Text of Remarks:
Sr. Seton Cunneen Fellow Khrysle C. Roberts '07
September 10, 2004
Prior to learning about the Sr. Seton Cuneen Fellowship, I had
been harassing Ms. Mc Crabb about doing volunteer work. When I saw
the flyers and read the background information about the fellowship
I became interested because I realized that there were high expectations
for the Cuneen Fellows. This fellowship was a challenge that would
take me a few steps beyond the freshmen INT class experience. This
was very different, since the Cuneen fellows had to gain leadership
skills and were also challenged to think of tangible ways that would
help to alleviate the problem or situation at hand. And hence, I
chose to apply for this fellowship because it was an opportunity
for me to gain leadership skills and more importantly become a part
of the solution.
N' Street Village - Bethany Women's Center for homeless women was
the placement site I chose to do my fellowship because I wanted
to do hands on service. N' Street Village provides homeless women
with social services, shelter, food and clothing. The many services
offered at N' Street Village, enable women who are mentally ill,
who have substance abuse issues or who are jobless to get back on
their feet.
In becoming a good leader I first had to open my heart to the needs
and issues that these women were dealing with. I learned that being
a good leader meant that I had to enforce the rules, on women who
were old enough to be my mother. This was difficult at times but
I had to keep telling myself that these rules were meant to protect
the women and provide a community setting that was safe for the
women, many of whom had come from unstable, violent environments.
At times, this would take the form of having to stand between women
having a verbal argument to prevent them from getting into a physical
fight. One of the most important aspects of being a good leader
was to listen to the women and cultivate respect from them, even
though I was younger than all of the women and even though most
of them were twice my size.
Though becoming a better leader was difficult, it was much easier
than having to build relationships with the women and cope with
the sadness of the situations that faced these women. For instance,
before coming to N Street Village I thought that people were homeless
because they were lazy and just did not want to work. However, after
spending just a few days with the women a BWC I realized that this
could not be further from the truth. The majority of the women who
were at the center were homeless because they were suffering from
some kind of mental illness. I came to understand that many of the
women were mentally ill because they had been victims of abuse.
For this reason, the focus of my case study was on "Homelessness
as it relates to mental illness." My case study featured a
woman who was suffering from schizophrenia. Some of the social issues
that arose from my case study were that there were systems keeping
people with mental illnesses untreated. One issue was the lack of
education/ awareness about mental illness. Families, friends and
employers who are not able to cope with mentally ill family members
or employees shun them away primarily because of ignorance. Another
problem was that the government had reduced and in some cases cut
funding for mental illness research and for mental health institutes.
There is also a lack of free health care and many health insurance
agencies do not offer coverage for mental health care.
A stigma has been attached to mentally ill persons by society because
of these systems that I have listed. These systems oppress mentally
ill persons by keeping them from getting treatment and leading normal
lives. As sad and distressing as this situation may be I am reminded
that God is present. When Jesus came, he spoke out against and disrupted
many systems that the leaders of his time were using to keep people
oppressed. One can also look at the life St. Julie Billiart. Though
St. Julie experienced much opposition, she was able to realize her
dream to create equal opportunities for women. Because of her women
are now able to receive college level education.
The question that I had to ask myself while doing this fellowship
was how would I imitate Jesus and St. Julie to change the systems
and be a part of the solution?
I have formed many close relationships with the women and I have
come to realize that mental illness is not something that should
be feared. I want to keep these relationships that I have formed
because I believe as my relationships with the women grow they would
be more open to receiving advice from me. I am continuing to work
with the women at N' Street Village on weekends and thus after winning
their trust, I would be able to encourage them to admit and accept
the fact that that they have a mental illness and get the treatment
that they need. Because everyday when I interacted with the women,
few of whom had had a college level education, I saw a possible
Trinity grad. Wouldn't we be more concerned about the plight of
these women had they actually been a graduate of Trinity?
This is why I want to invite other Trinity students to come and
learn from these women, bond with them and grow with them. This
is not some huge, farfetched project. It is simply about befriending
these women, being able to listen and companion them, sometimes
holding them accountable for their actions.
According to society being homeless and having a mental illness
is a crime. But I think the real crime and injustice is when people
like you or myself can effect change, can make a difference and
refuse to do so. Instead of being apart of this injustice, let us
all become a part of the solution to homelessness and mental illness.
Back to Remarks
|
