blog 20

(1) What is your essential question and answers? What is your best answer and why?

My EQ is "What is the best way a Union Station worker can successfully aid the homeless in getting off the streets of LA?" My answers were "provide them with proper housing", "introduce them to Sources at Union Station" or "volunteer and help the cause first hand".

My best answer is "volunteer and help the cause first hand", because I believe that with a global problem such as homelessness, being able to help directly would have the largest affect on the community.  When people can volunteer, they are able to get a deeper meaning and understanding of the problem, therefore making it, in my opinion, easier to connect with the clients and work with them more effectively.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

Volunteering myself was very helpful to me. It let me really see how much work goes into the process of helping homeless recover and get themselves back on their feet and living independently. Looking at my other answers, they weren't really something that just anyone can contribute to. With volunteering, literally anyone can help and contribute.

(3) What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?

My biggest problem was actually finding my 3rd answer. I was talking to my mentor about it, and she asked me what my first two were. I told her and she basically told me, how do people find about these programs? How does Union Station get the resources to be able to run these program to aid the homeless? They recruit volunteers. Volunteers are what help make the program work so efficiently and successfully.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

My two most significant were my mentor Octavia Sisley and a book called Housing the Homeless. For Housing the Homeless,it gives me insight on how to properly accommodate the homeless in providing housing, what kind of standards should the housing be, and how long should they be prepared to stay in the housing. My mentor was by far my biggest help, however. She's been volunteering for Union Station for 15 years before being hired 2 years ago. She has insight and information on literally every single thing that goes on within the organization, and her knowledge of homelessness was a huge help for me.