Student profile
Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution. (650 words)
I have visited India every single year and I have always come back inspired from my visits. What especially struck me is the compassion that exists in the culture and how people help the poor and needy. For example, my cousin’s choice to celebrate her birthday with poor children at an orphanage. My visits to India inspired me to think about what I could do for the poor and needy in the U.S. and that inspiration led me to create a program to help the homeless.
I learnt that California has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the US. Up to half of the homeless population have suffered from mental illness, and life expectancy among the homeless is around 30 years shorter than average.
These facts were shocking and sad, and I started to think about what I could do to make the homeless program a reality. Whether it was to raise funds or to buy necessities, or to conduct a food drive, I knew I couldn’t do the program by myself. Recruiting people was my first big step. I reached out to the local newspaper to connect with the community, and five people volunteered to help.
As a team, we decided to initially focus on providing basic necessities such as food and shelter. It was a very satisfying experience to go on our first food drive and to see the smiles on people’s faces upon receiving the food and supplies. However, we ran into several challenges. First, there are city and legal restrictions on what food can be provided to the homeless. Second, some shelters were well equipped and didn’t need further help. We also found out that there were other organizations serving the homeless.
At this point, we decided to step back. We wanted to identify a compelling need for the homeless and solve it. We wanted to do something where we could feel that our efforts were making a difference. However, none of us had background working with the homeless – we needed someone who had that experience and could guide us through the journey. Our quest took us to someone who worked for the vice-mayor of San Jose and worked with the homeless on a weekly basis.
He recommended that we go and serve encampments by the creeks, where the real homeless were. We went on another drive in late October to one such encampment, where we gave them food, hygiene bags and clothing. Through this drive, we learnt that their top needs in winter were tents and blankets. So in November we did one more drive where we distributed tents and blankets.
I am currently engaged in efforts to scale the program further. My new acquaintance in the vice mayor’s office has a great team that works with the homeless, but he needs more funds to effectively scale the program. I have recruited more volunteers from the local schools to raise funds and clothing for the homeless that we can direct through his team. I am also reaching out to local stores, such as Costco and Safeway, who are ready to give free food for the homeless. This food not only helps the stores, because they would throw away the food anyway, but also gives much needed nutrition to the homeless.
It’s been a very fulfilling experience working with the homeless, and it has changed me for the better. It is a feeling of great contentment to do something that brings a smile on someone else’s face. It’s the same feeling of satisfaction I had when I went to celebrate my cousin’s birthday at the orphanage in India.