Hey everybody,
Sorry for no blog post last week! Long story that doesn’t need to be mentioned… what is important is that I’m writing right now! This week was a little bit different in terms to past weeks because we didn’t go anywhere else first for a guest presentation. The day started by going straight to YES.
So once we got down to YES things were a bit chaotic. In my eyes, nobody was really sure what was going on or how to get started but eventually we got it together. We started the day playing an activity called, ‘Common Ground.’ We use Common Ground as an icebreaker during orientation at Cabrini to get a feel for everybody’s name and some of their hobbies, favorite things, etc. I think Common Ground really helped me after not visiting the shelter last week, so it made it easier to learn some names. Overall, it was helpful but we definitely played a bit too long.
Soon after, we delved into cameras and playing around, but this week we had a Mardi Gras theme! So we brought some masquerade masks, beads and mattes and got creative. This was a great idea, but the kids quickly lost interest and drifted to various locations. The activity was great and I think it let the kids show off a different side of them, but we definitely need to get outside somewhere (anywhere) next week.
The downside to my day was when I met a very sweet girl at the shelter but upon looking down, I realized she was wearing an ankle-monitoring bracelet. Now I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, because I’m a firm believer in not judging a book by its cover. I also believe that bad things often happen to good people. Although for me, it kind of just presented the reality of everything that we’re doing and our goals. I think all of us can agree that we would like to see the gang at YES up and living on their own and not homeless in the long-run. Though for right now, I completely understand why they feel so low. I took the picture to the left and I think this quote describes it perfectly.
“None who have always been free can understand the terrible, fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free.” - Pearl S. Buck
But the highlight of my day was breaking bread with the group, sitting down over pizza and soda and just getting to chat with them all. Like I said earlier, bad things can often happen to good people and I truly believe that all of these kids are just going through a brief rough patch and eventually it will get better.
After dinner, I also got the chance to shoot a little hoop with some of the guys and I think it’s safe to say that my opponent outnumbered me by a very wide margin. We then worked our way back to Cabrini and just like that another week was in the books.
That's All For Now...
-Dan