Journalism

In my twenty years and some months existence in this world, I've been fortunate enough to live a secured life. I believe food and shelter are two of the most important essentials in life, and I've never had to worry about food not being on the table or if I had a place to sleep at night which is why I consider myself to have a secure life. Volunteering at Simpson Housing helped me realize many things in life, and also made me wonder why some people are so fortunate in life while others struggle to survive in this world.

Prior to Simpson Housing, I was vaguely familiar with the issue of homelessness. I only knew the basis of it, but never fully understood it. There are a lot of misconceptions and stereotypes about the homeless and I've learned that you can't really judge until you've experienced it. You hear a lot of bad things about homeless people- they're lazy, drug addicts, bums, freeloaders, etcÐ'... It's easy to focus on the bad because you remember the bad more than the good. It must be hard for homeless people because they are pre-judged without even getting to be known. They get rejected before getting a chance.

I will admit that I did believe some of the misconceptions of homeless people because I had one negative experience. When I was younger, my family and I used to go eat at Rainbow, a Chinese restaurant, in Minneapolis. We always went at night and on the way home, there was a strip where all the homeless people would camp out. I couldn't believe people had to live like that. I've had several encounters with homeless people where they'd come up to me asking for money until this once incident. I was with my dad and this lady and her son approached us asking for some help. I had always given a dollar or two before, but I saw she had a son so I convinced my dad to give them five dollars. They seemed to be really gracious of our donation and we felt really good about helping them. Five minutes later, we saw the lady and her son drive away in a brand new Toyota Camry. My dad and I were completely stunned. I was so angry. There are so many others that could've used the money we had given. The lady took advantage of us, and completely had no morals whatsoever. However, that did not stop me from wanting to give help to the needy. Instead of giving them money, I give them food. I know it's not exactly that same, but I still do feel that I am helping them.

My orientation meeting at Simpson Housing was a lot different than I thought it would be. It wasn't that I was expecting anything; I mean, I didn't know what to expect. I learned a lot at the meeting. I was very surprised to know that most of the men at the shelter had jobs. They just weren't able to rent out a place due to lack of rental history, they weren't making quite enough yet, or the worse reason Ð'- discrimination. When I got to do my overnight shifts at Simpson Housing, it was then that was I truly exposed to the lifestyle of a homeless person. The biggest surprise to me was the most of the men looked like your everyday average man. If I were to pass one of them on the streets, I wouldn't have the slightest idea that he was homeless. Volunteering there opened my eyes and made me wonder Ð'- what would it be like to be homeless?

If I was homeless, I'd think life would be lived on a day by day basis because you never know what each day has in store for you. Life would always be filled with uncertainty; and that'd be so stressful. There would be so many things for me to worry about. Do I have a place to sleep at night? Is there any food for me to eat? Am I going to be able to take a shower? Do I have any clean clothes to wear the next day? These few questions are what millions and millions of people in the world take for granted because they were blessed to have these necessities given to them.

Being homeless would mean I have very little support from friends and family, which would make me feel so empty and lost. Family and friends to