Blog 3; Post D, Service Project.

In my earlier post on October 17 (Blog 2, Post D), I proposed to serve my service learning hours at the Common Pantry located on Chicago's northside. As of November 13, I have completed my service project, the details are as follows:

1.    The agency I served was the Common Pantry located at 3744 N. Damen Avenue.  The dates served were on Wednesdays' October 9th, 16th and the 23rd, and in November the 6th and the 13th.  I was honored to have served in various ways to learn the process of the food pantry as they served their clients. 

My first day at the pantry I helped out in the soup kitchen by serving food and dessert and helping in washing dishes.  I was really impressed at the quality of the food being served and that they served it on actual dinnerware instead of using paper plates and plastic utensils.  During my second day of service I mostly learned the ins and outs and operations of the pantry and helped in preparing bags of food for home-bound seniors at Lathrop Homes.  I also helped in restocking shelves with canned goods in preparation for the hours of food distribution.  

On my third day, I mostly did data entry into the pantry's database of records. As mundane as the task might seem to be for some, it is imperative information that is needed so that they may continue receiving donations from the Greater Chicago Food Depository and other surrounding stores like Costco, Whole Foods and Jewel's. During my fourth day of service I found myself in the backroom dubbed as the 'Children's Sunday School classroom', with myself and another student, Alejandro; as we double bagged a couple thousand plastic bags donated from Jewels stores.  I think we spent about two hours preparing these bags for clients to use during their shopping experience. 

On my fifth and final day I was headlining the produce and bread section of the pantry.  I was told the number of people in each household, and I was to use my judgment in giving an appropriate amount of produce and bread to accommodate the number of people in the household.  I found this position a little hard because I didn't know if I was giving enough product to last the family for a week, also I feared that I might be giving too much and not have enough to go around for the rest of the clients. At the end of the night it turned out that we did have enough to go around to have been able to give people double the bread amount.

2.    There were other students that worked at the Common Pantry alongside me.  They included Alejandro and Juan.  On my third day of service (10/23 from 4pm to 8pm) I worked alongside Juan, he helped in double bagging and consolidating canned goods into crates for storage while I sat and did data entry.  At one point we worked together in data entry to make the job more efficient in the time available.  During my fourth and fifth day of service (11/6 & 11/13 from 4pm to 8 pm), I worked alongside Alejandro in the pantry, restocking shelves and moving products from the backroom into the produce bins and shelves.  It was on 11/13 that we spent a few hours double bagging Jewel grocery bags, it seemed like the bags were never-ending.  

There were two other students who served at the pantry, Debra and Alex R., unfortunately I did not serve alongside them, but I did hear of their hard work through the staff at the Common Pantry.

Blog 3; Post C: Critique of Student Blogs

For this post, I am to critique two fellow student blogs.  The first blog I chose to read was Nohelys.  Her blog's name is nellsf395 on wordpress and I read it on November 25, 2013.  I liked Nohelys blog, it is simple and straight to the point in terms of following the criteria of the assignments.  In her earlier entries, it seems like she put more thought into what she wanted to convey out there to the blog world, then on her later entries, she did minimal writing.  Since I am more of a visual person, I would have loved to see more personal touches such as videos or pictures.  Nohelys should also cite her sources and use links to the articles used in her research.

The second blog I read on November 25, 2013 was Natalia's on nykop395blog on wordpress.  I am disappointed to see that she didn't follow the Professor's instructions as to the set up of our blog's.  Natalia's earlier 10 assignments were crammed into 2 separate posts and were not labeled as instructed, which made it hard for me to understand what she was writing about.  In her later entries, she did separate her entries as individual posts and though they lacked visuals such as videos and pictures, she managed to get her point across to the reader.  I would also recommend to Natalia to cite her sources and use proper citations and give links to her articles.

Blog 2, Post B: Schipler Ch. 5: Ex-offenders

I am to discuss how ex-offenders are kept from well-paying jobs and at what point have they paid their debt to society, using Schipler's 'The Working Poor' Chapter 5.

