Learning Where You Live

I would recommend this trip not just to a friend, but to anyone. I have lived close to Springfield for about seven years, but I did not recognize nor had I been to about three fourths of the places we visited. I had only ever been on Commercial Street once in my life and I never knew of the history or of the shops in that area. Commercial Street is usually referred to as “sketchy” and “unsafe” by most people in Springfield, but all I saw in that area was beauty and inspiration. The people there are also an inspiration. Most of them give their lives to help others and never ask for anything in return. This is only part of why I would recommend this trip. Another reason is the different perspectives in each leader. Each leader of different organizations has taken a different role in the community in order to help others. The Boys and Girls club focuses on children and teenagers, The Rare Breed focuses on moving teenagers into adulthood, and Habitat for Humanity focuses on adults. Other leaders, including Shawn Askinosie and Mary Collette, focus on the community as a whole and communities around the world. Seeing the impact each of these people have had makes me want to help and do something for the community, which is why I will recommend this trip to anyone.   

The importance of involvment

Throughout the fall-break immersion trip, a plethora of social issues have been examined. We have been to many organizations:

• Rare Breed
• Historic Firehouse #2
• Boy's and Girl's Club
• Habitat for Humanity

The social problems ranged from poverty, abuse, homelessness, and abandonment. All of these issues have different causes, but all produce hopelessness and despair. The issues become aggravated and grow larger with every insult and calamity that befalls an individual in the grips of tragedy. The wounds inflicted by the social issues, for the most part, are ignored by the community, which can lead to infections, transmissions, and epidemics of the issues.  By implementing ethical leadership, public affairs, and community engagement, the seeds of hope are sown in the hearts and minds of the community. The seeds, when properly cultivated with continual effort, will flourish and produce the sweet fruit of hope. 

More Than Learning How to Play Pokemon

     When I walked into the Learning Room today at the Boys & Girls Club, an elementary school boy asked me if I wanted to play Pokemon cards with him.  Well... I don't know how to play Pokemon cards.  So, he taught me and I actually won a round! He was so happy to teach someone about what seemed to be his favorite thing in the entire world.

     The Musgrave Unit of the Boys & Girls Club is phenomenal.The number one priority here is the kids.  There are spaces for kids of all ages to have fun, do homework, and express themselves.   We were told that 75% of the 400 kids that are a part of the Boys & Girls Club are on Free and Reduced Lunch at the schools they go to.  Many of the parents of these children are working two jobs to keep their families afloat.  The Boys & Girls Club provides a safe, friendly environment for their kids to stay and get a good meal while they work to support their families.

     Before meeting the Pokemon Fan, we went to the Rare Breed and I was exposed to an entirely different side of Springfield; the side that acknowledges the homeless youth on our streets. The problems that many think are only in the big cities are IN Springfield.  There are high amounts of sex trafficking, drug and alcohol abuse, and all-around abuse HERE and many of the victims are homeless youth.  Every weekday around 80 kids come from all over to the Rare Breed Drop-In Center and stay until late in the evening.  They get a hot meal, are able to do their homework, play games, do laundry, take a shower, and get the help they need.  Rare Breed helps these kids figure out other options, so that they can become successful, independent adults.

         So, what did I learn besides the fact that Pikachu wasn't the first Pokemon?  The key to helping those in need is acceptance.   Rare Breed and Boys & Girls Club have both shown their acceptance for the "culture" of the homeless and impoverished.  Whether anyone agrees with their thinking or not, when working with these kids, no one shows harsh judgment for what the kids have done and how they think.  One of the women at Rare Breed described it as if these youth come from a completely different country.  People can do all sorts of things to help people in these situations, but it all comes down to attitude.  A kid who feels like he/she is being judged is going to shut down and feel nothing but terrible about himself/herself.  However, when we show compassion and understanding, we can get them to see:  they don't have to live this way, they have the power to change it, and there is help.

~Cassie Schmidt  

Springfield's Youth

     We spent the day learning about organizations designed to serve the youth of Springfield. The first organization of the day was Rare Breed. I have been lucky enough to volunteer there once before and absolutely loved it; today was no different. The goals and mission of the place are truly admirable They work to help people in need ranging from 13-20 years old in any way possible. It's easy to see the passion the workers have for the cause. The Boys and Girls Club was our next organization of the day. I was amazed by how large the facility was. All of the different services offered there were truly incredible. Children can receive help with homework or play sports or do an art project; the options are endless. My favorite part about this service trip so far as been interacting with the kids at Boys and Girls Club. From eating snacks to making up handshakes to learning new games there was never a dull moment.

