By:Lizzy Cabrera.
Condos, apartments, houses, mansions, are all homes to those who have it provided. What about those who don't? Homelessness coming with many positive and negative thoughts, what do you think about it? Homeless shelters, sleeping at bus stops, on the streets wondering and asking when will their time come to have those benefits. Ever thought of what life would be like living in their conditions? Heat waves, low temperatures, cold winters, dealing with dangerous people out there where no where to go, no one to depend on. Life's hard when you don't have a specific place to call home, luckily help is provided.Coming with many suggestions then comes the question, where do you stand? What could you do to help those without a home?
HMS took the question into hands and actually attempted to make a difference for those in need. Holding a food drive collecting canned or bagged foods is then donated to St.Leonard helping them then hold a food pantry, which gives them an opportunity helping those who come. Then towards Christmas putting up a Christmas tree, or "mitten" tree as Ms. Schwartz stated, children are able to give in any unwanted hats, gloves, coats, and scarfs. With that being said all of that clothes is donated giving those without various of those things the chance to have them and not suffer as much as they have been. The group Rachel's challenge then comes in where they want to end the topic hunger, many of those who are homeless are indeed hungry as well. Snacks are sold, movies are held, then being with all the money charged then collected with then giving it in for a donation to help.
Attending HMS, some ways you could help is by giving into those donations, getting involved with the groups helping, and making people aware of what is going on and what are some ways that they could help. Coming then with those outside of school, there are many ways to help. Meaning shelters, food pantries, sparing some change, sacrificing some food. Visiting shelters help a lot since they realize that people do care and they come to believe that there will be a change to come and life won't be the way it is forever. Story came around where a father of two, gathered 20 sandwiches, 20 chips, various types of fruits and water bottles and visited the "lower wacker" in downtown Chicago. " Seeing the joy coming from their smiles, the tears running down their cheeks only made me feel better doing what I did. Being out there is no joke and many are aware of what they go thru but never take a step and make a change, gladly with the help of my two children Elizabeth and Mauricio visiting those homeless made not only them realize to be thankful of what they have but, to give when those are in need" stated Eduardo Cabrera. That being one example of being able to help, there are also organizations, fundraisers in schools, churches, local attractions where you could then volunteer and help.
So there's not a time where there is nothing you can do, no matter how young or old you are, there's always gonna be a way you yourself can do something to make a change. So join some clubs, enter some organizations, fundraisers , donate, bring this situation to people's attention how it is still going on today, and hopefully it will end soon for those who give prayers every night, wondering when their time will come.
Without A Home.
By:Lizzy Cabrera.
Condos, apartments, houses, mansions, are all homes to those who have it provided. What about those who don't? Homelessness coming with many positive and negative thoughts, what do you think about it? Homeless shelters, sleeping at bus stops, on the streets wondering and asking when will their time come to have those benefits. Ever thought of what life would be like living in their conditions? Heat waves, low temperatures, cold winters, dealing with dangerous people out there where no where to go, no one to depend on. Life's hard when you don't have a specific place to call home, luckily help is provided.Coming with many suggestions then comes the question, where do you stand? What could you do to help those without a home?
HMS took the question into hands and actually attempted to make a difference for those in need. Holding a food drive collecting canned or bagged foods is then donated to St.Leonard helping them then hold a food pantry, which gives them an opportunity helping those who come. Then towards Christmas putting up a Christmas tree, or "mitten" tree as Ms. Schwartz stated, children are able to give in any unwanted hats, gloves, coats, and scarfs. With that being said all of that clothes is donated giving those without various of those things the chance to have them and not suffer as much as they have been. The group Rachel's challenge then comes in where they want to end the topic hunger, many of those who are homeless are indeed hungry as well. Snacks are sold, movies are held, then being with all the money charged then collected with then giving it in for a donation to help.
Attending HMS, some ways you could help is by giving into those donations, getting involved with the groups helping, and making people aware of what is going on and what are some ways that they could help. Coming then with those outside of school, there are many ways to help. Meaning shelters, food pantries, sparing some change, sacrificing some food. Visiting shelters help a lot since they realize that people do care and they come to believe that there will be a change to come and life won't be the way it is forever. Story came around where a father of two, gathered 20 sandwiches, 20 chips, various types of fruits and water bottles and visited the "lower wacker" in downtown Chicago. " Seeing the joy coming from their smiles, the tears running down their cheeks only made me feel better doing what I did. Being out there is no joke and many are aware of what they go thru but never take a step and make a change, gladly with the help of my two children Elizabeth and Mauricio visiting those homeless made not only them realize to be thankful of what they have but, to give when those are in need" stated Eduardo Cabrera. That being one example of being able to help, there are also organizations, fundraisers in schools, churches, local attractions where you could then volunteer and help.
So there's not a time where there is nothing you can do, no matter how young or old you are, there's always gonna be a way you yourself can do something to make a change. So join some clubs, enter some organizations, fundraisers , donate, bring this situation to people's attention how it is still going on today, and hopefully it will end soon for those who give prayers every night, wondering when their time will come.
Spotlight For A Day.
Thursday April 30th, in the Berwyn community, Heritage Middle School on 31 St was the spotlight for a day. Going from an exciting experience it immediately turned into a horrific day. Coming back from a field trip with the rest of the We Day students and teachers, waiting on the bus patiently wondering why we're waiting for such a long period of time, the announcement was made, and we were told that HMS was officially in a hard lock down. Students murmured as they asked what was going on, why this, why that. Just as the students were unaware so were the teachers. Students began calling parents warning what was occurring at the time, and you could see the look on their faces scared, if anybody or anything had been affected.
