Why Connections are the Key to Valuable Service

Almost everyone can admit to performing community service through quick volunteer opportunities that limit interaction with a community. We feel a temporary sense of fulfillment knowing that we did some good in the world. However, we often continue on with our lives unaffected, while communities continue to struggle from systemic issues. While some believe that short-term charity work and projects are effective at resolving pressing issues within a community, social change is the most impactful form of service because it allows us to create a sustainable solution that a community can implement permanently. It is imperative that volunteers work collaboratively with a community through the form of social change to create connections in order to assist them in creating a program that caters to their current needs.

There are multiple forms of service that we can perform in our community. Charity work enables the volunteer to be the least involved. Typically, it is “limited in time and makes limited claims about impact on the people involved.” For instance, volunteering at a food bank for a day or helping out at a clothing drive are quick endeavors that require low commitment from the volunteer. Projects include more planning, but are still formulated without considering the community’s true needs as voiced by its members. They often have a timeline and an end goal. Once the goal has been reached, the volunteers exit their role and leave the community to continue facing the same challenges that it had faced before the project existed. Conversely, the method of social change focuses on leaving a lasting impact on the community by adjusting the source of the issue. It emphasizes “building relationships among or within stakeholder groups, and creating a learning environment that continually peels away the layers of the onion called ‘root causes.’” It is the only one of the three methods that identifies the importance of connecting with the community while assisting it with a problem it constantly encounters. Charity work, projects, and social change all have the capacity to affect a community, but some are more impactful than others.

Charity work and projects create short-term solutions to immediate issues. Although they may not be able to create lasting change in a community, they can provide aid to dire situations. For example, the unhoused people living on Skid Row lack access to clean drinking water due to the limited number of water fountains present. Water Drop LA recruits volunteers to spend their Sundays loading cases of water into cars to distribute to the citizens of Skid Row. “While a gallon a week is nowhere near sufficient for healthy survival in Los Angeles’s hot climate, we hope that this regular water distribution will curb some of the existing urgent need for clean drinking water.” On the day that the water is handed out, the unhoused people have resolved their immediate issue of a lack of water. Volunteering with Water Drop opened my eyes to the daily issues that unhoused people face, and helped me to better understand their situations. Speaking with the citizens of Skid Row enlightened me to the extreme lack of resources available. It was brought to my attention that there are very few existing and functioning public water fountains in this section of downtown LA. However, my short-term commitment did not prevent the issue from recurring in the future. This immediate solution resolved the problem on that specific day and was appreciated by the citizens of Skid Row, yet they still remained victims of systemic water insecurity.

Although charity work and projects are helpful forms of service, there are limitations to their possible impact. Water Drop’s water distribution system is a bandaid placed on ‌the lack of access to clean water for the unhoused people of downtown Los Angeles. Unfortunately, it does not address the root cause of the problem of homelessness. There is a shockingly large amount of unhoused people located in Los Angeles compared to any other major city in the country. “Rising housing costs, combined with persistent inflation for basic necessities such as gas and food, have left more Americans newly homeless and millions more fearing they’ll soon lose their homes.” Los Angeles has one of the highest costs of living in America, which prices out many of its citizens from their homes. Their inability to pay the exorbitant rent costs results in eviction. A lack of affordable housing available prevents them from finding a new home, forcing them to set up a tent on the streets of downtown LA. It is here that they encounter the issue of water insecurity. Therefore, resolving the issue of an under-supply of affordable housing would eliminate the problem of water insecurity. Charity work and projects would be inadequate to fixing this problem because they would only help to reduce the resulting consequences, without eliminating the origin of the issue. Clearly, a better solution is required.

Social change allows us to create a sustainable solution. A temporary fix will not alleviate the community from facing the problem in the future. However, identifying the origin of the dilemma makes it possible to change the structure that is forming it. “‘The fundamental point is, if we correctly diagnosed this problem as a structural problem, which I think it is, then we need structural solutions,’ Colburn said.” Effective social change alters the entire structure of the system to pave the way for a better future. To accomplish this, we must become directly involved with the community. Connecting with the impacted individuals is an important step in achieving social change.

Fostering connections with a community allows volunteers to learn its needs. While volunteers work with Water Drop LA to distribute water, they meet the inhabitants and connect with them. Even through short conversations, they can build trust with the community. They often receive vital information about the conditions that the unhoused people are subject to, information that is unlikely to be found in popular media and news channels. This can enlighten them to the true needs of the community. Media often promotes a stigmatized idea of homelessness, emphasizing laziness and drug use. However, an abundance of people were befallen with unfortunate situations that lead to the loss of their home. One former project manager and mother of three in Los Angeles shared her story. “I made good money — last year I made almost $100,000 — and I can’t believe this happened to me,” she said. “But with prices the way they are, it can literally happen to anybody.” We may not learn this information without speaking directly to the people within the community. Direct communication is highly important to help volunteers be aware of the truths of homelessness.

When volunteers are aware of the specific issues faced by a community, they can assist them in developing a solution. Once we are able to understand the situations of unhoused people and the resources that they are unable to acquire, we can begin to help them get back on their feet. While charity work allows volunteers to communicate with the people of Skid Row, it holds them back from completely fixing the pressing issue. Access to clean drinking water is a necessity, yet it is largely unavailable for the Skid Row community. This is one of many problems that this group faces. Water Drop is better able to assist the community because they voice their needs. They can explain some of the situations that their fellow neighbors face and notify volunteers of people that are in need of help or resources. The community knows themselves best.

Effective long-term solutions can be maintained by the community itself. A true solution does not require external help to operate. Volunteers may be needed to help set up the solution, but it would be able to exist in the future without their assistance. For instance, Water Drop also “prioritize(s) legislative advocacy” through petitions and other motions to attempt to change the laws that trap people within homeless situations. Changing laws through social change may be a slower process than the more immediate forms of service, but it can have revolutionary effects on the community for decades to come. In an ideal world, Water Drop would not exist. However, the connections formed between volunteers and community members are essential to leading us to discover the exact needs of the community in order to reach a point where we can make this change.

Overall, social change is the most impactful form of service. It produces a long-term solution that could not be achieved merely through charity work or projects. Striving to resolve pressing issues in our community by addressing the root cause is the most effective way to ensure a brighter future.