     Being new to the area I was very unaware of the surrounding community. My knowledge consisted of the campus and not much else. By listening to the various organizations so far, I have learned more about the area than I could have imagined. It's embarrassing to admit how oblivious I was and still am to the poverty and homeless problem in Springfield. Today has really opened my eyes into the difference in lifestyle these situations warrant. Going forward I hope to continue volunteering at these organizations.  

~Kelly

Cultural Competence- The Youth in Springfield

Today started with breakfast and getting to know our group better before heading out on our day full of service.  Today we went to Rare Breed, cooks kettle for lunch, and finished our day of service off at Boys and Girls Club.

We arrived at Rare Breed's Street Outreach Drop-In Center and received a  tour before starting off our service.  I was amazed at how nice Rare Breed was and how much they offer to the homeless youth of Springfield. The drop-in center has a gathering room with a television, computer lab, art room, Foosball and pool table room, professional staff to help out with anything needed, and counseling services.  Rare Breed also offers GED classes three days a week along with child care for those taking GED classes.   Rare Breed is a service offered through The Kitchen and they serve homeless and high risk disconnected youth.  After receiving a tour we started organizing and cleaning up the drop-in center.  My group worked with organizing the donated clothes, placing the correct sizes and genders on the correct shelf and bin.  After we were done organizing and cleaning, we spoke with the outreach and services coordinator who spoke with us about what Rare Breed does, who they help, and answered all of our questions.  Rare Breed helps youth leave the streets and serves to reduce sexual abuse, exploitation and dangerous behaviors.   The coordinator explained to us how big a problem sexual exploitation is in Springfield and that there are a large amount of youth that come in you have been sexually exploited.  Rare Breed has case workers and youth staff who work with the youth and help mentor and make them feel empowered.  We heard success stories about youth who felt useless and once they learned that they were capable and smart and they can do anything they wanted, they started to change and grow as a person completing tasks they never thought they would have been able to do.  I was surprised to hear that Rare Breed gets about 80 youth a day who come in looking for a place to stay for the afternoon, dinner, and a shower to use.  Rare Breed also offers a transitional living program. The one thing that stuck with me with the speaker was that "their" normal or "their" clean is not "our" normal or "our" clean.  We need to be culturally competent and understand that poverty is a different culture and most of these youth have lived on the street most of their life and this is their normal. 

After we were done with Rare Breed, we ate lunch at cook's kettle.  The people who work at cook's kettle are students at the victory trade school.  Victory Trade School provides men and women an opportunity to learn in a Christian environment and gain the skills necessary to be productive members of society.

Our final stop of the day was at Boy's and Girls Club.  When we arrived, the kids had not arrived yet from school so we first got a tour of the building.  The building was amazing and I think it is a great after school program for kids.  The building had two gyms, a pre-teen room, a game room, a teen center, a learning center, an art room, a computer room, a pool, and a cafeteria.  The tour guide explained how an average of 280 kids come to Boys and Girls club daily.  The majority of the kids in Boys and Girls Club have parents who work and need child care for their children.  The price of Boys and Girls club is very reasonable and they offer many scholarships and payment plans.  The tour guide told us that Boys and Girls club is like a family and they relate to each other.  After our tour we cleaned and did several tasks around the building before the kids arrived.  Once the kids arrived we spread out and when to different sections of the building to play and tutor the kids.  I went to the learning center first and talked to a few girls about their classes and what musical instruments they play.  One little girl even played her violin for me.  These kids love the attention and love showing us what they can do.  I than spent some time in the teen center and saw the complete difference in atmosphere and attitude.  This was a place for the teens to go and relax and spend time with their friends.  After, I watched some girls learn how to cheer-lead.  This was awesome because I could see how much passion they had and how much they loved cheer leading.  Overall, I had a great experience at Boys and Girls club and I think it is a great safe place for children to learn and play after school.


After dinner, our group talked about cultural competence and did a poverty stimulation online.  This was great and opened our eyes to the different choices and sacrifices one has to make when they are struggling with poverty.  Both of these agencies we went to today deal with youth daily.  Boys and Girls Club deals with prevention and keeping children on the right track while Rare Breed deals with putting the youth back on the right track.  These agencies are very helpful for youth and are a necessity. 