After a long period of time waiting, teachers warned the students that we could finally go back into the school. As departing off the bus, walking towards the school looked chaotic.
"What's going on!?" one student said curiously, one after another.
Parents asking the same question as well, wandering on their phone waiting for their children or at least another staff member to give them a response to all of the questions. Finally the lockdown was dismissed, but the news was still out. Heritage Middle School, had been in a hard lock down due to a belief a student attending had brought a weapon to school.
Seeing kids storm out of school, checking if their friends were okay, looking for their parents, some looked down at their phones, and some began to walk home.
"Mom!" a young girl yelled.
" What do you think that was all about?" a young male said.
Many were confused, wondering what had gone on that day. Parents also curious of the questions, news came out and gladly no one was injured, and no result of a weapon was found. After a spotlight on the school the day went by, no one hurt, no weapon found, but lots of questions left to answer
It was still a weekday which meant also a school day, I felt annoyed at the fact I kept waking up, not being able to get any rest. I turned over to check what time exactly I'd waken up, 5:45 AM.
Trying to get a head start at my day I went straight to the kitchen to get something to eat, when I realized something I had stepped on something sharp, glass. It looked as if it had been a broken vase the type where flowers come from. Wondering where that had came from finally looking up I saw my parents. Opposite ends of the table, like always they had been arguing, but this time something was odd. Lalo my father, looked more sorry than he had ever been with his head down trying to catch his breath, then looking at my mom, I felt as if my stomach had just gotten punched.
"What happened?" I asked my mom, just as my mom attempted to answer my question, she broke into tears. I looked at my dad, waiting for him to give me the response my mom couldn't.
"I made a huge mistake Tiny" said my dad walking towards me.
Taking a step back, scared to find out what he had done, I was able to ask him "what did you do?”.
Realizing that I'd taken a step back he moved back to where he was first standing and leaned against the chair with his head down.
Finally my mom was able to find the words and say, "Lalo made his decision with someone else Tiny'".
I felt confused, worried, scared since I wasn't still able to understand what was going on. Betrayed, alone, just feeling empty in general since I still couldn't believe that my on father, had done something like that. Finally, the time came the truth was found out. Lalo, had an affair with an older coworker of his for the past month. My world seemed to just have flipped upside down. Still trying to process the fact that my dad, the guy that gave me my first kiss as I was born, would have done something like that to our family. As I sat in my room, I looked at the ceiling, spacing out, thinking of all the memories, my father and I have recently and in the past had.
The clock struck 7:00 AM which meant I had to get ready for school. Ever feel like the school day is going incredibly slow, that you just keep looking at the clock, spacing out? That was the feeling all day at school. Morning announcements, class after class, lunch,then finally the end of the day came. End of the day announcements came on, and finally as I began walking home, everything hit me again, the thoughts of this morning seemed to had been drilled into my thoughts. As I got home my brother had been waiting for me like always. As I walked in though he had his head down, hands together, and his eyes seemed to look tired as if he hadn't gotten sleep in days.
"How was school kid?"my brother asked with a sigh.
As he also gave me the same old forehead kiss. I didn't know what to respond, so I went straight to my room without saying a word back to him. I felt rude, bad for leaving him like that and not responding to him, but just being in the house made me want to be alone, get my stuff done and just want to go to sleep. 10:00 PM struck and I laid in bed, thinking what was going to happen with my parents, if I'd have to move to Chicago with my mom's family, or have to stay in Berwyn with my dad.
Weeks and weeks passed that my parents went without talking, school days felt like forever and I quit interacting with many people.
Until on the day October 22nd came, my dad's birthday and he decided to sit us at the kitchen table, "I want you to meet Delores" said my dad, as she entered thru the front door.
She was tall, older than my birth mom, she had dirty blonde hair, a mix of blue and green eyes, with a smile, that I can admit was nice. Not knowing what to say, what to feel, just looking towards my mom to see how she reacted, she acted as if she knew she was going to come, as if they agreed on this. Turns out they talked about separating, my dad moved out, and my mom, brother and me all stayed in the apartment. My brother sat and talked with Delores not trying to make the situation any worse, because he knew I wouldn't want to talk to her and if I did it wouldn't be good. My stomachs felt as if it sank, lower than any boat could've gone towards the bottom of the ocean. Time passed by, and finally I realized I couldn't force my dad to love me mom, that he should be happy, and the my brother and me had no problem keeping my mom happy since my dad couldn't. Delores turned out to be nice, she started coming every two weeks to the apartment, and we grew a bond.
Came the day where acceptance had to come, and my dad would spend more time with her family than ours but that was alright, our family was strong, and we were gonna get thru it. Just proves how much trust you could put into someone who says ' I love you, I'll never hurt you, or I'll never leave' . To this day my dad and me still talk, but let's just say father day could come a long and the person in front of me? Is always going to be my mom and my brothers helping me learn right from wrong and teaching me the ways of today to not ever get hurt like that again. I guess I was able to learn something , to watch who you trust and love them while they stick around. Not only that though, to also thanks those who didn't turn their back, and help everyone that had been effected with this .
No comments:
Post a Comment