This-and-That Update

We had the most fun at the grocery store today. Graham, Erin, Tara, and I went to the store for the week. We got so much stuff that we had to call the boys to come and bring bags with them so that we could carry the stuff back to the apartment. And we did it on a budget - an entire cart full of stuff for a couple dollars over $100. And we planned out meals. We're still way under budget, and a lot of what we got for the week will last more than the week. We each (excpet for My'eka because she's on a doctor-ordered strict diet) put in $40 out of our stipend check for the first two weeks. We still have plenty left for our run to Findlay Market for fruits and such tomorrow.

We've been getting so much information and doing so much that it's gotten a little tiring. I fell asleep during a movie about Buddy Gray, who is generally known as the father of Over-the-Rhine Community housing (a combination of two groups that help to provide affordable housing). I watched the entirety of the second video, and Graham said they were both really good. There's just so much stuff that I can't simply summarize it. Hopefully the important stuff will come out in conjunction with other stuff further on in the semester.

We have to start working toward finding our service sites. There are so many good options that would be awesome opportunities. I just really need to define my interests. Jennifer Weis (who is the director of the Xavier Women's Center and our teacher for the Service Learning class) is going to do one-on-one sessions with whomever needs them to help us define our interests.

The Miami students moved in yesterday, I think. I guess I haven't mentioned this before - Miami University has an urban design program in which the students live in OTR and do service while learning about urban design. I don't know the specifics of the program. Their program has students in the rest of our apartment building and another building nearby. So we'll probably get to know them a little bit this semester.

One of the things we did today was visit the Drop-In Center, a homeless shelter that acts as the safety net for those who have no other place to go. They don't ask questions, they just provide shelter and meals. It's not a great place to live, but it's something. Most of the people there are fairly transitory. The longer someone is there, the more likely he is to be paired up with a case manager. This case manager helps the person to have certain needs met, get a job, and get into transitional housing. The Drop also has a drug treatment program for the homeless (they live in the center and work to help with some of the services the center provides) that has a pretty high success rate of over 75%. The Drop provides a lot of services to people who have nowhere else to go. 1/3 of their funding is from private individual donations and 2/3 comes from grants. Buddy Gray was also very instrumental in beginning the Drop-In Center.

That's a brief run-through of some stuff we've been doing. It's been a little overwhelming without time to process and getting tired enough to just need a break. But throughout the semester we'll work through some of this stuff. Stay tuned for that.