Name: Leo Munasinghe
Social Justice Group: 2019-2020, Child Hunger & Homelessness
Date of Fieldwork: December 10, 2019
Name of Organization: Lenox Hill Neighborhood House
Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Tess Weiner and Colin Estrellado
Type of Fieldwork: Interview and Direct Action
What I did:
My group and I went to the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Early Childhood Center. There, we got to have an interview with the two social workers who work there and we got to go into the Pre-K classrooms and play with little kids.
What I learned:
I learned that for many families sending kids to Pre-K can be a struggle. Since some Pre-k’s start at 9:00 am and end at 3:00 pm that can get in the way of a parent’s schedule if the work a 9-5 job. Since a lot of Pre-k’s conflict with a parent’s schedule, many low-income families don’t send their kids to pre-k. Pre-k is a big part of development in a child’s life and if these kids don’t attend Pre-k then they won’t get that extra development.
What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:
Through the fieldwork, I learned that it takes a lot of effort to help out kids in low-income families. Since the settlement house, the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, only lets kids attend the Early Childhood Center from certain districts. That means that kids who live in low-income families on the west side cannot go there. Here is where you can help. People can help by donating food (baby food too), clothing, diapers, and any other accessories that could really help a low-income family with children. I also learned, that trying to help low-income families is going to take a lot of effort. That not only means giving them food and other accessories, but trying to increase the minimum wage, proper health care, and more governmental housing available. This shows, that trying to help low-income families and their children have a sustainable life is going to take a lot of effort, and if people want to stand up and be an “activist” then they can really help families in need.
