Greetings, Quest Students! This will be our project grade for this unit.
Having studied the person of Jesus and the significance of Christ and having studied the mission of the Church, it is time to turn our attention to how this message should shape our world.
Remember, Social Justice is not about helping individual persons. It's about systems, structures, laws and "traditions" that marginalize and persecute whole groups in our society. Social Justice is about being a Community of Disciples.
Consult the rubric for how to succeed in this project. Your comments need to be articulated well. They need to be written well and show engagement with what we're hearing and reading. The best grades will link to images or websites.
I would suggest reading related articles in magazines like Salon.com and National Review. The former is quite liberal in its politics; the latter conservative. In the Church realm you may want to access the website for the U.S. Bishops (Social Justice Issues): http://www.nccbuscc.org/. America magazine is a Jesuit publication and Commonweal as well as Sojourners are respected Catholic magazines. All these would be center-left publications. For a traditionalist perspective, look at The Wanderer.
As you set your sights on the world outside of LA, it is critical to engage the economic, political and social world that you will inhabit and that you will help shape.
In connection to Social Justice being a Community of Disciples I think that the Jimmy Heath House is very unique in the way they go about helping those who have addictions. I think it’s interesting that they actually allow the homeless to come in and continue drinking. That goes with the church as servant, but I think it also goes along with the church as community of disciples because they are helping people in a way that the rest of society might not agree with. They believe that if someone is going to drink, they should do it in a place where they will be safe, whereas everyone else would probably think of sending them to a place where they can be taught to stop. This is a link to their website: http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2009/06/otrch-jimmy-heath-house-is-not-shelter.html
ReplyDeleteThe Choices Cafe presenataion was surprising to me in that it uses a harm reduction theory of allowing people to enter the house high and/or drunk and permitting them to stay.In a way, the volunteers are acting like Jesus by reaching out to the marginalized people of our society and giving them hope even though they have sinned.Choices Café also stresses the importasnce of unity throughout the project, just as the Church is seen as One. One of the student volunteers had explained that his “family goes farther than just my blood” through this experince and that he sees not only his fellow workers but also the people seeking for help as family. I also agree with Emerald that the workers are reflecting the Catholic Church's theory of Community of Disciples. This means that sometimes to live in contrast of how society lives is the way to grow closer to God. These addicts and convicts have been tossed away from society, and the workers are breaking away from society's rules to give these people another chance for hope and life.
ReplyDeleteAs Emerald mentioned, I was very interested in the Jimmy Heath House. To me, this model works because most homeless shelters have unrealisitic expectations of the people come there. I found it interesting that addicts were welcome to come intoxicated or high because most centers would not allow for this to happen. Most people that are poor, addicts, or starving have personal reasons for why they are in that position and not allowing these people a place to sleep does not help their recovery process. The Jimmy Heath house is representing the Church as one and as Catholic. One, because of how it presents a sense of belonging and unity and catholic because it is universal and welcoming to anyone. The student Spencer expressed the theme of not judging a book by its cover. This theme shows the true goodness of the people that live by it. Choices Cafe was also inspiring to me. Instead of looking down on the people they're trying to help, they treated the addicts with respect and dignity and identified themselves with the people (the Mikes). The only way to change the world's problems is by individuals making the decision to treat others as equals, and Choices Cafe exemplifies this belief.
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ReplyDeleteThe ignitian spirituality project retreats were very interesting. The speaker Jordan explained that ISP offers help to homeless people who are addicts in a special way by providing these ignitian retreats to show them a spiritual outlook on life. I believe this program is very important because it does not discriminate anyone from attending the retreats and it shows the respect that all human beings should deserve even if they do not have a home.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2002/02-224.shtml
This article is very similar in the fact that one woman is trying to make a difference by providing self help and empowerment projects to children that are homeless in Ohio. She herself was also homeless and is trying to enlighten young individuals home.
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ReplyDeleteAfter hearing the Choices cafe student speakers I was surprised of what kind of homes they have. I was unaware of the houses that allow people to come in intoxicated or high and still allow them a place to stay for the night. I thought this relates to being a Community of Diciples because it is not a mainstream idea that has been picked up by other towns. By bein one of the few places in the country allowing this type of behavior they show to be a Community of Diciples. I agree with what Nikki had to say how that just because people who volunteer should not be discrimanted against. Just because it might not be the "cool" thing to do, it still is a way of giving back to the community.
ReplyDeleteThe Boston Bruins(NHL) and other professional sport organizations show a way of giving back to the community by donating the unsold food a game the night before to shelters and soup kitchens. By doing this, the athletes that everyone wants to be is giving back to the community.
http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/most-popular/rock-and-wrap-it-up-hockey.html
I believe the Ignatian Spirituality Project retreat was the most inspiring of all the presentations. The retreats give homeless people a chance to get off the streets and experience God. It is a community of disciples because the ISP is very subtle about the their work. I agree with Nikki that it is great that the retreats don't discriminate against anyone. It allows anyone to attend the retreats even people who aren't poor.
