I originally joined LCS because I feel that my experience in working with people lacks the fundamental connections with the aging population. I lost both of my grandfathers before the age of 10 years old. I had a rocky relationship with my recently deceased (2 years) grandmother and my only living grandmother has a total of 5 children and 8 grandchildren, my sister and I being the youngest. This has posed a barrier in terms of how close I was able to be with my grandmother growing up. Also being a white, middle-class individual, I have not had much experience with aging people that identify with a lower socioeconomic class or from a minority group.
My first experience with LCS was our field trip to Downtown and the processing housing in North Park. One of the most touching experiences downtown was talking with George, a member of the first community we visited. He clearly felt a sense of loss having been disconnected from his children and family and living in the community space. His rambling was honestly not bothersome just because I knew that it was really important for him to feel like he had people to talk to and like we all were listening to what he had to say. His sense of pride for his participation in the community was humbling and made me really happy that he had the fortunate opportunity to get involved in the welcoming community that already exists. It made me wonder how truly cruel the world can be to people without incomes. It is almost effortless in this day and age to label the poor as helpless and a lost cause. However, going in the community and experiencing this poverty first hand has made me realize how resilient the poor have to be. Even when given the smallest resources and extra help, the residents of the community are able to make decent lives for themselves with relatively very little money. Growing up with financial issues, I could appreciate how much of a difference the community makes in the personal lives of the residents that live there.
One personal experience that was unique to being in the tour group with Professor Bussell was the interaction with an unaffiliated homeless man on the street. While our guide discussed the pet adoption program available through the community center, the man standing on the street expressed his curiosity in the program. He continued to speak to us, expressing frustration that being a veteran, he feels as if the world has forgotten him. He regretted his decision to be drinking on a Monday (It was Saturday), showing that his connection with reality is very fragile and possibly almost non-existent. I was concerned that we were the first people that this man had interacted with in a long time in a positive way. The whole thing was so touching and I found myself holding back tears because of my sympathy for this poor man’s situation. We thanked him for his service and our guide encouraged him to come by the community center so that he may possibly partake in the pet adoption program.
I noticed stark differences between many of the resources provided by many of the communities. There will always be differences in provisions, but I truly believe that small increases of funds would make a world of a difference to all of the projects we were able to visit that day. It’s very sad that until now, I had almost no relative concept as to how grand of an issue lack of affordable housing for seniors is.
My first experience with LCS was our field trip to Downtown and the processing housing in North Park. One of the most touching experiences downtown was talking with George, a member of the first community we visited. He clearly felt a sense of loss having been disconnected from his children and family and living in the community space. His rambling was honestly not bothersome just because I knew that it was really important for him to feel like he had people to talk to and like we all were listening to what he had to say. His sense of pride for his participation in the community was humbling and made me really happy that he had the fortunate opportunity to get involved in the welcoming community that already exists. It made me wonder how truly cruel the world can be to people without incomes. It is almost effortless in this day and age to label the poor as helpless and a lost cause. However, going in the community and experiencing this poverty first hand has made me realize how resilient the poor have to be. Even when given the smallest resources and extra help, the residents of the community are able to make decent lives for themselves with relatively very little money. Growing up with financial issues, I could appreciate how much of a difference the community makes in the personal lives of the residents that live there.
One personal experience that was unique to being in the tour group with Professor Bussell was the interaction with an unaffiliated homeless man on the street. While our guide discussed the pet adoption program available through the community center, the man standing on the street expressed his curiosity in the program. He continued to speak to us, expressing frustration that being a veteran, he feels as if the world has forgotten him. He regretted his decision to be drinking on a Monday (It was Saturday), showing that his connection with reality is very fragile and possibly almost non-existent. I was concerned that we were the first people that this man had interacted with in a long time in a positive way. The whole thing was so touching and I found myself holding back tears because of my sympathy for this poor man’s situation. We thanked him for his service and our guide encouraged him to come by the community center so that he may possibly partake in the pet adoption program.
I noticed stark differences between many of the resources provided by many of the communities. There will always be differences in provisions, but I truly believe that small increases of funds would make a world of a difference to all of the projects we were able to visit that day. It’s very sad that until now, I had almost no relative concept as to how grand of an issue lack of affordable housing for seniors is.