Homeless Immersion Trip: Reflection
- Jo Holland
- Apr 3, 2017
- 2 min read
It has been two weeks since I have returned from Portland & I have tried to update you all with a summary countless times, but it just seems like I can't get the right words out, so I guess now that it's 2am & I can't sleep, I will try again. This trip was more than I could have ever imagined it being. I prepared for Portland in the days leading up to the flight out during a time in the semester, a time in my life really, where I was at the bottom of what I had left to give. Exhausted. In a waiting game with so many decisions and just feeling defeated. My defense was to distance myself and go into the trip with a survival attitude, but that quickly changed. I came home with a new perspective and a new passion for social justice. I felt encouraged to continue with a refreshed perseverance in my coursework and I was so excited about the potential next two years with the School of Social Work. I discovered that they truly believe in the change their students desire to make. They invest in their students. They make that scary "real life" into a platform for education & inspiration for their students to make a difference. There were so many lessons that I have been meditating on since returning, but I am going to share the two that I foresee shaping my career, and more prominently, my daily interactions the most. 1) Meeting folks where they're at. Seeing individuals as they are, as opposed to where they "should" be. Validating their personhood, not despite their circumstances, but because of them. 2) Meeting basic needs first. Seeking to find individual needs. Asking, "How are you? What do you need in this moment?" Recognizing the potential in individuals, but not needing to act on it if other needs are not first met. I saw Christ so many times in the span of the 8 days we were there. In the use of addressing guests by name at Morning Hospitality. In the Foot Care program. In "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes on a rare sunny morning by a man waiting for a needed free meal. In redemption story after redemption story and redemption story. In the support and understanding of each team member. In the 6:30am donuts before the airport. And I trust that it is God who has lead me to this career path. There is no other way I would be able to so vividly see the hope there is for the most vulnerable populations.
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