The Homeless in Sacramento

Today was our second day of service. Our entire campus met up in downtown Sacramento in the theater district for a presentation by the mayor, a member of his cabinet, and a few regional experts on homelessness, including one man that had been homeless and addicted to drugs for twelve years. It was a very enlightening experience; I hadn't really contemplated the issue of homelessness before. Also, it was very inspiring to hear the presenters repeatedly state how much they felt motivated by seeing all of us eager to do some good, it made me really want to live up to their expectations. After that we went to Loaves and Fishes, a nonprofit that specialized in providing food, shelter, and counseling/job resources to the homeless population here. We got a comprehensive tour of the complex and got to talk to a few members of the homeless community. One man in particular was very well spoken despite the raggedy beard and slight odor and gave us a lot of information about his community. Apparently there are a total of about 1200 homeless in Sacramento, although they aren't immediately apparent to the public eye because of well enforced no camping/blocking the sidewalk laws, so they end up continually wandering the city in a very transient lifestyle. They're working on developing a center with shower and basic housing facilities to give them a large space to gather in, but that project sounds like it's still in early development. Additionally, the vast majority of them are addicted to either drugs, alcohol, or both, and a large number have mental disorders. I think the most disturbing statistic I heard today though was that about one in six are former veterans. I think it's a great disservice to the men and women that helped protect our country that so many of them have no access to counseling or any real support and are forced to live that kind of lifestyle. The work we ended up actually doing today was the sanitization of shower, kitchen, and living facilities for a part of the complex that housed 13 homeless mentally handicapped women. It was very rewarding, I definitely plan on going back when I get the chance.

Oh, and family, this is your warning: I'm dragging you along for community service work when I come home for break. Not sure what or where, but we're doing it.

On a minor side note, some point next week we'll be going to camp Mendocino for four days, although I don't know exactly when I'll be leaving or returning, so I'll be out of touch for a while.