Project Summary
Living in New York City, homelessness is something we are exposed to on a day to day basis. As I encounter homeless people living on the street it becomes more and more difficult to go on with my life without doing something to help with this crisis. For my march madness project,I wanted to explore what goes on behind the scenes at homeless shelters that people with secure housing would be unaware of. Throughout the course of the year, I’ve been volunteering at a small privately owned homeless shelter on the Upper West Side called Trinity Place Shelter. Trinity is a homeleses shelter for LGBTQ teenagers whose familes have rejected them for their identity. I’ve been working closely with the director of the shelter, Wendy Kaplan, as she has shown me all the ins and outs of what it takes to run Trinity, and the elements of homeless shelters that aren’t obvious to people like me. This experience impacted me on a deeper level, as It allowed me to put my privileges into perspective as I began to see all the hardships these people go through. There are little nuances that might not seem significant to people who have what they need on a daily basis; however, these small details that the shelter takes care of can completely make a homeless person’s day. For legal reasons, I am unable to share personal information I learned about the residents and their experiences, however, I can share with you the way this experience has affected me as well as the core aspects of running a privately owned homeless shelter.
Elevator Pitch
