My Adventures in Santa Ana

I wasn't sure of what was going to happen, who I was going to meet, what I would witness or just the pure fact of how I would react to the people and sights of the tri-cities. Starting off in Costa Mesa I was able to walk through the facility and realize how fortunate I am to be living in a house with my loving family. It was somewhat strange becuase just down the street was the hustle and bustle of the community, cars and retail shops. It opened my eyes and made me realize of the small things and how much I take things for granted.

Moving right along off to Santa Ana I beleive this is where it truly hit home for me. That day I met a man named Joseph who was a community college graduate originally from Laguna Beach. He had attended Saddleback College and had a 12 yr old son in Germany. Through his story I was able to identify with him the most simply because I would have never realized, noticed or known that "homeless" meant "college graduate" he truly opened my eyes and showed me that even with a college degree you can be attending school trying to acheive dreams but sleep out in the open cold on a city bench and reiceve 12 expensive tickets.

After meeting Joseph we met Dwight at Issiah's House a couple of blocks down, He was a man of great ideas, passion and compassion for the people he chose to serve. It is unfortunate that even with all the hardwork and passionate fights, Dwight still struggles with the system being so messed up and is angered at the failed system. Gave me more a passion to do well and do no harm as a future social worker.

After the events of Santa Ana, we had met Lori with the Project Hope School. I was actually excited and grateful to meet her. I have a secret passion of teaching and to see first hand what she does and accomplishes on a daily basis makes me excited and happy for the future. I only wished that we were able to meet the students!

I will never forget the day I was on the streets meeting and talking to a lot of different people and to see first hand what happens when the system fails made me want to stive that much more and come back to serve the underprivileged.