Service-Learning Log 1-Hanna Gonzales

Service-Learning Log

Name: Hanna Gonzales
Date of Shift: May 8, 2008
Hours worked: 4:30pm-6:30pm

On Thursday evening the 8th of May 2008 from 4:30pm to 6:30pm I volunteered at the Denver Rescue Mission on Park Ave and Lawrence St in Denver. When I arrived along with Janis and Margy, we were greeted by the man who is in charge of the Denver Rescue Mission. He talked to us briefly about “do’s and don’ts” of volunteering at the mission. He told us that we weren’t to tell anyone our full names, phone numbers, or credit card numbers. However he encouraged us to get to know the clients and ask them questions. He also discussed with us some of the common stereotypes associated with homelessness and how we, as a society, need to go about ending it. He informed us that we would be helping serve/set-up for dinner; however we would not be interacting with any homeless people, as these people do not come to eat until later in the evening. We were then introduced to some of the guys, who I assumed helped run the mission. Then Janis got to announce on the loudspeaker that dinner was being served. Then we were taken downstairs and informed that we would be serving dinner to men who were a part of the drug rehab program at the mission. For the first hour we were there, Janis, Margy, and I rolled plastic sporks into napkins and sat around talking to a young Boy Scout who was also there volunteering. It was pretty tedious. One man from the drug-rehab program came and introduced himself to us, and we talked to him briefly, but for the most part we did not interact with any of the other men who were there.
However in the second hour or forty-five minutes rather, we were introduced to a man, Dan* who was instructed by the operator of the mission to share his story with us. For the next hour I sat alongside Janis and Margy and listened to this man’s remarkable story about his life as a drug addict, criminal, and all-around not nice person. He was very open and honest about his drug addiction and the things he had done in his life. Dan told us all about his thoughts of suicide and depression, his withdrawal from his family, his time in jail, and finally his entering the program at the mission and finally getting help for his drug addiction. His story was truly, truly remarkable and I was shocked at his humility and his ability to sit down with us (total strangers) and share some of the most personal and darkest parts of his life. While I did not get to interact with any homeless people, getting to hear this man’s story was incredible, and I am glad I was given the opportunity to meet him and volunteer at the mission.
Ultimately volunteering at the Denver Rescue Mission was not particularly rewarding as, it was more of a behind the scenes volunteer experience. I am afraid that this experience did not do much in terms of research or my academic growth. It did give me some perspective on different types of volunteer work. I have an appreciation for volunteer work that it is more behind the scenes and less hands-on as both are important. I appreciate what people at the mission are trying to do and why even simple tasks can make a huge difference overall in how many people the mission is able to assist. My experience with Dan and getting to hear his story definitely gave me something to write about, and it made me aware of attitudes towards life and spirituality. I have come to the conclusion that at times of true hardship people who literally have nothing to keep them going, like Dan, turn to God. You are constantly hearing about people who find their spirituality when they have reached the very end of their rope and I think that’s what happened with Dan. I could tell from listening to his story that he greatly values his religion and God. His religion has given him something to hold on to and to believe in and it has helped him turn his life around. All of these things got me to thinking that if I had nothing, no family, no friends, just nothing, that I too might find solace in God and the teachings of the Bible as a guide as to how to live my life. This led me to the realization of why religion is so highly valued by some people, Dan in particular. In addition, hearing Dan’s story made the things I chose to worry about and stress over seem very unimportant. It also made me realize why people, like Dan, who find themselves in literally the worse possible place, with absolutely no one and nothing to turn to, become deeply spiritual. It is because in the darkest times in their life when they had no one to call upon, they called upon God. This realization gave me a deeper understanding of spirituality and life itself. I now understand why it is important understand that drug-addiction is a disease and that in order for people to recover from it they have to be provided with the proper resources.
I am unsure how this experience affected by academic or even civic growth but it definitely affected me on a personal level. In volunteering at the Denver Rescue Mission I learned why behind the scenes volunteerism is just as important as more interactive volunteerism and through this I gained civic growth and appreciation for the things I have in my life. In addition, I learned how truly terrible a person’s life can be and how they can recover and grow from it and be willingly to share it with others, so that they may learn from it. I learned both of these things by directly experiencing them. Maybe rolling silverware for an hour was not a particularly eye-opening experience for me but I did learn from it. Listening to Dan’s story however was significant to me because I have never been exposed to a person who was a drug-addict and led the life that Dan led. Overall going to the Denver Rescue Mission opened my eyes to a lot of new experiences and knowledge. I am glad I was able to learn and grow from this volunteer event.

*name has been changed