Reflections of My Time at UMass

I am a former student at UMass Amherst, and I was a regular attender of the First Baptist Church (FBC) until I recently graduated. For some reason, I keep feeling like I still have something left to do at FBC and in the Amherst community, and I keep feeling like I need to go back to the area. A friend of mine told me a story that made me realize why I have been feeling this way, but before I tell you the story she told me, I have to share a short story of my own for everything else to make sense.

Story 1

I grew up in the Boston, and about ten years ago there were many more homeless people on the streets. I remember asking my parents why these people were homeless and why they were not living with their families. My parents could have answered in a number of ways including:

1. They are so lazy, they did not bother to find jobs to pay the bills
2. They are bad people, so their families disowned them
3. Their houses burnt down, so they do not have a home, or
4. They gambled too much and lost everything they owned, etc.

Instead of giving me any of these reasons, my parents told me homeless people are unfortunate people who never got the chance to go to college, to get the education they need, to get a job. Their intentional lesson to me was simple: stay in school, go to college, get a job and you will not become homeless.

In hindsight, my parents were subconsciously telling me they were extremely fortunate people. You see, neither one of my parents speak English, nor have they gone to college. However, their lesson stuck with me throughout college, and it became the reason why I majored in Finance and Economics. I wanted to learn why there is poverty, and I made myself a promise and a mission to aid in ending poverty once I have figured out what caused it (see my earlier post for reference).

Four years later, as a UMass alumni, I have yet to make a inch of progress on the mission to end poverty. I spent my entire college career trying to build my resume and transcript up for a well-paying job so I would not be homeless. In the process I lost my true reason for staying in school and studying what I studied. Unintentionally, my friend's story reminded me of my purpose. This is a rough parapharsed version of her story:

Story 2

There are a lot of homeless people around the BU campus. They are mostly found near the Kenmore station, but you will see them in many other places as well. Some of my friends and I would talk to a few of the homeless people. We even learn their names. Sometimes when we attend events and when there is food left over, we would offer it to this one particular guy. He was always very friendly to us. One day, one of my friends gave him a brand new sleeping bag. It was a very nice gesture, but then later on someone stole the sleeping bag from him. I can't believe someone stole his sleeping bag. It was supposed to be a gift for him.

This true story brought me back to the reality that poverty is still prevelant even 10 years later. It is especially prevelant in the Amherst area. I have seen many homeless people on the streets in Amherst center, and even on the UMass campus. I have spoken to some of them when I waited for the bus or when I was on the bus. From their stories, of where they are from and where they are going, I can gather up enough evidence to support what I have learned in my classes. There are multiple causes of poverty, and not any one is a greater cause than the other. Each cause affects a person differently. What did I learn from my friend's story?

If you want to combat poverty, you just have to start somewhere and help reduce the severity of poverty in some way, shape, or form, because if there was an actual formula of what financial, economic, social, or institutional changes need to be made to eradicate poverty, it would already have been done. Of if you are waiting idly for someone to come up with a formula, like how I thought I could find the breakthrough, then you risk the unnecessary suffering of many people now.

My friend's story inspired me to act on my promise. Now that I have gone through college, found a job, and realized what I am missing, I am planning to start a homeless blanket and sleeping bag service project in Amherst. FBC has a homeless shelter complete with free dinner, a movie, showers, a sleeping place with blankets, and a storage bin for each regular attender during the season. This shelter is called The Warming Place, and it is opened during the cold months of Nov. - Apr.

I am currently in the process of getting the logistics down with FBC. If you are interested in participating in the service project, keep checking back for details. If you are interested in coordinating the service project with me, let me know, and I can get you involved asap.

Thanks for reading :D