"I'm No Superman"

“I’m No Superman” came across my Pandora station, the little album cover on the screen is of the Scrubs cast; but taking a moment to hear the lyrics after a specific Community Night at the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC): Austin house, I was reminded that indeed “I’m No Superman.”

I may want to fix all the problems in the world; homelessness, lack of education, hunger and so many more. But I have to remember, that I unfortunately can only lay the footsteps for change. I cannot expect change to happen overnight.

January’s JVC: South retreat was social justice focused. For many, it felt like the rehashing of college lectures, just in the beautiful West Texas area of Leakey, Texas. For others, it reminded us of why we are here, doing a year of service. For even more, it reminded us what we can do to lay the groundwork for change.

At one particular part of the retreat, we, as current Jesuit Volunteers (JVs) were broken up into groups based on our work placements. I was part of the “feeding the hungry” group as a result of of my working in the pantry at Catholic Charities. There were also groups that focused on AIDS, homelessness, teenage pregnancy and many others. During the course of the weekend, we were asked to provide solutions for the issues we represented. Some solutions were as simple as awareness. Others were more complicated like sex education in classrooms. Several individuals who work with AIDS patients found that the general population does not know enough about AIDS and that through knowledge less discrimination would happen.

Following our four days of retreat, we returned to our cities and returned to work with a rejuvenation and excitement for the rest of our JV year. The following Thursday, Joel organized a community night; little did we know, in many ways his activity was a continuation of our retreat.

Social problems web. 

He had each of us grab a sheet of a colored construction paper and write out issues that were important to us. I wrote about education, children’s care and metal health to name a few. Once we had written out these issues, we cut them out and laid them on our kitchen table. Those that were similar or identical we placed next to each other. Once all the issues were on the table, we linked them by orange strips of paper, creating a web. At this particular stage we connected the obvious problems - teenage pregnancy to lack of education, isolation to depression. Lastly, we filled in all the open spaces. It was at this point that we realized, that all of the problems we were focusing on were linked; social justice related, financial or social are all linked in ways that most would not notice.

The unofficial JVC motto is “ruined for life.” Originally, started by a very grumpy young man who felt his time with JVC literally ruined his view of the world, the motto grew to be joke; because once you have dedicated your life to social justice, simplicity and solidarity it’s hard to look forward and to not remember the homeless you have served, the young mother who could not make ends meet or the veteran who is looking at living on the streets. Unfortunately, no one has the power to change the whole, but if we each pick a place where we think change is needed, we then must be confident in knowing that the changes we make will effect the world as we know it now.

The Value of a Roof

We’ve all been there, the terribly long day where you feet hurt and all you want to do is go home, snuggle up and go to bed. Imagine not having a home at the end of a difficult day, but instead you shift into the backseat of your car and curl up and sleep for the night. Your seven-year-old child wakes you up at some point and tells you he’s cold. You curl up and go back to sleep. The last straw to the situation is when you turn on your car to see the low gaslight comes up for the second day in a row.

Unfortunately, homelessness is a major issue within the United States, but what is even more amazing is the variety of people that are homeless. It is not just the addiction stricken individual or people who choose to live on the streets, but so frequently its families who cannot make ends meet and even people who have served our country.

According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), homelessness is defined by an individual or family who is residing in any of the following situations:

• Place not meant for human habitation (car, storage facility, abandoned building, campsites)
• Emergency shelter, transitional housing program or supportive housing
• House “doubled up” with family or friends
• Hotel or motel

With such a broad definition of homelessness, the issue becomes even more apparent. In the Austin and Travis County area, there are approximately 5,200 homeless individuals on any given night, according to HUD in 2007. Additionally there were over 600 homeless households with children in Austin in 2007; they represented over 40 percent of the overall homeless population. According to the Austin Independent School District, between 3,000 and 5,000 students are homeless.

Unfortunately, the average age of a homeless person in Austin is seven years old, according to Green Doors organization. Think of where you were in the second grade, for most of us our memories of home do not include living out of the family car. 84 percent of families experiencing are female-headed.

As the problem of homelessness is approached, the “why” question becomes particularly frequent. Two major causes of homelessness are poverty and lack of affordable housing, according to St. Louise House, a program that helps women and children to break the cycle of homelessness. In 2007, a single parent with one child needed to earn $17 an hour to make a living wage, resulting in $33, 819 each year, according to Community Action Network.

Next time you see a homeless individual, do not assume you know how they got there or why they are there, but instead throw a thought out there they may find a roof for the night and some food for hope.