A Reflection On The Shelter At The Uu Fellowship Of San...

Introduction Participating in the overnight shelter at the UU Fellowship of San Luis Obispo, was an eye opening experience. When people think of homeless people, right away they think of the stereotypical description of a homeless person, such as dirty, on drugs, or mentally ill. I was one of those people who had a stereotypical picture in my mind, but participating in this shelter changed my perceptive on the description of homeless. As my shift began, I realized for the most part the shelter was composed of single women, and two families, including the fathers. Most of the people were already resting in bed, therefore there wasn’t as much interaction between the volunteers and the clients. I was able to interact with one of the families because they were out in the hallway with their little boy. From this family, I learned that the father had a job, but he didn’t earn enough to provide housing for his family. The mom didn’t work because she was taking care of her little boy and she was 7 months pregnant. Since the shelter is only provided for overnight stay, the mom and the little boy sometimes stay at the boyfriend’s mother house during the day. In addition, I noticed that these people have been at the shelter for quite some time. They were interacting among each other as if they knew who they were, and I noticed each individual had their own specific bed. Another thing I noticed was a young lady around 20 years old doing homework, which I assume she must be either