Overcoming Stigma: My Journey with the Homeless

I used to volunteer at our Church kitchen by cooking food and serving poor folks. My main task was to serve folks and make sure that they have enough on their plates. Whenever people would come for more food, I would always hear me aunts discussed their dislike towards the homeless population because their issues could have been solved if they weren’t lazy to look for a job. As a young teen, I internalized these stigma about homeless people because I wasn’t well educated on social issues and I was just plain ignorant. I used to blame homeless people for making me spend four hours of my time on a Saturday to cook for them. As a result, I never engaged myself in conversations with homeless folks. It was not until I got to Santa Cruz that I became

While America prides itself as the most giving nation in the world, the idea behind different charities often juxtaposes this ideology. This idea of paternalism has been the practice for most food organizations in order to help the greater community. The idea that a server knows best
When I volunteered at the St. Francis Catholic Soup Kitchen, I already had an idea about the work that they do based on the readings that I have done, but I was not sure if the turnout would be the same as the article that I have read about paternalism. St. Francis Catholic Soup Kitchen has been serving the poor for over 25 years. The organization was founded by Father Peter Carota with the purpose of not only feeding, clothing, and sheltering the poor, but to heal their brokenness through Christ. In their mission statement on their website, it claims:
The Kitchen responds to spiritual and physical needs with food, clothing showers and assorted other services. A prayerful atmosphere is created by our volunteers so that the poor and homeless can pause and refresh from the stressful life of living on the streets or in abject