On Wednesday, the 6th of April our group was able to go to Rodeph Shalom School to see the backpack buddy system. When we went there, we saw how they created the backpacks. It was shown that a long table contains multiple different meals and snacks. You would go down the table packing in the correct amount of food and snacks in the backpacks.

They even allowed us to pack the bags. Once we did it, we went back and packed a few. At the speed we were doing it at, it felt like we were all doing a marathon. In addition to how the system works, we understood why the bags were just black. We learned that the bags had no letters for the synagogues because they wanted to make the food anonymous. They believe that no kids should have to have attention be on them. They don’t want other kids to know these kids experience food insecurity or don’t know when their next food will come. It’s not right to have these kids feel like people feel bad for them and are giving them a gift because of that. It’s better for these kids to feel that they need to get these bags every time after school on Friday.

In addition to the backpack buddies, we learned that Rodeph Shalom School has a shelter downstairs in their synagogue. We went down and looked at the shelter. It was small, so they told us that usually they’d only have at most 8 men in their shelter. They told us that the men were more happy that people were respecting them rather than the conditions in their shelter. It has been hard because of the pandemic, so right not they haven’t been able to get volunteers to get some of the men. Some are afraid that the vaccination rate for some of the men are not as high as they wanted.

Overall, it was great that we got to learn about the backpack buddies system and the homeless shelter. We have Romy to thank for organizing this tour. But, it was really great getting to learn from experts who are helping to improve the human rights topic that our group is learning about this year.

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On Friday, April 1st, my group will be zooming with Sara Newman to discuss our Free Store plan. Towards the beginning of the year, my group interviewed Shams. Shams was a person who used to experience homelessness. He lived in the Lucerne Hotel and was almost about to be moved because the community was really not welcoming. With the help of Open Hearts, he overcame homelessness and now helps people experiencing homelessness. Now, he calls himself Da Homeless Hero, a very unique name for an incredible person with great motives.
Because of this interview, we were connected with Open Hearts and Sara. Now, we are planning a free store. Free store is a give away shop, where all items are available at no cost. Without having the connection from Shams, this would not be something we are looking forward to in the future. I am very excited to get the supplies and be able to give up free items for people in need. Hopefully, this can help a lot of people and give them items that can make their life easier while they are looking for shelters and safe places to live.

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On February 10th, our group interviewed Judith Mack about her work with Open Hearts. Judith works at LREI as a learning specialist meaning that we did the interview in person and not on zoom. She talked about how she met Shams Dabaron who is also known as Da Homeless Hero and how she thought he was an outstanding person because of his view on homelessness.

Something that I remember specifically from the interview is when Judith said that the reason she got involved with fighting homelessness is because she believes in the phrase “treat people how you would like to be treated” also known as the golden rule. She noticed that homeless people were being treated as criminals and at that moment decided to make a change for good.

Our Group is glad that we met her especially in person. This interview made me realize that if everyone treats homeless people how they want to be treated then experiencing homelessness would not be looked down on. Even if everyone followed the golden rule the whole world would be a better place .

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Our group interviewed Nicole McVinua from Urban Pathways on January 31st. She is the Director of Policies at Urban Pathways and has been devoted to her goal of ending homelessness for the past 3 years. During the interview, Nicole went over her whole story and why she chose to work with Urban Pathways. Something that I specifically remember from the interview was when she said that her clients/patients are mostly African-American then Latinx.

She also said that even though there are many reasons for homelessness, the most common reason for homelessness is that housing is too expensive. I personally live in one of the biggest cities in the world and one of the most expensive as well. New York City has one of the biggest homeless populations in the US. Nearly one in every 106 New Yorkers is homeless. This interview was essential to our research and I am glad that we spoke to Nicole.

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On Thursday, February 10th, our group was able to meet with Judith Mack. Judith is a learning specialist at LREI middle school. Surprisingly, Judith also knew Shams, one of the people we interviewed. Many people know him as Da Homeless Hero. She’s worked with him and very passionate about fixing the issue of homelessness in anyway possible.

During the beginning of the pandemic, the people experiencing homelessness, stayed at a hotel on the Upper West Side. Some people in the neighborhood were angry and even filed a law suit, so that they couldn’t stay there. People were very nasty and did not accept this. As soon as Judith heard about these people getting moved, she wanted to get involved. She partnered with Friends of Fidi and was able to get them to stay. While this was going on, she said “We need everyone to get involved and care.” She started giving out food, water, hats and other resources people needed.

We learned from Judith that “people experiencing homelessness were being treated as criminals even when they really aren’t. It really made me think that we all need to treat people how we want to be treated. This interview taught me a lot and was really amazing. We were honored to meet with her.

