Student Contributor -D Dougherty
Family Promise has a goal of helping family homelessness. They are here to help create connections for homeless families in order to help with support networks for those in need. Their mission statement is one of changing from a cycle of survival to a cycle of transformation.
Family Promise helps others with local resources because sometimes it can be hard for people to even get to the resources that they need. Their large goals are prevention, shelter, and preparation for people who are soon to be homeless. Rental assistance and case management is a few ways that Family Promise helps prevent homelessness. Their emergency sheltering is there to help the homeless families with resources and hospitality so that they can focus more on getting a place to live again rather than having to worry about each individual day. For preparation, the goal is to help those who have successfully been able to fight their circumstances, remain stable.
Partnering with Family Promise could be a good way to get students to see that there is homelessness outside of what it typically expected. Often the belief is that homeless people are alone and don’t have support, but there is a large growing population of families with children that are suffering from the same issues. I think that some exposure to this side of Spokane could do good for everyone as we should be more aware of our hometown and how we can create positive change. With this organization, students could work on a food drive to help the organization, clothing drives, and much more.
Due to the Salvation Army educating themselves on the hardships of the community, the Salvation Army is a great organization for teachers and students to partner to help make a difference in their community. Teachers and students can partner with the Salvation Army in various different ways. The Salvation Army conducts food drives, clothing drives, and toy drives. Teachers could reach out to the Salvation Army and see what they are in need of and create a drive based on the need. The Salvation Army always needs volunteers and students and their parents could volunteer in providing a service to the community.
Teachers and students can partner with the Salvation Army to bring change through creating a clothing drive for people who are homeless in their community. They can also fundraise money that can be donated to the salvation army that help contribute to any expenses they experience with the supporting of people who are in need.
Students could go to the Hillyard Senior Center and interact with the seniors there. Participating in daily activities along side them, communicating while having fun together. Another possibility would be to go the organization and teach a lesson or read to the seniors. My last example is partnering with them for a holiday like easter. Seniors and students work together to create Easter baskets they can donate or sell. There are many ways that students and teachers could work with this organization. The importance of partnering with this group is getting the seniors active as well as allowing students to make connections about the past, how its shaped our future, and why our seniors are so valuable. This will allow students to be informed as they grow up, understanding that seniors need somebody to engage with just as much as everyone else will help them make beneficial changes in the future.
An idea that students and teachers could do is provide something to brighten a child's day. Students in the classroom could make friendship bracelets for kids at CrossWalk. Students could also raise money or do a toy drive to give to the kids less fortunate than themselves. I think allowing students to raise money, give them handmade items, and help other kids the same age who are homeless and alone would be a very eye-opening experience.
There are many different ways to partner with the EWU Food Pantry Program. They are always looking for reliable volunteers to help with opening and closing during their hours and keeping the main pantry stocked at the same time. They also get sponsors to help stock and support the smaller food cabinets each academic year. Many Greek life groups on campus sponsor food cabinets, but anyone can participate. The Food Pantry loves to receive donated food items and really appreciate it when students run food drives to keep them stocked with a variety of foods. Finally, the volunteers at the Food Pantry express that getting the word out on campus is one of the most helpful things to do. There are many people who don’t know they exist and could use the food they provide. To get in contact with the EWU Food Pantry Program, you can use the email below or reach out to them via Instagram @ewu_foodpantries.