A Reflection on Giving Food to Homeless People

I rolled out of bed in slow motion not wanting to get up and go out into the cold… I did not want to have to spend my day off packaging food and walking the street to find homeless people. It wasn’t the homeless people that bothered me… it was my own selfishness that was getting in the way. I was thinking to myself… “I get up every day to go help people at the hospital, can’t I enjoy a couple days off now and then?” Ugh! But at the same time I thought to myself… “I am in a warm apartment, eating good food, and watching TV while thousands of PEOPLE are out in the cold, hungry!” I had mixed feelings, but the dread of having to go out seemed to consume me more than the guilt… a serious problem! Ironic too, since I decided to dedicate my life to caring for people and since normally I feel guilty when I see the homeless on the streets.

When I walked into the CS office, my mood started to turn. We packed up the snack bags in a mere 10 minutes and there we sat chit-chatting away for the next half hour. It was great! It helped put me in better spirits so that I gave with desire and not out of “just doing it to fulfill a requirement.” As we walked out of the building, we were immediately confronted with our first homeless person, but he was passed by because we were suppose to meet up with Trinity students to distribute food. That still bothers me! WHY? There was no reason that we could not have given to those first few people we passed by! But thank God for those people who are willing to step up and take action into their own hands. One of the CS students started passing out bags. Soon others began to follow. We rely on societal norms and peer influence way too much sometimes. We all need to be that person that will step outside the boundaries sometimes!

Photo by  Keith Harris

We split into small groups and roamed the streets seeking out the homeless. It was actually very enjoyable despite the negative feelings I had had earlier! Our group was fairly successful! We passed out quite a few bags! We had persons refuse the snacks, thank us for the snacks, and even ask for extras. I think that is what touched my heart the most… the mother who had a child and asked for a snack for her son. What do you say to that?  A couple blocks later, we walked around a corner where a man was sitting with a cup of change… everyone passed him by. They honestly NEVER saw him. Not ignored him, but did not see him. We have become way too use to homelessness that we have tuned them out! It starts out as intentionally zoning them out, but we get so “good” at it that we don’t even realize that we are doing it any more. Sick! Just sick! But I think that most of us can attest to doing this! Later, we had a more light-hearted experience with a panhandler who played an April fool’s joke on us. We all laughed. Look! They are people too. Feelings. Emotions. Thoughts. Of course we all know that but we don’t all let our hearts believe that. Sad!

I hope that I don’t let those negative feelings that inflicted me that morning ever persuade me to turn a blind eye to the harsh realities of the world. I need to tune in to the problem of homelessness! Become aware. Not just say, “Yeah there are homeless people. How sad!” But actually let that sadness become personal. I pray for God to move my heart to help those in need ALWAYS. I need to work at it! Pray about it! And let my heart hurt with those who hurt. <Sigh!> Not fun but necessary. I have a lot of thinking, praying, and actions to take. But just as importantly, society has a lot of thinking, praying, and action taking to do! Until we join together to make a difference, homelessness will continue to increase one PERSON at a time!


~ Written by Chelsey Wentzel

You Live and You Learn

As my last week in Chicago swiftly approaches I am forced to think about all that has brought me to and through my experiences here in this great city. I think back to my freshman year when I sat with my new nursing advisor to devise my plan of study for the next four years. I can still remember answering with alacrity “Yes of course, I’d love to go,” when asked if I’d be interested in completing an internship in Chicago during my final semester of college. I was warned that such an internship would require a much higher degree of autonomy, responsibility, and maturity. I had not assumed any nursing skills in my education at this point and the prospect of practicing with a greater degree of autonomy was both inspiring but also daunting. Still, I told myself that it would be a challenge worthwhile. The accretion of nursing knowledge I gained during my educational career at Hope was no doubt rich and comprehensive. However, at the conclusion of every clinical rotation I continued to evaluate myself as lacking confidence in my skills and as a professional nurse. Thus, increasing my confidence as a nurse was among my top goals as I began my internship rotation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. 

I must admit, in the beginning of my practice I often assumed “tech-like” duties. I managed the care of solely one patient and focused on learning more about the institutional policies, procedures, and tasks. Fourteen weeks later, I now manage a patient load of 4-5 patients, assuming almost all nursing duties such as assessments, documentation, IV placement, catheter insertions, blood draws etc. Every shift I am able to comfortably and confidently walk into a patient’s room and introduce myself. I participate in all aspects of their care and have greatly improved my ability to prioritize patient needs. I must say that this internship experience has truly facilitated my transition from student nurse to professional nurse. Not only do I look forward to joining the work force in a few months but I am confident that no matter what hospital I begin my practice in, I will be able to positively contribute to the interdisciplinary health care team.

Aside from improving my confidence as a professional my time in Chicago has also impacted my personal development. Living in Chicago has prepared me for my next step in life- living and working alone. As I look forward to establishing my place in the workforce I no longer feel as heavily reliant on my parents. I developed not only a sense of autonomy in clinical practice but also in my personal life. Through my values and vocations course I learned that “my life is my greatest artwork.” With my experiences and future opportunities I intend to make it a beautiful one.

~Grace Olamijulo

TWO WEEKS LEFT!

So our semester in the city is coming to a close, and so is being a college student! This semester has been one full of learning, transitions, and change, none of which I am very good at, but here I am! I’m very very thankful for the semester and the fact that it provided a little bit of an easier transition into “real life.” Living in the city this semester was quite the change from college. It’s meant navigating city transportation on my own, paying rent, setting up my own cable and internet, and checking my mail everyday. It’s meant getting up early on a regular basis and packing a lunch everyday for work. I’ve found that working (almost) full time is way more exhausting than I thought, and finding time for friends, exercise, and relaxation is definitely a challenge. However, I’m getting more used to all of this, and I’m finally starting to adjust. Having this semester to kind of bridge the gap between college and “real life” has been exactly what I needed to have a fun semester that also put me one step closer to graduation!

Living in the city has been such a fun experience! Using public transportation is great because you can get anywhere! There’s also tons to do, plenty of places to try new food, and lots of interesting and new experiences! One of the things I’ve really been loving recently with a little warmer weather is being so close to the lake! It’s a great place to walk or run, and hopefully these next few weeks will bring warmer weather and a chance to actually experience the beach!

My internship has also been quite a learning experience! I work on the pediatrics floor at UIC hospital. The staff there has been great. Everyone is interesting and nice, and they’ve done a great job of making me feel welcome. It’s taken some time to get used to the different patient population and working in a very busy high stress job. I’ve faced a lot of difficult learning situations-my floors sees a lot of abuse, poverty, cancer patients, and a variety of other chronic conditions. However, this means I get to work with a lot of the same patients over and over, and have really been able to form relationships with them. Working with different types of patients with a variety of different conditions has stretched me and forced me to do a lot of growing and a lot of studying, but I’ve loved every second of it! It’s taught me so many lessons about how to be a better nurse and how to be a better person. I’ve loved getting to know my patients and my coworkers, and feeling like I’m making a difference in people’s lives.

With only two weeks left, I can say that I’ve loved this city experience, and that it’s really prepared me to become a college graduate! It’s still crazy to think that these four years of my life are about to come to a close, but being here has made me so much more confident as a nurse and as an independent person!

~Elizabeth Meyer