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On February 10th, we were able to meet with Judith Mack. Judith is a learning specialist at LREI middle school. Unexpectedly to us, Judith is connected to Shams. We had an interview with Shams and it shocked me that they knew one another.

I learned how they got connected. When Sham’s and many other people experiencing homelessness were living in the Lucerne Hotel, and were at risk of being moved downtown to the financial district, Judith and allies came to form Friends and Fidi. They helped make free store-like ideas and care packages for Sham and others. They came in contact and Judith continued to tell us how amazed she was of Shams. Together, Friend and Fidi, and Open Hearts stayed connected and helped a lot of people experiencing homelessness. I never realized how a group of people could make such a big ripple effect of positivity.

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On Thursday, the 10th of February my group and I got the chance to meet with Judith Mack. She works at LREI, through the pandemic Judith helped out at the Open Hearts Foundation. She is passionate about helping in anyway possible even if its just something small like giving people food or water.

We learned that when the pandemic started many homeless shelters closed and a lot of homeless people were moved into vacant hotel rooms. A lot of people in the neighborhood were angry about the homeless people moving in. Some of them even tried to file a law suit for it. Judith soon found out that they might move the homeless people into hear area. That ended up falling through but during the time that they were preparing for the homeless people to come she helped out by making food bags and more.

I am so grateful that we got to have this interview. I am exited for what is to come in the future. This interview also helped me get a better perspective from someone who isn’t homeless but has helped out a lot.

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On Wednesday February 2nd, my group and I interview Shams DaBaron, also known as Da Homeless Hero. He had experienced homelessness on and off for many years. Through his life he has continued to read for hours on end which has given him lots of opportunity to learn and grow. during the first outbreak of Covid Shams ended up contracting it, after that near death experience he got the inspiration to start helping and trying to make a change.

We got to take a deep dive into Shams DaBaron’s past. We learned about how he was in a group home and eventually got kicked out and had to sleep at his friend homes until he could find somewhere to go, and plenty of other events that caused Shams DaBarn to become Da Homeless Hero. Now he works in the theater bringing awareness to homelessness.

It was really wonderful hearing about Shams life. It gave me a whole new perspective on homelessness. One things that I has stuck with me since the interview is to not judge someone by their financial status and instead give them that chance to show you who they really are. I am so grateful that we go to have this Interview and will take everything I learned on with me as we work on this project.

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On Monday January 31st, my group and I interviewed Nicole Mcvinua. Nicole works with Urban Pathways as the Director of Policies. She. has been working with Urban Pathways for the past three years. Through this time she has seen many successes bringing her closer to the big goal of ending homelessness.

During the interview we covered many topics and got to hear a lot about what Nicole does. One of the thing that I remember her talking about is about is how Urban Pathways can help find homeless people small apartments or hotels within a couple hours. This speeds up the waiting process that other places make people deal with, making it a lot easier for a homeless person to find a place and not have to worry about waiting for long periods of time. She also talked about all the successes she has seen through and even thought there is a long road a head of us before homelessness will truly be over. Everyday were are taking a step closer.

Im so grateful that Nicole took sometime to talk to us about what she does. Everything she said during the interview was very interesting and inspiring. I am very exited about the next steps we have to take.

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On Wednesday, the 2nd of February, we were honored to meet with Shams DaBaron. Many people know Shams today as Da Homeless Hero. The interesting part of this interview was learning his experience. Normally, you’d learn about information on the topic, but because Sham’s experienced homelessness, we got to learn his experience and what he does now to help the issue.

Shams told us how he became Da Homeless Hero. He actually lived in a hotel once and because of the hostility in his neighborhood, he was gonna have to move downtown from the Upper West Side. People downtown worked with an organization called Open Hearts and luckily connected with Shams, and helped him throughout his struggles. Because of this organization and his perseverance, he now fights for people experiencing homelessness.

Something that stood out to me was how he gets his information. He told us that he read books that really inspired him to get his name Da Homeless Hero and ideas to help others experiencing homelessness. I was also struck when he told us our relationship with people experiencing homelessness had to change. We look down at them and do not see them as people, when we really needed to. He told us all they really want is to be seen. Smiling at them can really make a difference.

This interview was really important because it gave us an inside view from someone who has experienced the human rights issue we are learning about. His story was incredible and it was so inspiring.

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On January 31st, my group was able to meet with Nicole McVinua. She works with Urban Pathways and is the Director of Policy there. She has been working than for more than 3 years.