Schipler shares with us two elements that keep ex-offenders from well-paying jobs. The first factor are the ex-offenders themselves and the second factor are the employers and their perceptions of ex-offenders.  Depending on how long an ex-offender has served time, and their willingness to use their time to better themselves,  they are able to complete their GED and receive job training in culinary, mechanic, beauty school, and janitorial classes.  If they take advantage of the services offered in jail/prison, they are able to better present their skills for employment once they get out.  

Once free, the ex-offender will most likely go through a series of emotions that have to do with their fear, self-esteem and self-worth in reentering society.  Most ex-offenders are released on parole and part of their requirement is to find employment.  They hope to use the skills learned while incarcerated to attain employment.  Shipler states "the workplace was like a foreign culture" for many of them because they were not employed before they were in prison. He further goes to say, "They entered it burdened by their personal histories of repeated failure; failure to finish school, failure to resist drugs, failure to maintain loving relationships, failure to hold jobs.  Nothing in their track records predicted success, and no brave promises could paper over their doubts about themselves." Once filling out an application, they are faced with anxiety of whether or not their application will be looked over, or if they will be given a chance for an interview to explain their situation.  If they get interviewed, they are then faced "with the inevitable question about a police record-afraid of telling the truth, and afraid of lying." If they are lucky enough to get an actual job, they are riddled with doubt of being able to maintain employment and doubt that they can have a chance of being successful.

The second factor involves the employers.  Unfortunately and with reasonable concern, most employers are reluctant in hiring ex-offenders.  "Some firms automatically reject applicants with prison records." There are some firms who are unable to hire ex-offenders because of the nature of the business and due to the population that they serve and most of the times those restrictions are put in place by the government.  " you cannot have a felon working for you who has been convicted of an A or B felony-crimes against persons, property, or any sexual offenses".  The jobs that are available for ex-offenders are limited, they can work in the janitorial field but maybe certain hours after children or offices are closed.

Legally an ex-offender has paid their debt to society once their sentence is over and is re-entered into society.  The truth is their record will always hang over their head and will be judged and limited because of it.  They will be cast down upon society and people will always be cautious around them.  They do deserve a second chance, but they should go above and beyond to prove themselves and regain one's trust. 

Blog 2, Post F: Extra Credit

We had the privilege of hearing testimony from two women from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless during one of our classes.  These women, Mary and Lee Ann, were brave to share their real life stories with us regarding their struggles and survival of being homeless.  

I could relate the most with Mary because she was also a product of the DCFS system like myself.  During her testimony, I felt like I relived her pain in being alone and having no support system.  We all have different coping mechanisms and unfortunately Mary turned to drugs to help her deal with the emptiness that comes with living in group homes and shelters.  She shared my sentiments in that the DCFS lacks in preparing youth for real life.  They failed to teach us basic survival skills, some that are essential in being independent, like knowing how to open a checking account, how to budget, and cook.  Mary's drug use caused her to shift her priorities rather than focus that energy unto taking care of her young children.  While she did use some services that the government provides to wards of the state, she got caught in the trap of drug use and her homelessness situation spiraled out of control. Having a support system is critical to our survival, without it we become lost.  I am glad to hear Mary's silver lining, that she was able to find support and stability through the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless in terms of shelter and employment.  

Lee Ann also struggled with homelessness as a teenager and into her adulthood.  She also turned to drugs to self-soothe after being sexually abused.   Through that experience she learned to use her body to benefit her in earning cash to provide for her own basic needs which were not being met at home.  She became a prostitute and skipped on getting a high school diploma.  After years of soul searching and gaining street knowledge and coming to terms that she cannot live this lifestyle anyone, Lee Ann gave her life to the Lord and accepted his plan for her life.  She is able to inspire change in people, letting them know that our past does not define who we are.  No matter how low to the ground we get, how disgusting we might be in the eyes of society, there is hope, mercy and grace for all of us.  I'm also glad that the Coalition was able to help Lee Ann become an advocate for those who just need a second chance.  I hope that God continues to put these two women across the paths of those who need to hear the good news.