Personal Narrative: The Day Room

Physically the day room was laid out with pews against three walls and a television on the far end, which consistently played cartoons. All of the walls painted gray, and a small portion painted black with uplifting bible verses painted in white. While the room was reflective of the belief that creating an uncomfortable environment would encourage people to remove themselves from their situation as fast as possible, it created an environment that could make someone spiral farther and farther downwards. As I mentioned previously, it created almost a numbing feeling inside you, which made you drowsy. It felt as if it was an institution or a hospital; gloom completely filled the atmosphere around us.

At the same time, it was far from being a hospital

Dinner and breakfast were covered with gravy, and lacking of nutritional value. Additionally, the late night snacks, and vending machines only contained chips, muffins, burritos, ready-made biscuits, etc. When we went back to the day room after breakfast, many of the women never went down to eat because it was disgusting and they had snacks that they had saved for breakfast. All of the available options of food truly concentrated on providing the lowest quality of basic needs for people who are homeless. I recalled Mark mentioning earlier in the elevator, “There is not much to do in the day room, but we say at least we are providing a heated area, a place to sleep, and food.” I disagree with the ideology of providing the bare minimum of basic necessities for people who are homeless because they are a population who needs to feel comfort and uplifting around them to get out of the mental state homelessness even puts you in, they are a population who needs food with strong nutritional value as many meals are missed, they need to be in a sanitary facility as the streets possess filth and create health issues of their own, and they need interactive games, books, and other activities to foster intellectual stimulation and positive energy in the atmosphere for the children and women. However, many aspects during our stay