SOS

Bishop Cosgrove did not fail to amaze me once again today. I went through my typical routine in the morning, telling everyone good morning and then returned to the cafeteria to eat breakfast with the other volunteers. Today’s breakfast was exceptionally good because it was sausages and hash browns. As we were eating and talking as usual, there was a loud thud that hit the grown. We all turned our heads to the right of us and I couldn’t help but notice the man on the ground coughing up tremendous amounts of saliva. He was on his back and he was having a seizure! He fell so hard that he came out of one of his shoes. I have never seen a seizure once in my life but I manage to keep my cool because one of the officers named officer Lawson came and saved the day until the EMS trucks came to escort the gentleman out of here. The craziest part about it was that when this happened, other people in the cafeteria acknowledged it but they continued about their day as if this was normal! First it was the lady going into labor and now this, I guess a lot of these people have bigger problems to worry about.

5-26-14

Today was a typical day at the Cosgrove center. I usually come in in the mornings around eight and greet all the volunteers and workers with a warm good morning.  After my rounds of good mornings I eat breakfast with the people who have to come in and volunteer. Keep in mind that some of these volunteers are people who have to come to serve community service hours for a crime they committed and they are ordered to come in by the judge or these are people who have to work to get food stamps. So whenever I talk to these people I always here some very interesting stories and their views on life. I was talking to one of the volunteers named Ken and he was explaining to me what it was life like in prison since he spent a lot of time in and out of there. One of the first things that he told me was that prison is definitely a place where you do not want to go but it is not that bad how the media portrays it. The thing that Ken said that really stood out to me is when he told me that Prisons are starting to make themselves become a more comfortable environment so people do not want to leave. People tend to forget that prisons across America generate billions of dollars. He said they are giving out these devices called Jpeg 4s that can send messages and pictures and download music.

Never A Dull Moment

Bishop Cosgrove today was eventful as usual today. After I finished gathering information for this brochure that I am helping the Bishop Cosgrove Center revise, I went to the cafeteria to volunteer. Keep note, there is never a dull moment in the cafeteria. Today I was in charge of making the fruit punch for today’s lunch and I had to help pass out drinks to people while they get their meals. I returned to the loud noisy people playing dominoes, rolling up tobacco or people who just like to converse loudly. One of the most astonishing things I saw today is the lack of thank you the workers and I received for feeding them. You would expect that a lot of them would say this considering the rough position that they are in but yet appreciation from them today was rare. Also for my first time today I saw a woman go into labor! While I was in the midst of passing out endless rows of cups full of fruit punch, I saw this lady standing on the wall gasping for air while one of her friends was dialing 911!  I kid you not, this was a very unusual experience for me because everyone else in the cafeteria continued to go about their business.

Day 2:5-16-14

Today I had the pleasure of participating at this meeting that Bishop Cosgrove has every Wednesday called the Homeless Congress. This is where some of the homeless people from Bishop Cosgrove go to voice their opinions and issues on their current situations with their shelter. Their problems range from theft from people’s personal lockers or trying to find a home or trying to understand how CMHA housing works. CMHA stands for Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority and they help provide housing for low-income families in the Cleveland area. CMHA partners with different landlords around Cleveland so that the rent for the housing is affordable for particular families who need the aid. I was happy to see that Cosgrove allows these meetings to take place since in today’s society; the homeless usually don’t have a voice because society tends to devalue the homeless as people.  We often forget homelessness does not have one single face. Homelessness shares hundreds of faces; this could be you or me at any giving moment. I was proud to see one of my friends that I made last time named Silk able to find a house through the CMHA program. When I talked to him in the winter Silk seemed defeated as if he was going to always live at 2100 Lakeside Men’s shelter but to see him overcome this obstacle inspired me.  

Day 1

The first day of project was a shocker. No not because I have never been to this place or no not because I didn't know the people but because I saw some of the same people there who were there before. First to get everything into context, my project is at the Bishop Cosgrove center where I have worked previously during the last intensive. The Bishop Cosgrove center is Cleveland's largest day center where homeless or people in need are welcomed to come in for free meals such as breakfast or lunch. When I made my return to Bishop Cosgrove I was shocked to see some of these people in need still there. I was really impacted once I saw this, this let me know that poverty is a real issue in Cleveland. I saw numerous people who told me back in December that they had this set plan to leave the center but yet months later they are still here. Seeing this kind of hurt me considering the fact that this can be any of us in a matter of one bad decision. As people we can choose to look at this situation negatively or positively. We can use this situation to inspire us to try our best in everything that we do and to give back to our community when help is needed.