Field+Work+Day+-+October+22-+Homelessness

The day began with the making of silk purses: we had planned to spend the morning on Beauty Turner's [|Ghetto Bus Tour], beginning at 8:30. Late Friday afternoon, Ms. Turner informed us that the bus would not be arrive to pick us up until 9:30. So for the first hour, Jeanne and I engaged our respective groups in classroom activities. My group had devoted one graderoom meeting time to defining some activities. At our next meeting, Debbie Todd from the [|Lincoln Park Community Shelter] sketched the volunteer activities at her shelter. So I set up a lesson that merged their choices with Debbie's opportunities.

October 22 Agenda Homelessness Group

8:15-9:20 Discuss activity options: what would you like to do?

working with LPCS – Debbie Todd has given us suggestions that seem to respond to each of our brainstorming ideas • For those who wanted to raise money or collect useful things for the homeless, Debbie suggested we could 1. purchase food for cooking or foodstuffs for their pantry 2. contribute or purchase supplies for a bag of toiletries or first aid 3. collect and contribute laundry and cleaning supplies

• For those who wanted to cook and serve a meal, she suggested 4. purchase, prepare, and serve a meal for 35 5. purchase and prepare sack lunches

• For those who wanted to participate more directly with the shelter and its clients, she suggested 6. Front desk duty, 5-8pm on Friday 7. Work with shelter clients in the Community Support Program on personal and professional life skills

another initiative is a new area – public policy. There is going to be a nationwide videoconference on Housing as a Human Right. There training locations in five cities for an event that will take place on Monday, November 5. One of those cities is Chicago, and one of the organizers of the forum is John Maki. [| www.NLCHP.org/National_Forum.cfm] The training will allow advocates nationwide, connected via video-conference, to discuss the human rights strategies they are using to advocate on behalf of homeless and poor women, men, and children. This cutting edge training will allow activists in Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Washington, DC to share their experiences and learn from one another. By hosting the training in multiple locations, NLCHP hopes to draw substantial regional audiences beyond those with the means to travel to DC for the Forum. This training is available through generous support from the [|Mertz Gilmore Foundation], the [|U.S. Human Rights Fund], and [|Holland & Knight LLP]. Registration Fee: The registration fee helps cover the cost of materials and lunch.

Today’s trip: Read a little from the [|Sun Times] article about Beauty Turner’s tours 10/22 – Came up with four groups for activities

Fund raiser event – with other schools Surafell, Sydney, Zac, Whitney • Bike race • Olympics • Battle of Bands

Food prep and serve @ LPCS Zack, Bianca, Andrei, Brian • Open mic/Raffle to raise $ • Buy and serve dinner by 11/19

Collect and donate canned goods and supplies Ali, Jordan, Devitt, Michael • Grade-level competition • Bins/Boxes in graderooms • Deliver the containers during next graderoom ComCon

Adult clothing drive Marla, Corey, Sarah, Ryan • Large collection bins – by Security Desk

9:25 - we assembled for the bus, but the bus didn't arrive. Jeanne and I shepherded the two groups to the front steps, where we looked at a couple of passages from //The Scarlet Letter// that might anticipate the day's experience. I chose a passage describing the forest outside of Salem - a dark place of forbidden, looming presences that Hawthorne says "images not amiss the moral wilderness" in which Hester found herself.

The bus tour took us to Rain and Shine Baptist Church at 704 East 43rd street, where we picked up Ms. Turner and Ron Carter, the publisher of [|The South Street Journal] and a former [|Black Panther].



Here we are in one of the few remaining buildings of [|The Robert Taylor Homes]. We walked up the narrow stairwell of a building on King Drive and 29th St. to the third floor apartment of a resident named Canary. Here she is standing in front of her door. The man with a microphone and the woman with a camera are At just before 10, the bus arrived. We took an abbreviated version of Beauty Turner's 3 hour tour.