First Quarter
In the first quarter of this academic year, our class was focused on brainstorming and thinking about what topics we would like to focus on for our project. In class, we spent time researching social issues we were passionate about, identifying those issues on a local scale, breaking down that problem to a tangible community initiative, interviewing stakeholders, and investigating local organizations.
Definition of Public Problem
Food insecurity is defined as the condition of not having access to sufficient food, or food of adequate quality, to meet one's basic needs. However, this goes even further. Food insecurity is not only a lack of access to food but a lack of access to good and nutritious meals. When addressing food insecurity, this can often be forgotten, but it is detrimental that at-risk communities are receiving healthy meals. This should not be a privilege of the upper class. Food insecurity, specifically in the United States, is at an alarming number. In the year 2020, 16% of all children (ages 0-17) in America live in food-insecure households. This percentage is even higher than it was in 2019 when it was sitting at 14.6%. There are significant and concerning food insecurity numbers across the entire United States. For many hungry students, school may be their only form of nutritional support. A school is a place where many kids can finally feel a sense of normalcy. So, why don’t they receive support from their peers? A lot of times, troubles and problems at home are kept hidden from the general public, but that doesn’t mean the problems aren’t happening. Hunger and mass disparity within social and economic classes are issues that people should not have to face. Everyone deserves to live, not fight to survive. Problems such as food insecurity among youth are happening among the masses, and this has an affect on how these students will succeed in the future. Helping to feed kids before a big day of exams can help them to feel more prepared, feel more confident, and score higher. It is hard to do your best on an empty stomach. A well-educated, economically stable, and socially connected community can be cultivated by supporting the youth of a community. Improved education outcomes can bring long-lasting effects to the community such as improved quality of life, lower crime rates, and greater social mobility. Engaged and supported young people are more likely to become active and responsible members of the community, strengthening social cohesion and fostering a positive community culture.
In the first quarter of this school year, one skill we learned in class was the ability to look deeper into problems that are happening. We learned how to use the root cause chain in order to get to the bottom of what is causing a problem, while getting past the outside, and more obvious causes. This skill was especially essential in ensuring that we were creating change that our community truly needed. We kept Tania Mitchell's "Traditional vs. Critical Service-Learning: Engaging the Literature to Differentiate Two Models" at the front of our mind throughout the process. Instead of simply learning to serve and serving to learn for individual benefit, we dove into the root of the problem we were addressing and sought ways to forge authentic relationships in this sphere.
Not all kids are receiving the same quality of nutritious food from home. Why? There is unequal access to nutritional food among youth. Why? Certain communities or areas have limited availability of nutritional food options. Why? There are disparities in the kinds of resources that public schools can provide in certain communities. Why? Some public schools are lacking in resources to supply their students with nutritional food. Why? Not all schools are provided with equitable amounts of funding. Due to the intersectionality of many different issues, such as socioeconomic and funding disparities, not all schools are able to provide their students with equal opportunities and resources. This empowered us to help find a way to ensure that students were receiving equal opportunities for success.
It is also important to acknowledge that the majority of people affected by food insecurity come from marginalized communities and their lack of access to food can also be contributed by discriminatory or inherently racist practices and policies. It was important for us to deconstruct willful blindness in order to address the reality of our system and its practices. Rudy Dee's "Interpreting Leadership Theory Using Critical Perspectives" was an essential tool in helping to understand "the story most told" and what the reality of unequal access to nutritional foods really was.
Wheatly & Rogers stayed with us throughout. "Human communities are no different from the rest of life. We form our communities from these same two needs-the need for self-determination and the need for one another. But in modern society, we have difficulty embracing the inherent paradox of these needs. We reach to satisfy one at the expense of the other. Very often the price of belonging to a community is to forfeit one's individual autonomy" (Wheatly & Rogers, 1998).
The concepts of individualism and community often rubbed shoulders throughout our project. Even initially, as our team struggled to find a topic we were all passionate about. However, we came to realize the strengths we each individually brought to the team, and began to build up our own community through our partnerships. Another important aspect within Wheatly & Rogers is the idea of individual autonomy within community work. We believe this to be extremely important in ensuring that our communities are receiving the care they truly want to receive. This is why we decided to connect with the leadership program at TJHS. Students deserve autonomy in making decisions that impact their quality of living especially when it comes to eating and staying healthy. Through the partnership of TJHS and The Conscious Alliance, students will have the autonomy to select what goes into their food pantry and how to operate it. The Conscious Alliance will not take away from this autonomy, but instead enhance it, by giving students the resources and information they need to succeed. Individuality and autonomy do not need to become lost in community service, we can empower and support each other through community connections while still chasing what we are passionate about. The Right Foot Project found its own individuality and autonomy within the Community Change Initiative, and we used that to build our own community. |
"What called us together?" |
Second Quarter
.The Second Quarter of the year was more focused on executing a plan and objecives for our project by establishing community partners, applying for the ACE Grant, zoom meetings and finalizing a rough draft for our plan.
During the second quarter of our project, we focused on establishing crucial community partnerships and securing the necessary resources to make our vision a reality. We began by connecting with organizations like the Conscious Alliance, which was eager to support our mission of filling Thomas Jefferson High School's food pantry.
The Conscious Alliance was one of our original stakeholders that we interviewed in the fall. We were particularly interested in their work in food distribution and food waste recovery. This led to a great overlap of passion in the area of education and nutritional support in schools. The Conscious Alliance connects with schools in need and helps to bring non-perishable goods to their students by stocking their food pantries or helping to host food drives. When we mentioned the possibility of collaborating with a local school, they were more than happy to move forward in solidifying our partnership. As we moved forward, our next objective was to find a high school that would benefit from our breakfast program during SATs, specifically targeting students facing food insecurity and marginalized groups. After careful consideration, we chose Thomas Jefferson High School and forged a strong relationship with the school administration. Because The Conscious Alliance is still growing, they only have the capacity to help schools that specifically reach out to them. They were excited to be able to form a new community relationship with TJHS that would not have existed had we not connected them. After strategizing some different plans, we decided that it would be most ideal to have TJHS leadership students visit The Conscious Alliance storage facility in order to be able to be a part of the process in selecting what food goes into their food pantry, as well as understanding more about how food distribution works. However, to fund the breakfast meals, we needed financial assistance. We applied for the ACE Grant, which required a comprehensive project plan. After submitting our proposal, we were thrilled to receive a $4,000 grant. Throughout this process, regular Zoom meetings were scheduled with community members to discuss and refine our execution plan. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of everyone involved, our project came to fruition successfully. |