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| GGU Law's Orientation Service Project at St. Anthony's. |
We have all heard about the Tenderloin being a place you would want to avoid, however, so many of the people we are seeking to help reside in this area. If we disconnect ourselves from “the people” in need then what difference are we really making? I am humbled by having this experience while embarking on my law school career; I have faces of hungry children and lonely elderly people engraved in my brain to remind me of why I am here. When the weight of law school becomes unbearable I will be thankful I have a warm safe place to sleep at night, and that my belly is full. We are all blessed with lives of abundance and let us not forget there are people out there without the simple pleasures we all so often take for granted.
We were given the honor of hearing a young man’s story about his battle with drug and alcohol addiction. His life is in a stage of transition because of what St. Anthony’s has vowed to do (without government funding) in the community. Because of this great organization, this man has had the opportunity to get clean, work and reestablish himself as a contributing member of our society. They have a program that provides housing and food for him in exchange for hours worked in the dining hall. St. Anthony’s relies largely on volunteer hours; use your short moments from casebook study to serve food to a hungry child, or make a lonely women grateful for a hug and simple conversation over a card game. Just like us, there are people in the Tenderloin with dreams and a life worth living and many of them still have an opportunity to embark on them with a little assistance and encouragement. We are not separate from the people on the streets; at any given moment life can happen to any one of us, so I ask you to not be so far removed from the people that you cannot make the difference you set out to make.