Even though there are multiple causes of homelessness, Nicole told us the main reason. The main cause of homelessness really is affordable housing. The cost for living in New York City is extremely expensive. We are so lucky to have a roof over our heads because many others lose their shelter, get robbed, and are living on the street. We are afraid of them, and look down on them but need to help them and see them as people.

Talking to Nicole was an incredible experience for us. We learned so much and we’re really inspired by her. It was so great to talk with someone who has helped to make progress on this social issue and who educated us on the topic we are researching for our Social Justice Project.

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In this fieldwork we interviewed Shams Debaron. Many people know him as Da Homeless Hero. For me, what made the interview so interesting was the fact that he is a former homeless person, meaning that he knows how many homeless people feel. I learned that if it were not for books, he probably would not be where he is today and they had a tremendous effect on his life.

Something that specifically stuck with me was that when he said that him being from the “hood” (as he described it) many people around him did not understand how to turn their lives around and how society has forced the image that people who have grown up in rough neighborhood have to sell drugs or continue to act tough. I was also really surprised that he chose to create a homeless play. I like that idea because he did it to be different from the rest. This interview gave our group a ton load of valuable new information and I thank Shams for taking time out of his day to speak to us.

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On Monday, January 31st, our group was honored to meet with Nicole McVinua. Nicole McVinua works with Urban Pathways and is the Director of Policy. She has been working for Urban Pathways for more than 3 years.

Nicole told us about the big cause of homelessness. That really was affordable housing. There are many others, but that is the main cause. Even though this goal to end homelessness is endless, she has done much work to make policies and fight for those in need.

She really opened our eyes and made us aware how long it takes to make one tiny step towards this goal. But she even says every step is worth it. I was really surprised, but impressed with the policies she is working on. She told us from when she started working for Urban Pathways, till now, she got one policy passed and it has helped several. I know right, isn’t it shocking how long it takes for a policy to be passed? It was also shocking that the person we interviewed later; Sham’s DaBaron, was known by Nicole because they talked and worked a bit together when Sham’s got connected with Urban Pathways.

We had such a great time with Nicole and it was incredible talking to someone who fights and works on issues that our group is researching for the Social Justice Project.

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On Wednesday, the 2nd of February, our group met with Shams DaBaron. Or as many know him today as Da Homeless Hero. Since he himself experienced homelessness, we got to understand his life story and how he eventually became Da Homeless Hero. We understood even during treacherous years of his life, especially during Covid and being in foster care at a young age, he continued to find ways to read books and really allowed this content to inspire him for his name(Da Homeless Hero) and his work.

We even got to fully understand his work in theater and how he uses that to make people aware of homelessness and teaches them ways they can help. It really inspired our group to do more for our community. That’s why, we might even be able to see his performance in school, try contacting groups to bring care packages to shelters, and find other ways to help our community. It was really important to speak with someone who experienced the human rights issue we are working on and researching about this year. His story was remarkable and really special to be able to hear about.

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Yesterday, my group and I had a presentation about our social justice topic. We read a couple articles on our issue of Homelessness in communities of color and among children. I was shocked by all the information I learned about everything was very interesting but also sad. My group and I did a good job working together to create and present our slide show. This is my personal reaction from our presentation:
Once I had finished reading the articles I was truly surprised. I had previous knowledge of homelessness but I never truly understood or knew about how many people of color and families have to deal with homelessness. Everything I read was very interesting. I also feel motivated to help in anyway I can, I am now hopeful I will be able to help in my own way.

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Last week my group presented an overview presentation on our SJ topic. I wasn’t as nervous because I felt very strongly about our presentation. This was our first time talking out loud and informing everyone about the issue of homelessness. I think that everyone worked very well together and everyone in my group contributed. Here is something i shared about my topic after reading the articles, “After reading these articles all I want to do is help. We all walk by it everyday when we are going to school or just casually walking around. New York City is one of the most expensive place to live. When I see family’s, kids, begging on the street for money leaves a hole in my heart. This is an issue that needs to be worked on”.

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Last week my group presented an overview representation of our SJ topic. I was excited because we worked well together and I learned a lot. Here is something I shared about my topic after reading the articles, “In October of 2021 there were about 48,723 homeless people and about 15,346 were homeless children, sleeping each night in New York Cities shelter system” I was extremely baffled and was determined to make change.

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Last week, in school, my group presented their social justice presentation 101. This was our first attempt at sharing initial research with our peers. I am a bit nervous since our team hasn’t gotten an email back, but I am prepared to talk to my group this week and try getting an email back from NAACP or Coalition for the Homeless. Reading these articles really opened my eyes and I was shocked to learn how many people in New York and globally experience homelessness. I can’t wait to go deeper in fieldwork and work with my peers more.

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