The distance between Skid Row and us: to what extent we could get involved with
“This is the first time I get to know and be able to talk with the homeless there. Everything is just so different than I used to imagine!” I talked to my mom on phone and shared with her this unique experience I had at Skid Row via volunteering with WaterDrop LA. A silence ensued, and a sigh came, “I know this is the work assigned by your school and you have to do it, but please be cautious when you get close to them!” she speaked up to express her worry and literally ignored the fun fact I just told her. I felt a sudden disappointment, turning the topic immediately to another one, but my thought was still lingering with the people at Skid Row. Masses’ prejudice seems to be unchanged for dozens of years, and I used to be just anxious as my mom the night before the program. As a Chinese international student, what is happening nowadays in Skid Row is the scene I might never witness if I don’t pursue my college degree in LA. All my friends in China told me to keep a safe distance and avoid communicating with the homeless because in their mind these people are all psycho and could attack citizens for no reason. Even for most LA citizens, Skid Row is a nuisance, a cautionary tale, or a shameful reminder of the city’s callous indifference to its least fortunate citizens.
Back in my life as a full-time student in China, the indulgences in school and grade have already prevented students like me from contemplating about the prevailing social issues and the suffered communities and how to make down-to-earth improvement. After coming to USC, though courses poring over contemporary social problems are massive and usually mandatory in college, students often couldn’t get the gist of them without authentically wedging themselves into the role (Donahue & Luber, 2015), and tragically, care more about their grade and assignments without in-depth thinking about what just being taught in the class. Besides, in some students’ view, the social issues concerning are also far away from what they are capable of resolving.
Being living in the ivory tower for such a long time, I seldom grabbed the opportunity to excavate the life at the dark side of the society, which I believe, could be the same for the majority of USC students who mostly come from middle- and upper-class family. Among the connections of our socio-economic background, the organization we get to partner with, and the community we strive to help with, in order to resonating with those in needs and coming up with viable solution for the issues derived, it is crucial for us to identify our personal goal for the service learning at first and to what extent we wish to get involved with the assistance and the partnership. (Parks 173)
As a foreign student in the US, I used to avoid getting involved in events of homeless people not only because of the legacy in my education which let me put aside things besides academics but also due to the fact that I felt I should not intervene in stuffs not belong to my country. But later I discovered that it’s not the problem in LA or the US, but a general social dilemma derived from humanity. Student could be awed by the hugeness and complexity of the problem regarding social structure, thus ceasing pushing themselves as part of the society to set about what they could do to improve the overall circumstance. The work provided by WaterDrop LA is what I found pragmatic as it disassembled the gigantic issue into sections and give doable work to students, which is often in form of charity and direct(Mitchell and Donahue 460). As an experienced NPO in LA for the welfare of homeless, WaterDrop LA perfectly aligns with the ideology of ideal social service-learning process and leading students towards a transformative being. Volunteers get to walk into the heart area of Skid Row and hand 2 pounds of water to each homeless person with warm greetings. The organization also provides emergency medication for those get addicted to drugs to relive their symptoms. After 3 hours of intensive water delivery, volunteers would get back if they finished delivering the assigned amount of water or give help to other teams if they finished in advance. In this process, students could genuinely put themselves into the society and get to approach the unfortunate group in the social structure.
Though it’s certainly conducive for student volunteer starter, what this mode could provide to students is limited in terms of empathy training and emotional realization. Simply handing water to people is not sufficient for students to develop sympathy. If students could ask the needs of homeless people proactively, it would be better for them to understand the situation and make possible change next time. When I was doing my volunteer last time, I got to know that people there actually needed more snacks and clothes over water supply which they could get from the water fountain in public sector by chatting with them, and I was able to report this to my team leader which certainly help WaterDrop update the supplies list for next time. It’s also important for student to observe the situation and make proper treating about whether they need help because they might reject it: their self-dignity is sometimes stronger than us. Accepting help, in their minds, could make them inferior in their social status compared to normal citizens, which they don’t wish others to point out. Therefore, as Parks has addressed, it’s of great significance to recognize these “rules” right at the beginning stage and adjust wisely when encounter different people with specific needs.
Moreover, for students wish to establish more connections and creating profound effect for people in Skid Row, sorely taking part in the “charity” section is still not enough and devoting in the planning and managing process of the event could be a better idea. In “Ideal and Real in Service Learning”, Tania Mitchell addresses the problem that the number of hours and derived schedule expected for students in their service learning has impeded students’ desire to conduct meaningful and creative work for the volunteer organization. This expectation, in her viewpoint, limits the capability that students could commit to the service learning as the core work has to be conducted in places like offices or agencies which typically open in business hours (Mitchell and Donahue 460). For instance, the planning meeting of the weekly WaterDrop events in weekends are often conducted in weekdays. Because of the normal schooling in weekdays, students are often not able to join the planning and end up only helping delivering water. In other words, Mitchell sees how the not well-planned time of service conducting in organizations alienates students from dedicating themselves in the environment of service learning and make them unable to learn the most from it. Thus, to make students participate more in the planning section, students could consider giving more time for volunteering in weekdays. If possible, students could collaborate with WaterDrop LA to establish a student sector in which student volunteers could gather to talk and share their experience during the volunteer and give advice to WaterDrop regarding the service learning.
Besides the tragic experience people usually have about the homeless people, there’re things I found precious within the community at Skid Row. When I was giving water to people lying on the street and sleeping, I found one white and one black man using the same coat as comforter and each using one side of the earphone to listen to music together. A cozy atmosphere permeates through this small alley in the bustling downtown LA. In college, I discovered that students of same race or ethnicity tend to cluster and make friends only in this circle, but in Skid Row, people don’t have this problem at all. They gossip, ramble around together and head to the free shoes event and get back showing off new shoes to their neighbors. There’s no boundary in terms of skin color and cultural background in the Skid Row community. During my time here, I’m glad that I could see this from a disadvantaged group, which did teach me a lesson in friendship. As I navigate the engagement between me and Skid Row, instead of being just a donating one, I wish I could also learn from the one I served, and in turn apply back to the one I belong to.
Work cited
Mitchell, Tania D., and David M. Donahue. “Ideal and Real in Service Learning.” The Cambridge Handbook of Service Learning and Community Engagement, 2017, pp. 458–469.
Parks, Stephen. “Community Partnerships.” Writing Communities, pp. 171–180.
Donahue, D., & Luber, M. (2015). Queering service learning: Promoting anti-oppressive action and reflection by undoing dichotomous thinking. In J. Hawley (Ed.), Expanding the circle: Creating an inclusive environment in higher education for LGBTQ students and studies (pp. 209–224). Albany: State University of New York Press.
