not the case, no one in the city wants former drug users or homeless populating more of the area then what's "designated to them" so it would take a big city wide effort to change how those that were addicted are ensured that they won't be so susceptible to fall back into drug using.
-Most permanent housing do not check to see if a person is an addict or sober they do however have programs within the housing such as counselors and other methods to stop the drug addiction because the housing programs reasoning is- if the BASIC necessity of housing is met without restrictions (just that they are able to pay 30% of their income to rent) then the person will feel more secure to seek treatment for addiction because the basic necessity of shelter and security is a requirement that is met)
-There is not enough housing for this huge population more housing is under way but it requires alot of grants, planning, and then construction
-So you take my job for example, I work for a non-profit that helps many ex convicts, homeless, ex drug users and many more learn how to become job ready, prepared, and gives them the tools (Resume,cover letter, customer service training and many many more) but it is really hard to help someone who doesn't have a home or is a currently still using the drugs because if a person can't come into the interview with good hygiene and some stability of their life then if they have a job they might be more likely to lose it so my agency helps with referring to some housing and rehab or mental help places while they want to start their job search because all that has to be in alignment at one point in order for a person to be successful at retaining a job. (sorry this is a long post and has run ons but if you are reading this thank you for sticking with it and I love you!)
-oh and lastly another thing can you imagine if all you knew what one way of live and then society told you that it was wrong and had to live another certain way? Well some homeless people have been homeless for more than half their lives and being housed can be such an intimidating thing. Just think, the first time we moved out of our parents houses and we had to pay rent and utilities wasn't that a challenge? Well imagine if you did that didn't have a support system and never knew what it was like to have your own space and pay rent etc etc . So there is that barrier for some homeless along with not enough housing to begin with.
Okay I could go on and on, but hopefully if you know me and have my number we can discuss further :)
Love,
Ro
Friday, August 15, 2014
Skid Row
So the infamous "skid row" has been an extensive topic of discussion, touring, and contemplation for me because both my program and my work site took us on tours of the area. For those that do not know, Skid Row is a section name (given due to the logging industry back in the day) for a large area of downtown Los Angeles that is "home" to various homeless persons. Let me start of by saying that homelessness is not a shock to me since I did see a lot of it in Philly BUT I really can never verbalize the magnitude of the homelessness in Los Angeles its estimated that its upwards of 82,000 on any given night and usually more that experience homelessness episodes throughout the year. So just to drive home that point no amount of number could ever be comparable to actually walking the stress of skid row and seeing just how many people are:
-Layed out in the streets sleeping on a luggage or book bag in the hot sun
-Have made sleeping tents and are on the sidewalk
-Just sit on the curb because that's where they live
-Use cardboard boxes as a means of home and shelter
For example, under bridges tens or boxes are put up and I've seen that people spray paint palm trees or a tv and couch right next to the concrete of the wall of the bridge that they live under (I'm guessing that's humorous but not really).
I'm honestly not shocked at the homelessness because I have seen that in more urban places in America (NY, DC, Philly) but I am horrified at the volume of it that it exists here.
So I had two pressing questions: How does this happen? & What's being done?
-Layed out in the streets sleeping on a luggage or book bag in the hot sun
-Have made sleeping tents and are on the sidewalk
-Just sit on the curb because that's where they live
-Use cardboard boxes as a means of home and shelter
For example, under bridges tens or boxes are put up and I've seen that people spray paint palm trees or a tv and couch right next to the concrete of the wall of the bridge that they live under (I'm guessing that's humorous but not really).
I'm honestly not shocked at the homelessness because I have seen that in more urban places in America (NY, DC, Philly) but I am horrified at the volume of it that it exists here.
So I had two pressing questions: How does this happen? & What's being done?
So the first section of this blog post will answer the first pressing question.
I am by no means an expert on this situations but I did pick up some things from the people that I've encountered in my touring of skid row.
-Housing is becoming more expensive in downtown LA therefore making it harder for people to live in that area with little to no income
-It was common for mentally ill patients to be dropped off by hospitals my marked and later than unmarked cars in the streets of skid row
- Some homeless people were given essentially a "one way ticket" from states who wanted to not address/get rid of/or thought it was more "sensible" to send homeless people to an area that was livable on the streets all year round with the weather. Whether they did it to get rid or to send them to a better area is more livable on the streets I do not know but I know that was the case for some homeless people here.
