Helping the Homeless by Joseph

Helping the Homeless by Joseph - August 2021 Scholarship Essay

Ever since I was young, I had the desire to volunteer for the community that I was in. This desire to help people is rooted deep within who I am and has given me the ability to mature the empathic side of myself. Growing up I learned quickly that helping people was a necessity for a community to survive and started signing up for all sorts of volunteer projects. One project I helped out with was an outreach to the homeless where I was given the ability to pour out love to those who needed it.

As I became an adult I realized that homelessness was not something to be looked over and from my own experience from being alone on the road I can relate to some of the struggles I encountered working with this outreach. I am grateful for all the people who helped me in my time of need when I was without shelter and feel a desire to give back to the community. After this outreach I was able to have more clarity to where my goals as a humanitarian will be.

The passion for humanity grew in me even in the darkest of times of my life. Due to past trauma, I was able to connect to people in a new way where I could be a friend to those hurting. It was strange at first, but slowly the anxiety that I once had started to disappear and change into a blossoming passion for helping people. I would soon start to travel and show that living is an amazing experience. Although depression made me isolated, it has taught me in the long run that life is more beautiful than I originally thought.

I recommend people who are going through depression to go to therapy so that way there is an opportunity to talk to a friend during difficult times. While I was on the road it was hard to talk about my issues, so now whenever I see someone who is homeless I love to talk with them. I understand some people are dealing with issues themselves and have been through dark times. This connection brings people together and helps the community heal.

I now look forward to the day where I can work in a career that is focused on people and my goal is to continue living to show others that depression can be healed no matter how isolated it seems. Through therapy, this feeling of being alone during traumatic events has disappeared and I have been able to be a friend to those who are in need. I will continue to volunteer with the homeless and will start drafting out ideas for a homeless shelter in my hometown.

The homeless outreach I helped out with gave me the opportunity to become a friend to the hurting and broken. Although I volunteered throughout my youth I didn’t quite grasp the necessity for helping the homeless in the community till I was older. This realization was due to my own struggles of being alone and without shelter. Now through this struggle I can relate to the people I am helping and even though I may have gone through dark times the desire to aid people in the community around me has grown exponentially. This growth has lead to dreams of becoming a humanitarian where my career is based on the needs of others and am quite grateful for the opportunity to help the homeless in my community.