The Nourishing Streams from the Water Source

Globally, Los Angeles is one of the cities that have the largest amount of homeless people. The government and many social welfare organizations are dedicated to elevating the living standard of the shelters for those homeless people. Still, many shelters are tough for people to live in, and some of the homeless people even got mental issues due to the difficult living circumstances. Though some propose that social assistance is fulfilled as long as organizations invest more money in providing permanent housing, increase medical insurance, and enhance shelters, I firmly believe that true volunteer is only reached when the volunteers respect the unhoused people, and the unhoused people open up their heart to the volunteers to tell their stories.

Though I didn’t do much volunteer work before I came to college, my volunteer experience is enough for me to define what is a good service. The best community service that I’ve ever done is that I established a free online theatre summer camp called SpectraVerse with my friend Mary and invited my high school drama teacher Mr. Allen to teach kids around the age of 10 about theatre in general and directed them to act out a play. We chose a play that can be performed in a separate space so that during the most severe pandemic time, those kids still got the opportunity to carry out a group project. During the process of planning and bringing together the summer camp, I discovered my leadership and affinity with kids. Having this community service experience, I found myself not only able to be talking with those kids in the camp, but also am more amiable to the other kids at their age. I’m looking forward to participating in more volunteering work, and this year in Water Drop, I especially want to expand my horizon and talk to people, in this community of homeless people, whom I’ve never known before. There are no homeless people on the street back in China so this is my first time seeing them in L.A. They seemed especially dangerous to me at first when I saw them everywhere in the village of USC, but then my friend told me that there was nothing to be afraid of and that they are just people trying to live their lives. Since then, I began to be curious about their lives: who are they and what were they doing before they got here.

After getting to know the “Water Drop” service, I think this specific volunteer can be considered a good service. Yesterday, I had my first ever “Water Drop” experience with my partner Diego. It’s shocking to me that Diego could recognize one of the members of the neighborhood and call out his name, Joseph, on the street. Joseph has a girlfriend and they live together. Their tent is near China town under a pine tree. Through Diego and Joseph’s conversation, I learned about the fact that there are not only us helping the unhoused members on that street and especially this week they are receiving more water and other resources at a large amount, which is a good thing. I really appreciate his positive and outgoing attitude when he is talking to us, which is something that I never imagined for someone not having a stable housing. The second Joseph spoke to me and smile at me, the misunderstanding that homeless people are all scary suddenly disappeared in my mind. He is so gentle, polite, and grateful, but I might never know that if I haven’t been in “Water Drop.” This experience gives me the lesson that a good service work is the one that can inspire and change your mind. There’s really nothing to do except talking and getting to know all these people in the neighborhood so that I think the “Water Drop” program is enhancing the communication between person and person.

In fact, the most feasible reason “Water Drop” to be a good service is that it puts these homeless people deep in the hearts because it cares about their lives and try to improve them. The first impression I have of homeless people is that most of them have mental issues. A lot of the time, their mental issues are triggered because of the disturbing problems caused by not having stable housing: it is inaccessible and unaffordable for them to purchase permanent housing while the shelters are often in a worse condition so that they choose to live on the street. Schultheis claims that “affordable housing is becoming harder to find,” yet just as he also mentioned that “people in this group face stereotypes and discrimination, including from landlords who discourage them from applying.” At the same time because of their mental issues, people are avoiding to present better housing sources for them causing harder efforts for them to find affordable housing, which as a result intensifies their mental issues, and this negative cycle deteriorates their mental state. Compared to the action of investing more funding and energy in helping them find stable housing to release their mental pressure, it is easier for them to feel the kindness and warmth of the world by simply receiving positive feedback and greetings in their daily lives. As a matter of fact, homeless people are always misunderstood by people around them as being sick and dangerous, and they often face “misrepresentation and discrimination.” (Schultheis) What’s more, because of these misinterpretations of homeless people, they sometimes are even “exploited, objectified, and violently victimized.” (Schultheis) But they are human beings and normal people just like us, and they are also looking forward to being recognized, accepted, and respected as normal people and treated like decent people. That’s why “Water Drop” is so meaningful. It is built to help these homeless people to feel the goodwill of the world, and then our mission in “Water Drop” will be fully fulfilled.

Somethings that I do think the “Water Drop” program can be working on is equity. By “equity” I don’t necessarily mean by the equally distribution of water but the distribution of water to different race. When we are distributing the water near China town, an Asian-looking old lady came up to us and asking for water. However, she is asking for water in Chinese which I figured out Diego couldn’t understand; in fact, it’s not a language that most people living in America would understand. The whole conversation between them seemed awkward. Though she only required water yesterday, I kept wondering if the next time she wants blanket or something else she really need but don’t know how to say in English, because she might really get into trouble if communication is a problem. Therefore, I figured out it would be preferred if we can have multiple language speakers assigned to different sections of the street learning the different needs of different communities in the neighborhood, which will be beneficial to all the members in the community.

Also, it will be valuable to establish a more stabilized and abundant water source for homeless people. If the emphasis is on providing a more stable and bountiful water source, the problems related to hygiene will be solved by the homeless people themselves. For example, these homeless people will have a water source to safely wash their clothes, underwear, and their bed sheets. Once they have a reliable water source, problems related to a messy environment will all be addressed.

In addition, I think it would be necessary to set specific spots for receiving water sources for specific communities. This would be beneficial because most of the women and marginalized communities such as LGBTQ often feel anxious, sometimes even scared, in the homeless areas. It is shown that many women will dress themselves up as men in order to avoid dogging by wicked people. This is understandable because many homeless women are followed and even raped by men when they walk along by themselves. Homeless women are in intense need of safe facilities and venues for their daily routines. Therefore, in order to provide better care for those marginalized people in this community, Schultheis suggests that “it is essential for communities to offer high-quality care.” However, he doesn’t take into consideration the ability of those homeless people to pay because even after the high coverage of social insurance, it’s still a large amount of money that they need to pay. As a result, building the targeted water source spot is becoming more valuable and necessary. With the found of these spots, they will not be worried about being threatened by the people that might hurt them.

All in all, the facts that “Water Drop” can help the unhoused people release from their mental issues, caused by bad sanitation and low safety levels, and receive as much respect as normal people are suggesting that this service, having a stable and abundant water source assigned to homeless people on different streets and treating them decently present the perfect example for a good service.