-According to the president of the Union Rescue Mission (the only place that actually houses women and children on skid row) homelessness and the people that are several hundreds/ thousands at times of people walking into their door everyday with little to no sign of it decreasing as the years progress (to me that makes sense since the economy turned at one point at city living is no longer as feasible in the past with minimum wage)
I totally admire the Union Rescue mission like I said they are the only place in the skid row area that house women and children apparently back in the day there was many children and women on the streets of skid row and there was a movement to move the women and the children off of it which essentially just misplaced the problem to other California areas so that downtown wouldn't get known as the city of homeless children roaming the streets.
I am by no means an expert on this situations but I did pick up some things from the people that I've encountered in my touring of skid row.
-Housing is becoming more expensive in downtown LA therefore making it harder for people to live in that area with little to no income
-It was common for mentally ill patients to be dropped off by hospitals my marked and later than unmarked cars in the streets of skid row
- Some homeless people were given essentially a "one way ticket" from states who wanted to not address/get rid of/or thought it was more "sensible" to send homeless people to an area that was livable on the streets all year round with the weather. Whether they did it to get rid or to send them to a better area is more livable on the streets I do not know but I know that was the case for some homeless people here.
-According to the president of the Union Rescue Mission (the only place that actually houses women and children on skid row) homelessness and the people that are several hundreds/ thousands at times of people walking into their door everyday with little to no sign of it decreasing as the years progress (to me that makes sense since the economy turned at one point at city living is no longer as feasible in the past with minimum wage)
I totally admire the Union Rescue mission like I said they are the only place in the skid row area that house women and children apparently back in the day there was many children and women on the streets of skid row and there was a movement to move the women and the children off of it which essentially just misplaced the problem to other California areas so that downtown wouldn't get known as the city of homeless children roaming the streets.
There are so many marginalized people in this area and this is just to educate others who have no idea that such place even exited because let's be honest who actually learned this in history class on the East Coast?
Here's a wiki page on the topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skid_Row,_Los_Angeles
And there are tons of actually scholarly things on this topic too. And I can't stress enough how nothing that I say can do justice to this issue until you see it with your own eyes. My next blog post I'll talk more about what I learned on the things that are being done to address this issue.
Peace and Love,
Ro
Here's a wiki page on the topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skid_Row,_Los_Angeles
And there are tons of actually scholarly things on this topic too. And I can't stress enough how nothing that I say can do justice to this issue until you see it with your own eyes. My next blog post I'll talk more about what I learned on the things that are being done to address this issue.
Peace and Love,
Ro
Thursday, August 14, 2014
A Selfish Generation?
So as many people in my life know, I am doing a year of service this year straight out of college.
Many of the people that I work with are also volunteers from other programs such as Jesuit Volunteer Corps and Vincentian Corps members. This post is not to go into my particular work site details (I'll discuss that in a different blog post) but to discuss a phrase that was brought up during my start of my program. So my program, worksite, guest speakers, and other people have really acknowledge the vow that we take when we do service saying this such as, "wow its great that someone your age is doing this". After hearing that repeatedly a part of me thought, " what does this say about the older generation's perception of my generation?" So I had to think do they think that we are just self absorbed selfish taking machines that could care less about giving service to others? I did feel nice that my service was acknowledged (at the same time I was like ah, no I'm humble lol) but it also let me know a little bit about how older people may view my generation.
Many of the people that I work with are also volunteers from other programs such as Jesuit Volunteer Corps and Vincentian Corps members. This post is not to go into my particular work site details (I'll discuss that in a different blog post) but to discuss a phrase that was brought up during my start of my program. So my program, worksite, guest speakers, and other people have really acknowledge the vow that we take when we do service saying this such as, "wow its great that someone your age is doing this". After hearing that repeatedly a part of me thought, " what does this say about the older generation's perception of my generation?" So I had to think do they think that we are just self absorbed selfish taking machines that could care less about giving service to others? I did feel nice that my service was acknowledged (at the same time I was like ah, no I'm humble lol) but it also let me know a little bit about how older people may view my generation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)