At least 6,000 people are homeless in Seattle on any given night, according to the city's website (www.seattle.gov). While browsing the page I thought of the young people in my University District neighborhood asking for money on the street. I want to help them, but Idon't exactly have extra money to pass around.
Then I thought, just because I don't have money to offer doesn't mean I don't have time. I looked into ways to volunteer. I didn't have to go far.
ROOTS (Rising Out of the Shadows) is a homeless shelter in the U-District for 18- to 25-year-old homeless young adults.
"We provide a much more safe and secure environment," said shelter manager Heather Anderson, as we sat in the shelter's back office on a recent weekday. "There are only young adults here."
Anderson heard about ROOTS through United Way of King County, a nonprofit organization that supports numerous local nonprofits. She has been volunteering with ROOTS for the last two years and has managed the shelter for more than one year.
With her help, I was set up to volunteer. I just had to do a short orientation first.
RULES OF RESPECT
At orientation I met Becca Gray, who had heard about the shelter through a friend. Like myself, she didn't know much about it.
We were surprised at the shelter's leniency. Becca and I had both volunteered at homeless shelters for adults before, and they had strict rules on being sober and not swearing.
ROOTS bases its rules on respect. As long as a guest isn't swearing at someone or doesn't have actual drugs or drug paraphernalia on them, it is OK.
It came as another surprise that the shelter is just as lenient with volunteers.
Becca and I set off after orientation to the kitchen, where we were asked to make whatever we wanted out of whatever we could find. We soon found it to be fun and relaxed because other volunteers helped us out.
Soon, the first guest appeared through the doors. He smiled and asked what was on the menu tonight.
I told him "macaroni and cheese, nachos, vegetable soup, vegetable lasagna...."
The list kept going, but he stopped me at the nachos; those looked good to him tonight. In fact, they looked good to me, as well. Actually, I was getting hungry. Fortunately, it is OK for volunteers to dine alongside the guests.
"Clients like that you are eating," said Liz Whiteman, an overnight supervisor at the shelter. "It makes it so much more comfortable for the clients."
Liz has worked at the shelter since March and started as overnight supervisor this month. She took a general studies class at the University of Washington in which people came in to talk about issues like youths and homelessness, which gave her the idea of volunteering with ROOTS.
As I was eating my plate of nachos, another young man appeared. His eyes searched all the options when he spotted the Dr. Pepper Berries and Cream. He said he hadn't had pop in a long time and asked for a full glass.
We served 25 young adults (the maximum number of guests per night), mostly young men.
ACCEPTANCE
After an hour, we stopped serving food and cleaned the kitchen, doing the dishes, wiping counters and putting leftover food away before the lights were turned out.
We could hear through the closed kitchen door the guests laughing and joking around as they got ready for bed.
At this time, the guests were quietly falling asleep on their mattresses and the volunteers were done for the day.
"The kids were respectful, grateful, personable, and most had the appearance of being happy, optimistic," Becca commented about her experience.
Liz noted how much the shelter has affected her own life. "This is the first time I've realized I've finally gotten rid of all my stereotypes," she said.
She has taken classes and volunteered at other places. "But these kids are real," she said.
Through ROOTS and its guests, Liz said she has learned to be accepting.
"They know I have a car, go to school and my parents pay for it, but they still respect me and think I have a valid opinion," she said.
I plan on continuing to volunteer at ROOTS. I feel I have found a way to help out the community and possibly help myself to a new viewpoint.
"I had a great time," Becca said. "Oftentimes, volunteer work can feel like a second job, something you secretly dread going to every week; ROOTS doesn't feel like that. It was so much fun meeting and feeding people. I'm really looking forward to next Monday."
ROOTS, which operates seven days a week, has a shortage of volunteers right now. Helpers are needed to serve food and stay overnight with guests. To find out more visit www.rootsinfo.org.
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