Hamilton's newly-established Diversity and Social Justice Project awarded grants to three students to pursue "unpaid socially useful work" over the summer. The grants had matching funds from the Kirkland Endowment. The recipients were Pat Hodgens '09, Jessica Yau '08 and Joshua Cheung '09.
Hodgens worked at the Northside CYO, a neighborhood center run by Catholic charities, in Syracuse, N.Y. He spent his mornings teaching an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course for teenage boys and his afternoons working with a recreational program for nine- to twelve-year old boys. Hodgens described his ESOL class, made up of mostly African refugees, as "a lot of trial and error." Having some previous training in teaching English, Hodgens' primary goals were to help his students develop English speaking and writing skills, catch up on math, and prepare for the next year of high school. Though Hodgens was the teacher, he said he benefited from the experience as much as the students did. "I learned much more about their culture; it seemed I learned more about them than they learned [in the class]." In the afternoon program Hodgens worked with younger boys, playing sports and games, doing arts and crafts and teaching lessons such as cooking. Hodgens said the most difficult part of this program was the behavioral issues of the boys, made up of half neighborhood kids and half refugees. Still, he is "strongly considering doing it again."
Yau worked for an Eviction Prevention program with the Community Action Agency in Somerville, Mass. She observed cases of eviction in court and met with the Agency's clients to help figure out how to help them. Yau also helped clients by filing for food stamps, helping to organize a tenants' association at a home for the elderly and disabled and working with the Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination. One of Yau's most memorable experiences from her work was helping to get one client $600 a month in food stamps, when she started out with none. Another example of the kind of work she did is helping a man in a wheelchair get new binds for his apartment because he could not reach the ones he had. Yau had to make several phone calls and file complaints to finally get them fixed. "I learned you have to make so many phone calls to get the littlest thing done," Yau said. Yau chose this job to "see whether or not I wanted to go into law…now, I most definitely do," she said. "This was the most worthwhile job I've ever had.
Cheung worked at St. Francis House, a non-profit, non-sectarian day shelter for homeless and poor adults in Boston. He worked both in the day shelter and in the development office. In the day shelter, Cheung helped guests directly by distributing clothes from clothing drives and serving food. In the development office Cheung worked as a grant writer for major gifts and solicited in-kind (tangible) donations. This job "gave me both aspects; I caw what the day center needed and was able to work in development to get it for them," said Cheung. "Sometimes you have to see the impact…it will motivate you." One of his most memorable experiences was getting more than 200 tickets donated to events in Boston, such as theatre productions, as part of an initiative to help graduates of St. Francis House's job skills training program "keep busy,' to keep from reverting back to their old ways. "One of the biggest things I learned came from the guests…I learned we're all human…homelessness is not an identity," said Cheung.
Because their locations were so close, Yau and Cheung were in constant contact over the summer, helping each other to help their clients of guests. One example is a client of Yau's who was a displaced Hurricane Katrina victim and needed a job. Yau contacted Cheung to get information about the job skills training program to help her client. Both agreed that the best part of their jobs was actually working with the clients.
The Diversity and Social Justice Project is committed to social justice with a focus on issues of diversity. We promote the rigorous interdisciplinary intellectual activity necessary for social justice movements and characteristic of a liberal arts education.
-- by Laura Trubiano '07
