As we continued to work with Lifemoves Homeless Shelter the kids became more attached to us and got excited every time we would show up. During the first three visits we felt that the kids were shy and were getting to know us but when we showed up the last three visits the kids ran up to us and asked if we could play the games we played the last time. What we found the most interesting was how happy these kids were when we would show up because they knew that they could have fun and play around with older kids. Many people would expect these kids to be depressed and not want to play at all, however, it is quite the opposite. These kids love having fun and are actually very smart. One girl Mia was always reading and would never put down her book. She had way more enthusiasm about reading than most of us at Menlo have and that was really great to see from our perspective.
Ben and I certainly learned a lot about ourselves through this project. We not expecting to be so attached to these kids when we first started, yet every time we would leave the parking lot one of us would turn to the other and say “I really hope these kids can escape the cycle of homelessness,” We felt a deep connection to these kids. We certainly want these kids to be successful in school and whatever they are interested in and we really hope that we made a true impact on these kids lives because these kids made a huge impact in our lives. While we were playing basketball we would ask the kids about school and push the fact that school is unbelievably important and we can only hope the kids listened. But if we made a difference in one or two of these kids lives then I would be extremely happy.
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