On Friday, Leo, Sadie and I interviewed Patrick Markee, the former Deputy Executive Director for Advocacy. The interview was truly a treasure trove of information, so every single point we covered may not be included in this summary. At first, he gave us a summary of his work and important facts that he includes in his lectures when he visits colleges. He got into his line of work when he and his roommate decided to invite a homeless man they befriended to stay in their dorm. He majored in urban planning at Harvard University, and this led him to be interested in public/affordable housing. He joined Coalition for the Homeless in 1995.

Coalition for the Homeless has done plenty of work with homeless advocacy, shelter law, giving people affordable housing and getting them out of homelessness, and has also brought major lawsuits such as the Callahan Consent Decree. This lawsuit introduced a court decree in which Coalition for the Homeless was the monitor. This decree stated that all shelters must provide a bed and other basic needs to a person requesting shelter by the nighttime. It was a law that changed homelessness in New York City forever.

Of the many things we learned from this interview, a few that stood out is the leading cause of homelessness: affordable housing. Throughout the years, housing has been getting more and more expensive, one’s income stays relatively the same.

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The Manhattan Church of Christ is located on 80th Street, right near Central Park. Although the building is unassuming, the kind community I was greeted by was so much more than I expected. Carl Garrison, one of the ministers at the church, organizes the food bank and clothing pantry. When we arrived, he briefed us on the process of serving people. Some fellow volunteers were quite experienced, and helped us learn the ropes. Sadie and I were assigned to work the drinks area. People would come up asking for a drink, and then we would serve them. They had a wide selection available, includiong coffee, creamers, tea, and hot chocolate. Although at first I was a bit rusty and slow, I eventually got into a rhythm.

This fieldwork opened my eyes to the fact that houseless people are just like everyone else. I partook in multiple conversations with the people who I was serving, and I found them to be as engaging as my friends and family. Before this, I have always believed the myth told by my parents and others that houseless people, especially ones with disabilities, and dangerous and should be avoided. This stereotype is simply untrue. No one was hostile at the food bank, and everyone was talking to eachother. Everyone was very patient, and there was no hostility.

Similar to people with disabilities, houseless people are grouped away and considered as subhuman, crazy, and hostile. This societal stigma around houseless people also makes it harder for homeless people to move into permanent housing and get a stable job, because they are too different. Although relating to disability, I think that this quote from Stella Young clearly represents this issue: “My disability exists not because I use a wheelchair, but because the broader environment isn’t accessible.” Houseless people are not dangerous or different from people with stable housing, people with stable housing and the general population thinks that houseless people are “different”.

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Visiting the United Nations was a very enjoyable and educational experience. We visited various important spaces such as the Trusteeship Council, Economic and Social Council, Security Council and the General Assembly. These rooms were very large, and the size and granduire reflected the tremendous desicions that are made in these rooms. It’s quite humbling to sit in the same chair where famous leaders and changemakers sit and make important desicions about our Earth’s future. Throughout the campus, I noticed this same architecture that is shown in the rooms we visited. The massive main building is very humbling, but not in a bad way. When I stepped into the building, I felt aspirational, willing to act as not just my self, but on behalf country represented on a world stage.

In terms of activism, I learned many things about the UN’s goals from our tour guide. Around General Assembly building, there were a few murals or projects that exemplified the core principles of the UN, and its 17 sustainability goals. I also learned that the UN has various peacekeeping forces/initiatives in various other countries, contrary to the critism of the UN as an orginization that is all talk. The guide also explained the structure of the UN, including the current memebers of the security council, it’s permanent members, and how desicions get made in the security council (which meets on request) and General Assembly (which occurs yearly).

In addition to the activism and architechture, the were many exhibits and artworks in the UN, many of which were donated to the orginization by member states. Some of the most notable artworks were the slave trade memorial in the courtyard area, “Good Defeats Evil”, a sculpture constructed out of actual fragments of Soviet and US missilies, which depicts a person on a horse slaying a dragon with a spear. One exhibit I enjoyed was the hallway about militaries, and the amount of money the US and other countries worldwide spend on our militaries compared to the UN’s budget. It also showed the devastating effects of our military such as the nuclear attacks on Japan.

Overall, this trip was a very educational and enriching experience where I was enlightened to an international point of view on life. When visiting the United Nations, you are opening a viewpoint of the entire world. This orginization inspires hope in me and the population of the world to achieve world peace.

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