Ethical Leadership Is All Around Us

  Look around Springfield. What do you see?

  We started our day out at Scholars House for breakfast, before heading out to our first stop in Springfield, an event venue on Commercial Street called Historic Firehouse No. 2. Once there, the owner of the Firehouse told us about some of the fascinating history of Springfield, and passionately shared with us what she and others were doing to preserve and improve historic C-Street. It was really interesting to learn how much history there is right there in the ~6-block area of C-Street.

  We then continued our journey with our service project for the day. We went to a local community garden, where we worked for a couple hours planting strawberries, fruit trees, and blackberries. As a student in the School of Agriculture, this was my favorite part of the day. In several of my classes we've been discussing issues surrounding food security, hunger, and poverty, so it was cool to see what was being done right here in Springfield to combat those problems.

  We finished our day with a tour of Askinosie Chocolate Factory. I found their commitment to their farmers fascinating, as our tour guide told us about how the company practices direct trade and profit-sharing with their farmers. But their commitment to the global community goes even beyond that. They also sell rice and hot-chocolate from the countries they work in, and send all the profits back to be used for community development. They gain nothing from these efforts, yet their commitment to the communities their farmers are in motivates them to help in any way they can.

  What do I see when I look around Springfield? I see Ethical Leadership in action. From the work being done to preserve and improve historic Commercial Street, to the solution to hunger being provided by the community garden, to the international efforts of Askinosie, I see people who are dedicated to changing the world for the better. In the case of Askinosie, the worldwide impact is clear. But the work being done on C-Street and in the community garden is just as important, as changing one community changes our world in a small way.

~Delaney

A Glimpse Into Springfield's History

A view of the buildings behind the Firehouse.

Today started off bright and early at Scholars as we all began getting to know each other over breakfast. We quickly journeyed down to historical Commercial Street in Springfield where we met a wonderful lady from Historical Firehouse No. 2 who passionately told us the history of the surrounding area. It was so eye-opening to find out the amount history in this city and what the firehouse and surrounding businesses were trying to do to keep it in tact. As someone not from Springfield, I had always been told to stay away from C-Street. Yet after spending the day in the area, I quickly learned how many great things it has to offer from Big Momma's Coffee Bar to multiple event spaces and even art galleries! I had never realized just how much this beautiful street had to offer.

The site leader teaching us
how to plant a tree!

After learning about C-Street we walked on over to God's Garden, which is associated with The Kitchen. Our group got the chance to get our hands dirty and planted strawberry plants, berry bushes, and apple trees. I did not even know community gardens existed in Springfield before today. I find it such a great way to help the surrounding community, especially since fresh produce can get very expensive. It definitely was not easy stepping outside my comfort zone (which includes indoors and no bugs), but it was definitely worth it. The site leader even mentioned one day, after we have all become alumni, we will probably be able to come back and see the trees we helped plant! It's so crazy to think how a couple hours of time can have such long impact on the surrounding community's lives.

When we finished planting, we traipsed on over to Askinosie Chocolate Factory! Not only was I unaware of having local chocolate, I also had no idea of the amazing things that this company does.
They gave us a full tour of the facilities and explained how the chocolate was made from "bean to bar" right there in the factory! I had never heard of such a thing, yet it was going on right here in Springfield. As the tour went on we learned about their amazing business practices and the ways they give back to both the communities here in Springfield and on each of their cocoa bean farms. As someone who cares about things like fair trade and the social aspect of a business, I was pretty amazed at how incredible Askinosie is at giving back. And the chocolate tasted amazing as well! Nothing like a fantastic dark chocolate!

The beautiful Askinosie chocolate bars!

We finished up our time on C-Street in Big Momma's enjoying conversation and drinks. It was great getting the time to get to know some of the group members in a casual setting before we raced in the rain back to dinner, campus, and reflection.

One of our wonderful trip leaders, Sara!
I just had to post this gem ;)

During reflection we talked about ethical leadership. Having been in a class last semester that drilled the Public Affairs Mission into my head, I had a great experience getting to see this pillar in action today. I got the chance to meet and hear about such incredible leaders. I'm glad I got to identify ethical leadership outside of the classroom and have              an example to strive to be like. I can't wait to see what the rest of the trip will bring! -Ali Jemes



*All pictures taken and edited by me! Except for the group photo, in which I only edited it!