ReplyDeleteThe Greater Chicago Food Depository collects donated food and distributes it to poor throughout Chicago. http://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/site/PageServer
As I heard today's presentation about the Ingatian Spirituality Project, I tried to empathize with the homeless - to imagine their physical hardships and emotional burdens. Obviously, it is impossible to fully understand their experience, but in my efforts, I became enlightened with the idea that the homeless, too, are human beings. I corroborate Nikki as she previously reaffirmed that the homeless deserve respect as all human beings should. This belief is directly related with the Catholic Social Teaching principle, Dignity of the Human Person.
ReplyDeleteWhen I watched the video about the ISP, I really took in the insightful comments of the homeless retreatants, and it made me recall an essay I had read in English class earlier this year. It is called "On Dumpster Diving" and is by Lars Eighner. The narrator, Eighner, is homeless and survives by gathering food and ordinary items which he often considers treasures. Throughout the essay and especially in the end, he demonstrates total acceptance of his life and discovers some profound life lessons. He explains, "The second lesson is of the transience of material being. I do not suppose that ideas are immortal, but certainly mental things are longer-lived than other material things." His state of mind reminds me of Maslow's need of self-actualization. The fact that a homeless man surviving as a scavenger can compose insightful messages that many people never understand reassures me that a project like the ISP can be extremely useful.
The ISP provides the mental, spiritual experience for those who carry so much pain in life. With a mind of acceptance and understanding, I think that the homeless can thrive by allowing a sense of happiness to seep back into their lives. I also commend all the advocates of the ISP because they are truly exhibiting the CST principle, solidarity. The program and its members are reaching out to all people in need, loving them as brothers and sisters, and promoting peace.
Here's a link to the essay if anyone's interested.
http://producer.csi.edu/cdraney/archive-courses/fall07/engl102/e-texts/eighner-dumpster.htm
The talk yesterday given about the Ignatian Spirituality Project caught my attention more than all the other presentations. Unlike all the others, the goal of ISP was clearly stated from the beginning: to give those experiencing homelessness the opportunity to encounter spirituality. I agree with Nikki in that the ISP is a great idea because it welcomes all people: those who are homeless, those who want to develope their spirituality, and even those who have never experienced spirituality before. I also agree with Carrie in that the ISP gives the homeless hope. They can come in and relieve their pain as they grow in spirituality.
ReplyDeleteAs I listened to the presentation I kept wondering why they did not also offer a place for the homeless to live. It did not make sense to me that after coming in they were put back on the streets to experience grief again. As one of the retreatants in the video mentioned, it all starts with yourself. By helping the homeless discover hope and acceptance, through retreat, they discover that they have the potential to make a positive difference not only in their lives but in other's lives also. For example Wayne Richard was an addict and on the streets for three years but now, after being a retreatant, he has been sober for ten years, he has is own home, he has a full time job and he gives hope to other retreatants who have also experienced homelessness. Having hope, love and support, which are all conferred by the ISP, gives one the stength they need in order to overcome the struggles of life. While listening to the video at the presentation, I thought about the song "Hope" by Twista and Faith Evans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IyV-_exMhs.
I was really interested in the Jimmy Heath House Presentation. It is a very different way to go about helping the homeless. At first I couldn't wrap my mind around the idea that the program provides housing for individuals who are high or intoxicated but as I listened to the presentation I began to understand it. This program brings them stability in their life and offers them the help they need to overcome their personal issues. This in turn will help them ideally end their substance abuse or reduce it. This whole idea of reaching out to the homeless and fulfilling their basic needs so that they can overcome their mental setbacks is closely related to Maslow's view of how we can ultimately achieve a better life.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.building-cincinnati.com/2009/06/otrch-jimmy-heath-house-is-not-shelter.html
I liked hearing about the Jimmy Heath House and how they allowed the homeless to come in regardless of whether or not they were sober. When I went on summer service through Loyola last summer, the soup kitchen we worked at was very strict on the sober rule. This kind of surprised me to be honest, because I thought that people would be more understanding that some of these people don't know any better and are in need of help. Someone who is a drug addict or an alcoholic has probably lived a very hard life, and when someone denies them food or a place to stay, this could just make their addiction worse. The Jimmy Heath house is a great example of the Church as a community of disciples, because although society is against letting in drunk/high people, the Jimmy Heath house welcomes all. A homeless shelter that turns away the drug addicts and alcoholics is like a shelter that turns away those who are the most in need, and it is unfortunate that there is not more places like the Jimmy Heath House
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